Senior Process Design Engineer (Technical Lead)

Kennedy Jenks is seeking a Senior Process Design Engineer in California to lead complex industrial water and wastewater process design work, guide multidisciplinary delivery teams, and help clients develop practical, sustainable, and efficient solutions across diverse market sectors.

This role offers the opportunity to shape process design strategy, support delivery from planning through startup, and contribute to the growth of KJ’s industrial water and wastewater practice. As an employee-owned firm, KJ offers you the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on our projects, our clients, and the future of our company.

As a Senior Process Design Engineer (Technical Lead), you’ll contribute across technical leadership, project delivery, client engagement, and collaboration.

• Lead process design strategy: Serve as Project Technical Lead on complex industrial engineering projects, including wastewater, facilities engineering, and metals finishing work.
• Develop and test technical solutions: Establish process design approaches, develop process flow diagrams, guide water and mass balances, and direct bench and pilot testing for complex treatment systems.
• Evaluate alternatives: Prepare options analyses and detailed process design recommendations that balance performance, cost, constructability, and sustainability.
• Coordinate project delivery: Align technical disciplines, project teams, and client priorities from planning and design through construction, commissioning, and startup.
• Support project development and client relationships: Support scope, schedule, fee development, negotiation, staffing, and service expansion opportunities with existing clients.
• Collaborate across KJ: Partner with multidisciplinary teams and travel to client sites, project locations, and KJ offices as needed.

• Technical influence: Shape solutions for complex industrial water and wastewater challenges where strong process design decisions improve efficiency, reliability, and long-term client outcomes.
• Full lifecycle impact: Influence projects from early planning and alternatives analysis through design, construction, commissioning, and startup, creating continuity between strategy and execution.
• Practice growth: Support client relationships, strengthen KJ’s industrial water and wastewater capabilities, and contribute to sustainable, high-impact project delivery.

• Technical leadership and process knowledge: Ability to guide process design decisions, advise project teams, and apply industrial water and wastewater treatment knowledge to complex technical challenges.
• Project delivery perspective: Understanding of how technical decisions support successful delivery across planning, design, construction, commissioning, and startup.
• Client and team communication: Ability to collaborate clearly with clients, multidisciplinary teams, and internal stakeholders.
• Analytical approach: Ability to evaluate options, interpret testing results, and recommend solutions that balance performance, cost, schedule, constructability, and sustainability.

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Chemical, Environmental, Mechanical, Civil, or a related engineering field.
• Experience: 10 years of engineering experience in investigation, planning, design, construction, and commissioning, including relevant consulting experience.
• Project management: Experience supporting or leading scope, schedule, and budget oversight for engineering projects.
• Market sector experience: Experience applying process design solutions across sectors such as mining and metals, pulp and paper, food and beverage, data centers, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, or similar industrial environments.
• Licensure: Professional Engineer (PE) license in California required.
• Travel: Ability to travel to client and project sites as needed for client visits, meetings, project coordination, and collaboration with other KJ offices.
• Additional preferred qualifications: Familiarity with computer-aided drafting and design tools such as AutoCAD, BlueBeam, Revit, or similar platforms.

Kennedy Jenks supports a healthy work-life balance and utilizes a hybrid model of home and office work, with a minimum of two days per week in the office. This approach empowers our people to thrive, collaborate, and do their best work.

Salary range for this position is anticipated to be $140,000 to $200,000, and may vary based upon education, experience, qualifications, licensure/certifications, and geographic location.

Benefits summary: Medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance; a health savings account; a 401(k); bonus programs; tuition reimbursement; employee ownership opportunity; professional registration support; business travel assistance; competitive paid time off and holidays; an employee assistance program; and additional programs that support your wellbeing and professional growth.

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