Job Description:

Principal Process Engineer
Location: Houston, TX (Onsite) | Reports To: VP, Projects & Asset Management | Contract-to-Hire

Please do not apply unless you have demonstrated experience in both high-temperature (>750°C) corrosive processes and hydrometallurgy.

Position Summary

The Principal Process Engineer is the company's senior process-engineering authority responsible for translating proprietary technology into an integrated, commercially executable industrial process. The role owns the process design basis, process flowsheets, mass and energy balances, process simulations, PFDs, P&IDs, equipment process requirements, and process integration for the company's facilities, with particular emphasis on pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes.

The Principal Process Engineer works closely with the VP, Materials & Technology to industrialize developing technologies and with the VP, Projects & Asset Management to deliver FEED, engineering, construction, commissioning, and startup. The role is expected to be technically hands-on and to provide authoritative process-engineering direction to internal engineers, EPC/EPCM contractors, equipment suppliers, and technical consultants.

Core Responsibilities

Process Development & Design

• Own the integrated commercial process design from technology handoff through commissioning, including process design basis, flowsheets, mass and energy balances, process simulations, PFDs, P&IDs, process descriptions, operating envelopes, and performance requirements.
• Integrate pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical unit operations into a coherent, scalable commercial process.
• Translate laboratory and pilot results into industrial designs, evaluating scale-up factors including kinetics, thermodynamics, residence time, heat and mass transfer, solids behavior, separation performance, impurity accumulation, and recycle.
• Define operating conditions, critical process parameters, process constraints, and equipment process requirements.
• Develop and evaluate process concepts for thermal processing, solids handling, leaching, precipitation, purification, solvent extraction/separation, crystallization, solid-liquid separation, drying, roasting, and other relevant operations.
• Evaluate process alternatives, bottlenecks, tradeoffs, recycle systems, impurity behavior, and overall process integration.

Process Engineering Authority

• Serve as the company's primary technical authority for commercial process design and maintain the authoritative process model and design basis.
• Review and challenge EPC/EPCM and consultant process designs and ensure consistency among process models, PFDs, P&IDs, equipment specifications, controls requirements, and other engineering deliverables.
• Establish the technical basis for equipment sizing and specification in coordination with equipment and engineering specialists.
• Evaluate proposed process changes, identify impacts, and ensure changes are propagated through affected calculations and engineering documentation.
• Identify scale-up risks, technical uncertainties, data gaps, and process limitations and establish appropriate resolution plans.

FEED, EPC & Project Execution

• Lead the process-engineering scope of FEED and provide technical direction to EPC/EPCM organizations and engineering consultants.
• Define process-engineering deliverables, review contractor engineering, and approve process-engineering work within delegated authority.
• Participate in equipment selection, vendor technical reviews, design reviews, HAZOP/HAZID, operability and constructability reviews, and commissioning planning.
• Provide process-engineering support through detailed engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, and performance testing.
• Ensure the constructed facility implements the approved process design and resolve process deviations, startup issues, and performance shortfalls.

Process Safety & Operability

• Ensure process designs address safety, operability, maintainability, environmental performance, and reliability.
• Lead or support HAZOP, LOPA, relief-system evaluations, and other process-risk assessments.
• Define process safeguards, operating limits, critical alarms, interlocks, and control requirements in coordination with the Principal Controls & Automation Engineer.
• Ensure hazards associated with high-temperature operations, reactive chemistry, pressure, corrosive materials, gases, solids, and hydrometallurgical systems are appropriately addressed.

Technology & Operations Interface

• Work closely with the company's scientists to identify and resolve scale-up issues and determine when additional laboratory, pilot, or modeling work is required.
• Work with Manufacturing & Supply Chain to ensure the process is designed for reliable operation, maintenance, product quality, and production efficiency.
• Support commissioning, startup, troubleshooting, debottlenecking, and process optimization.
• Use plant operating data and lessons learned to improve process models, operating practices, and future designs.
• Provide engineering feedback to Materials & Technology based on commercial process requirements and operating experience.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Minerals Processing, or a closely related discipline.
• 15+ years of relevant process-engineering experience, preferably in complex minerals, metallurgical, chemical, or advanced-materials facilities.

Pay rate: $90-110/hr. This is a contract-to-hire position (3 months to permanent), onsite in Houston, TX. Candidates must be US Citizens or Green Card holders.

About Us

Peterson Technology Partners (PTP) is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to creating a transparent, inclusive, and human-centered hiring experience.

For more than 28 years, PTP has operated as one of the top IT staffing and recruiting firms in the USA—built on trust, long-term partnerships, and technical excellence.

Based in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, IL, our team of more than 500 employees and consultants is dedicated to:

• Helping every client make the best hiring decisions possible
• Matching professionals with the right IT jobs and career opportunities

As part of that commitment, we believe in providing clear information about how our hiring technologies work and how your data is used. The following section outlines our AI-assisted interview process and your rights as a candidate.

AI-Assisted Interview Experience (Pete & Gabi – Rebecca):

To provide a consistent, fair, and flexible experience for all candidates, we use AI-assisted tools to support parts of the interview process. This includes our proprietary AI platform Pete & Gabi, which includes AI recruiter Rebecca.

These AI hiring tools help us:

• Conduct recorded video interviews
• Transcribe interviews
• Summarize candidate responses
• Generate job-related insights
• Streamline communication and scheduling

Please note that:

• The AI does NOT make hiring decisions; all decisions are made by our human recruiters, hiring managers, or client partners.
• The AI does not evaluate facial expressions, emotions, or physical traits; it is used only to support fairness, consistency, and efficiency.

If you prefer a non-AI interview format, we will gladly provide an alternative.