Staff Engineer - SME Dryers

Agropur, inc.; Le Sueur (MN); On-site; USD 124,000 - 155,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

401(k) with company contributions

Paid Time Off

Paid holidays

Floating holidays

Parental leave

Advancement opportunities

Job summary

Agropur is seeking a Staff Engineer - SME Dryers to join our team. Drying Systems serves as the enterprise technical authority for industrial drying technologies across the manufacturing network, with emphasis on spray drying and related processes.

In this role you will lead technical reviews, provide guidance on design, operation, troubleshooting, and optimization of drying systems, while ensuring safety, quality, and efficiency across facilities nationwide.

Qualifications

• Ten+ years in membrane system process engineering and/or capital project development/execution.
• Experience developing technical standards and specifications.
• Membrane system design, operation, troubleshooting and optimization expertise.
• Strong understanding of dairy processing.
• Ability to influence technical decisions across multiple facilities and stakeholders.
• Experience facilitating technical reviews and driving follow-up actions.
• Experience supporting capital projects.
• Experience implementing standards and change management to ensure adoption.
• Experience with whey processing, protein concentration, and dairy ingredient manufacturing.
• Experience working with leading membrane system suppliers and OEMs.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the enterprise SME for drying systems, focusing on spray drying.
• Provide technical leadership for spray dryers, fluid bed dryers/coolers, and related powder and air handling systems.
• Lead technical reviews of major capital projects involving drying technologies.
• Serve as the final technical authority for drying-related engineering decisions.
• Support strategic decisions on drying system design, technology selection, and optimization.
• Make high-quality technical decisions in high-risk situations.
• Participate in concept development, feasibility studies, and design reviews; review vendor proposals.
• Support Operational Excellence by addressing performance, quality, reliability and capacity challenges.
• Build and maintain enterprise drying system standards; ensure compliance and adoption network-wide.
• Establish best practices for powder hazards, hygiene, and regulatory quality standards.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Influence technical decisions

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Engineering (ChE preferred)

Job description

Job Type: Regular

Job Description

People are at the heart of our success. Our culture encourages collaboration, transparency, and accountability in order to generate value and achieve sustainable results. Being part of the team means committing to an environment where everyone's impact truly matters.

We believe that teamwork-collaborating and sharing perspectives-is essential to achieving the best results.

An environment where collaboration is encouraged and valued:

• Salary range 007: $124,200 - $155,300(Salary will be determined based on skills, education, training & experience related to the position.)

• Monday - Friday - Remote

• Travel Requirement: 50%

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short and Long-term Disability Insurance

• 401(k) with 7% company contributions

• 3 weeks Paid Time Off

• Paid holidays and 2 floating holidays

• Paid parental leave

• Advancement Opportunities

How you will contribute to collective success:

We are looking for a Staff Engineer - SME Dryers to join Agropur.

Drying Systems serves as the enterprise technical authority for industrial drying technologies across the manufacturing network, with primary expertise in spray drying and supporting knowledge in other drying methods (e.g., fluid bed, drum, belt, and freeze drying). This role provides deep subject matter expertise in the design, operation, optimization, troubleshooting, and strategic application of drying systems supporting food and dairy processing operations.

• Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert for drying systems, with primary focus on spray drying

• Provide technical leadership for spray dryers, fluid bed dryers/coolers, and associated powder handling and air handling systems

• Lead technical reviews of major capital projects involving drying technologies

• Serve as the final technical authority for drying-related engineering decisions

• Support strategic decisions regarding drying system design, technology selection, product capability, and system optimization

• Make high-quality technical decisions in ambiguous or high-risk situations (e.g., fouling, powder quality variation, thermal degradation, capacity limitations)

• Participate in concept development, feasibility studies, and engineering design reviews; review process designs and vendor proposals for drying systems

• Support Operational Excellence initiatives by addressing complex performance, product quality, reliability, and capacity challenges; identify optimization opportunities (e.g., yield improvement, energy efficiency, uptime, product consistency)

• Build and maintain enterprise drying system design and operating standards; ensure compliance in partnership with Engineering Governance and drive adoption across the network

• Establish and promote best practices for food safety and hygienic design, including prevention of contamination, cleanability (CIP), allergen control, and compliance with regulatory and internal quality standards

• Establish and maintain best practices related to powder hazards and risk mitigation, including dust explosion prevention, zoning/ATEX considerations, ignition source control, and safe powder handling systems

• Provide technical guidance on thermal efficiency, energy consumption, and sustainability considerations, including heat recovery, air system optimization, and evaluation of emerging low-energy drying technologies

• Establish best practices for powder quality control, including particle size distribution, bulk density, moisture, solubility, and thermal stability

• Monitor and evaluate emerging drying technologies and assess their potential to unlock new product platforms or improve cost, quality, safety, and sustainability performance

The type of team player who fits in:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering (ChE preferred)

• 10+ years experience in membrane system process engineering and/or capital project development/execution

• Experience developing technical standards and specifications

• Demonstrated expertise in membrane system design, operation, troubleshooting and optimization

• Strong understanding of dairy processing

• Strong organizational and communication skills; ability to influence technical decisions across multiple facilities and stakeholder groups

• Experience facilitating technical reviews and driving follow-up actions

• Experience supporting capital projects

• Experience implementing standards and effective change management to ensure adoption

• Experience with whey processing, protein concentration, and dairy ingredient manufacturing

• Experience working with leading membrane system suppliers and OEMs.

A role for those who know that the best results are built through teamwork.

Agropur welcomes people from all backgrounds and origins. We are proud to be an employer with a diverse community and are committed to providing a respectful and inclusive experience for all employees and applicants. We will work with candidates who request accommodation. Please note that an adequate knowledge of French is required for positions in Quebec.Agropur uses artificial intelligence technology to assist our recruiters in screening, assessing, or selecting applicants for this position.

In this text, the use of the masculine gender to designate persons is intended only to lighten the text.