Senior Engineer - R&D Process Development

Roquette is a family-owned global leader in plant-based ingredients and a leading provider of pharmaceutical excipients.
Want to help us make a difference?
Using plant-based resources, we collaborate with our customers and partners to imagine and offer ingredients to better feed people and treat patients.
Each of our ingredients responds to unique and essential needs, and they enable healthier lifestyles.
The Role:
We are looking for our next Senior R&D Process Engineer within our Americas R&D Team.
Roquette is a leader in plant-based ingredients, dedicated to innovation and excellence. The Americas R&D Team is seeking an R&D Process Engineer or Senior R&D Process Engineer to contribute to and lead complex process development, optimization, and manufacturing-support projects for its starch, sugar, sweetener, and polyol businesses.
This hands-on role combines advanced process-engineering expertise with strong experimental design, data analysis, troubleshooting, and cross-functional collaboration. The successful candidate will work closely with manufacturing teams to develop practical, sustainable solutions that improve safety, quality, reliability, yield, capacity, cost, and process efficiency. The role requires the ability to independently lead technical work while communicating effectively with operations, R&D, Engineering, Quality, HSE, and global technical teams.
This position is located Geneva, IL.
Compensation:
This position may be filled at either the R&D Process Engineer or Senior R&D Process Engineer level. The current salary range for this position is estimated to be $72,000 - $120,000. In addition, this position may also be eligible to earn performance-based incentive compensation. The specific compensation offered to a candidate will be influenced by a variety of factors including but not limited to skills, qualifications, experience, location, and level at which the candidate is hired.
What We Offer:
A highly collaborative team environment with ample room for exponential career growth.
Competitive pay, annual performance bonus, comprehensive benefits, 6.2% company retirement contribution, and professional development opportunities.
Generous paid time off and 12 annual paid company holidays.
12 weeks 100% paid maternity leave, and up to 4 weeks 100% paid parental leave (including adoption/surrogacy/foster care leave) for non-birthing parents.
Student loan repayment assistance and tuition reimbursement program for select roles.
Annual wellness benefit and wellness centered programs focused on your health needs.
What You’ll Do:
Project Execution and Process Development
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 and aligned with business needs.
Design, execute, analyze, and document laboratory, pilot-plant, and plant trials using sound experimental design, appropriate analytical methods, and statistically valid data interpretation.
Support process scale-up, technology transfer, and implementation of new or improved processes from laboratory or pilot scale to commercial manufacturing.
Process Optimization and Troubleshooting
Diagnose complex manufacturing and process-performance issues using structured root-cause analysis; evaluate alternatives and recommend technical and economically sound solutions.
Optimize process operations to improve product quality, yield, throughput, energy efficiency, reliability, cost, and sustainability through process-engineering and continuous-improvement principles.
Technical Expertise
Apply technical expertise in starch conversion and modification, sugar and sweetener processing, polyol production, and the related process-unit operations.
Provide subject-matter expertise in separations, including enzymatic reactions, hydrogenation, centrifugation, membrane systems, chromatography, ion exchange, evaporation, crystallization, and drying.
Manufacturing Partnership and Collaboration
Partner directly with manufacturing personnel to understand plant constraints, incorporate operational experience, and jointly implement safe, practical, and sustainable improvements.
Collaborate with internal and external technical experts to share knowledge, resolve challenges, and identify opportunities for innovation.
Technical Communication and Team Development
Prepare clear technical reports, trial protocols, process recommendations, presentations, and project updates tailored to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Mentor junior engineers, scientists, interns, and co-ops in process engineering, experimental methods, data analysis, and structured problem solving.
Safety, Quality, and Compliance
Maintain compliance with applicable HSE, food safety, food quality, and regulatory requirements while participating in risk assessments and safety reviews.
What You’ll Need:
Education:
B