Senior Chemical Engineer

Job description

Work Schedule Standard (Mon-Fri) Environmental Conditions Office, Some degree of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) required (safety glasses, gowning, gloves, lab coat, ear plugs etc.) Job Description As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every single day to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step beyond by developing solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, like protecting the environment, making sure our food is safe or helping find cures for cancer. Position Summary Join Thermo Fisher Scientific as a Senior Chemical Engineer in Warrington, UK, where you will provide technical leadership for complex manufacturing and engineering projects that enable the successful introduction of new products, process scale-up, site-to-site technology transfers, and new manufacturing capabilities within a regulated environment. Reporting to the Manager of Technical Operations, you will lead the chemical engineering aspects of process development, equipment design, process optimisation, manufacturing readiness, and major capital projects, ensuring manufacturing processes are safe, compliant, robust, scalable, and capable of supporting long-term manufacturability. Working collaboratively with Global Technical Operations, R&D, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Procurement, and external suppliers, you will serve as the chemical engineering subject matter expert, influencing technical decisions, solving complex manufacturing challenges, and driving operational excellence and continuous improvement across the organisation. Responsibilities Lead the chemical engineering activities for New Product Introduction (NPI), process scale-up, and technology transfer projects from development through commercial manufacturing. Develop and optimise manufacturing processes using sound chemical engineering principles, ensuring safe, robust, and efficient operation at production scale. Perform process engineering calculations including mass and energy balances, heat transfer, fluid flow, mixing, residence time analysis, and equipment sizing. Lead process design activities including Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs), Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs), process specifications, and engineering documentation. Define process equipment requirements and author/review User Requirement Specifications (URS) to ensure equipment is fit for purpose, scalable, and compliant with regulatory requirements. Provide technical leadership during equipment selection, vendor evaluation, design reviews, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), commissioning, and qualification activities. Partner with Global Technical Operations, Manufacturing, R&D and Engineering teams to transfer products and processes between sites. Apply process safety principles including Process Hazard Analysis (PHA), HAZOP participation, chemical compatibility assessments, pressure relief considerations, and safe process design. Identify process risks and develop mitigation strategies to improve process capability, reliability, quality, and manufacturing performance. Analyse manufacturing data using statistical and engineering methods to identify trends, optimise performance, reduce variability, and improve yields. Lead root cause investigations into process deviations, equipment performance issues, and manufacturing failures, implementing effective corrective and preventive actions. Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineering, Validation, Quality, Supply Chain, and Operations to ensure successful implementation of new processes and equipment. Support commissioning, IQ/OQ/PQ, Process Performance Qualification (PPQ), process validation, cleaning validation, and continued process verification activities. Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on process efficiency, sustainability, waste reduction, energy utilisation, and manufacturing capacity. Prepare and present technical reports, engineering justifications, risk assessments, and project updates to stakeholders and senior leadership. Mentor junior engineers and provide technical leadership across cross-functional engineering projects. Support compliance with company Quality Management Systems, GMP requirements, ISO standards, and Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) policies. Undertake additional duties as required to support business priorities and project delivery. Education Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering required. Master's degree or Chartered Engineer (CEng) status is desirable. Experience 7+ years of chemical engineering experience within a manufacturing, pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, speciality chemicals, or regulated industrial environment. Demonstrated experience leading New Product Introduction (NPI), process scale-up, technology transfer, or site-to-site transfer projects. Experience designing and implementing manufacturing processes from pilot through commercial production. Experience supporting capital equipment selection, process design, commissioning and qualification. Proven ability to lead complex technical projects across engineering, manufacturing, quality and supply chain. Experience working within GMP and regulated manufacturing environments. Demonstrated ability to influence technical decisions across matrix organisations. Knowledge, Skills, Abilities Strong understanding of chemical engineering fundamentals including thermodynamics, transport phenomena, reaction engineering, heat and mass transfer, and process control. Knowledge of process safety methodologies including HAZOP, FMEA, risk assessments, and safe process design principles. Excellent problem-solving and troubleshooting skills with the ability to analyse complex manufacturing challenges. Experience using engineering calculations and data analysis to support process optimisation and decision making. Strong project management and stakeholder management skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present technical information to cross-functional audiences. Highly organised with excellent attention to detail and commitment to quality. Collaborative team player who thrives in a multidisciplinary environment. Demonstrated ability to influence change and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Ability to prioritise competing priorities within a dynamic project environment. Physical Requirements / Work Environment The role combines office-based engineering activities with regular presence in manufacturing environments supporting process trials, commissioning, equipment implementation and manufacturing operations. Occasional international travel may be required to support global technology transfer and supplier activities.