Job Description

ABOUT US: 

We use American corn and existing bioethanol infrastructure to produce critical chemicals right here at home—powering U.S. competitiveness and securing our nation's supply chains - while reinvesting in agricultural America. Bluestem Biosciences has engineered a breakthrough in American manufacturing. Our proprietary biomanufacturing process represents a new, cost-effective, and advantaged way to produce platform chemicals domestically. With the foundation of existing infrastructure, we convert abundant, renewable American corn into high-value chemicals at scale. JOIN US AS WE ACCELERATE TO COMMERCIALIZATION

Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced chemical engineer to execute key process development efforts for the separation and purification of our target molecules. As the 'technical arm' of the Process Design & Operations team, this position reports directly to the VP, Process Design & Operations. Our ideal candidate will have practical, hands-on experience developing and scaling up bioindustrial separation processes. You will be responsible for designing and executing bench and pilot-scale experiments, analyzing process data, and building the techno-economic models that inform our scale-up strategy. You will collaborate closely with our internal strain design and fermentation teams and support the VP in managing technical collaborations with external engineering partners and CROs to drive the development and commercialization of our process.

Responsibilities

• Design and conduct bench and pilot-scale process trials for downstream processing steps, including separation, purification, and waste management.
• Execute and the process scale-up strategy, designing and executing experiments that advance the technology readiness level (TRL) to pre-commercial demonstration (TRL 7).
• Analyze and interpret data from process trials to inform process intensification, improvement, and scale-up strategies.
• Build and refine techno-economic models throughout the process development lifecycle to support the continuous refinement of Bluestem's integrated plant designs.
• Provide hands-on expertise in a range of downstream unit operations, particularly filtration, ion exchange, and other separation techniques, while also supporting the development of distillation processes.
• Collaborate closely with R&D (strain design and fermentation) to integrate upstream, downstream, and recycle streams, ensuring efficient and sustainable overall process performance.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for projects with external lab, pilot, and CRO partners, managing day-to-day experimental execution and data transfer.
• Provide the technical data package (e.g., mass balances, experimental results) to support the VP and engineering firms in translating processes into PFDs, P&IDs, and FEL packages.
• Identify and interface with vendors and equipment suppliers for the design, procurement, and commissioning of downstream process equipment.
• Align process development with existing manufacturing capabilities, designing with the 'end in mind'

Requirements

• Advanced degree in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, or a related field, plus 8+ years of progressive experience in a process development or production engineering position.
• Differing combinations of experience and education will be considered.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience in DSP engineering principles and practice, with a strong understanding of chemical and biochemical fundamentals that drive optimal DSP design for fermented products.
• Proven ability to manage technical projects through development and scale-up, with direct experience advancing technologies from bench/pilot to pre-commercial TRLs (TRL 7).
• Direct experience with process scale-up, including identifying and mitigating risks, and translating lab-scale processes to pilot and demonstration scale equipment.
• Strong proficiency with process modeling software (e.g., ASPEN+, SuperPro Designer) and statistical software (e.g., JMP, R, Python) to build models and analyze experimental data.
• A strong understanding of upstream fermentation processes and how they impact downstream purification is essential for effective cross-functional collaboration.
• Expertise with formal process and manufacturing engineering practices, such as statistical process control and continuous process improvement principles.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal; organizational skills and ability to work in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.

Bluestem is an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

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