Engineer , Decatur

Position: Engineer 3, Decatur
About Primient

Primient is a century old company with an entrepreneurial spirit. We are a leading producer of food and industrial ingredients made from plant-based, renewable sources. We deliver value through deep technical, commercial, and operational excellence that is backed by our long-standing corn wet milling heritage. Wherever we are in the process, from field to customer, our priorities are focused on ensuring we produce the safest, highest quality products through practices that uphold both our responsibility and commitments to the challenge and drive for excellence, our people and our planet.

We are a privately held company with locations across the US, Mexico, Poland, and Brazil. We're investing in our plants and people to unlock our potential in the industrial and food sectors. Guided by our values of Safety, Excellence, Integrity, and Growth, we're focused on growing our business, our reputation, and the career of every teammate.

About the Role The Engineer 3 sits within the Engineering Technical Track and provides engineering expertise to optimize plant operations through process design, troubleshooting, and efficiency improvements. This role moves beyond troubleshooting to designing and specifying plant operations, taking ownership of process improvements that impact multiple unit operations. The Engineer 3 operates with greater autonomy, overseeing complex projects, driving plant-wide optimizations, and mentoring junior engineers.

This role collaborates cross functionally to drive standardization, reliability, and best practices across sites, supporting Primient's commitment to safety , excellence, integrity, and growth.

Primary Responsibilities

• Engineering Project Execution: Lead and contribute to moderately complex engineering projects, designing and implementing process improvements that enhance efficiency, safety, and product quality. Oversee end-to-end executing, ensuring timely and budget-compliant delivery.
• Technical Leadership and Mentorship: Serve as a key technical resource, providing guidance and instructions to junior engineers, operators, and cross-functional teams. Support the development of technical expertise within the plant by mentoring less- experienced engineers.
• Cross Function & Multi-Plant
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Collaborate with engineers, production teams, and leadership across sites to drive operational consistency, share best practices, and troubleshoot plant-wide challenges. Engage with external partners and vendors to implement solutions.
• Process Optimization & Troubleshooting: Analyze process performance data, identify inefficiencies, and develop independent solutions to optimize energy consumption, material usage, and production throughput. Work proactively to design process enhancements rather than reacting to troubleshooting alone.
• Regulatory & Compliance Standards: Ensure engineering projects and process changes comply with environmental, safety, quality, sustainability, and internal/external regulations. Maintain awareness of evolving industry regulations and implement necessary adjustments.
• Data-driven Decision-Making :
  Collect, analyze, and report operational data to identify performance gaps, generate insights, and recommend process improvements. Use benchmarking and cross-plant comparisons to drive continuous improvement initiatives.

Primary Responsibilities
Knowledge

• Process Design (Material & Energy Balance, Fluid Dynamics, Process Control, Thermodynamics, Material of Construction & Compatibility, Equipment Sizing)
• Technical expertise in engineering principles in applicable areas
• Knowledgeable about project workflow and disciplines involved
• Expertise in business systems ( i.e. Microsoft Office, Outlook, SAP, CATS, Gensuite , etc )
• Safety & environmental regulations and best practices

Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Project management of complex projects
• Implementation of process changes and engineering improvement
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Root cause analysis
• Cross-functional leadership and coordination
• Documentation

Mindsets

• Data driven
• Collaborative
• Technical Curiosity
• Innovative
• Goal-oriented
• Attention to safety, quality, sustainability
• Opera…