Senior R&D Process Engineer - Plant-Based Ingredients

Roquette Group; Geneva (IL); Hybrid; USD 72,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Annual performance bonus

Retirement contribution

Paid time off

Holidays

Maternity leave

Parental leave

Student loan repayment

Tuition reimbursement

Wellness programs

Job summary

Roquette Group in Geneva, IL, is seeking a Senior R&D Process Engineer to lead complex process development, optimization, and manufacturing support for starch, sugar, and polyol products. The role blends hands-on process engineering with experimental design and cross-functional collaboration with operations, R&D, engineering, and quality teams.

The candidate will independently lead technical work, contribute to plant-scale improvements, and drive safe, sustainable solutions to enhance yield,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Biochemical Engineering, Chemistry, or related discipline.
• Master’s degree or PhD preferred.
• Minimum of 3-5+ years' experience in process engineering, R&D, or manufacturing support within the starch, sugar, sweetener, polyol, food ingredient, chemical, or related industries.
• Demonstration of technical leadership may be considered for Senior level.
• Experience in at least 2 of the following areas: Milling; Starch hydrolysis; Industrial Chromatography; Production of by-products; Polyols production; Purification technologies; Drying technologies.
• Experience leading technical projects independently and working in manufacturing, pilot-plant, and laboratory environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute to R&D and manufacturing-support projects from problem definition through plant implementation, ensuring scope, priorities, risks, timelines, and deliverables are clear.
• Design, execute, analyze, and document laboratory, pilot‑plant, and plant trials using sound experimental design and statistical data interpretation.
• Support process scale‑up, technology transfer, and implementation from laboratory or pilot scale to commercial manufacturing.
• Diagnose complex manufacturing issues using root‑cause analysis; evaluate alternatives and implement optimised solutions.
• Optimize process operations to improve quality, yield, throughput, energy efficiency, reliability, cost, and sustainability.
• Apply expertise in starch conversion, sugar and sweetener processing, polyol production, and related unit operations.
• Partner with manufacturing to understand constraints and implement practical improvements.
• Prepare technical reports, protocols, and presentations for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentor junior engineers, scientists, interns, and co-ops in process engineering and data analysis.
• Maintain compliance with HSE, food safety, quality and regulatory requirements.

Skills

Process engineering

R&D leadership

Laboratory experimentation

Pilot plant

Scale-up

Milling

Starch hydrolysis

Industrial chromatography

Purification technologies

Drying technologies

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering

Master’s degree or PhD preferred

Job description

Roquette Group in Geneva, IL, is seeking a Senior R&D Process Engineer to lead complex process development, optimization, and manufacturing support for starch, sugar, and polyol products. The role blends hands-on process engineering with experimental design and cross-functional collaboration with operations, R&D, engineering, and quality teams.

The candidate will independently lead technical work, contribute to plant-scale improvements, and drive safe, sustainable solutions to enhance yield,