Senior Process Design Engineer – Industrial Wastewater

We are seeking an experienced process engineering professional to lead the design and deployment of industrial wastewater treatment, reuse, and recycle solutions. In this role, you will serve as a technical leader supporting Food & Beverage customers, while also contributing to projects across other industrial sectors. You will be responsible for process design from early concept development through detailed engineering, commissioning, and optimization, partnering closely with sales, project execution, and customers to deliver reliable, high-performing treatment systems.

What’s in it For You

• Opportunity to own complex process designs from concept through startup and optimization
• Exposure to a wide range of industrial wastewater treatment and reuse applications, with a strong focus on Food & Beverage
• Ability to work directly with customers, internal teams, and technology partners
• Platform to provide technical leadership, mentoring, and knowledge sharing across the organization
• Involvement in developing standard designs, best practices, and continuous improvement initiatives

What You Will Do

• Develop conceptual and preliminary process designs for industrial wastewater treatment, reuse, and recycle systems, primarily for Food & Beverage applications
• Define treatment strategies and system configurations based on wastewater characteristics, recovery goals, and discharge or reuse requirements
• Prepare mass balances, process flow diagrams (PFDs), and high-level system layouts
• Develop complete process design packages, including PFDs, P&IDs, hydraulic calculations, and mass and energy balances
• Design full wastewater treatment trains, including pretreatment, core treatment, and post-treatment processes
• Select appropriate treatment technologies and perform unit operation design and equipment sizing
• Generate equipment lists, process design criteria, and support solution costing
• Support project execution through design reviews, commissioning, startup, and system optimization
• Troubleshoot process performance issues and validate system performance in the field
• Serve as a technical resource to sales, service, and implementation teams and support training and mentoring of engineers

Position Details

• Location: Naperville, IL or Remote (U.S.-based, near a major airport)
• Travel: Approximately 20%+ (domestic)
• Employment Type: Full-time

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering
• 10+ years of water and wastewater treatment process design experience
• Strong background in industrial wastewater treatment and system integration
• Experience developing process designs for complex treatment systems, including biological, chemical, and/or membrane processes

Preferred Qualifications

• 15+ years of process design experience
• 5–10+ years of experience in industrial wastewater reuse and recycle systems
• Experience with Food & Beverage wastewater treatment applications
• Experience across other industrial sectors such as Chemical, Data Centers, or Primary Metals

Benefits 

Ecolab provides the following benefits: medical, dental, vision, life insurance, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, hospital indemnity insurance, auto insurance, home insurance, pet insurance, identity theft protection, short-term and long-term disability, 401k, pension plans, retirement health care benefits, short-term incentives, vacation (12 days), holidays, parental leave, employee stock purchase plans (Full-Time Associates), discount on day care services and caregiver services, adoption assistance, group legal services, employee assistance program, employee discount program, and education assistance program, on-Site childcare and fitness facilities may be available at select Ecolab locations. Click here for additional benefits information. If you are viewing this posting on a site other than our Ecolab Career website, view our benefits at jobs.ecolab.com/working-here.

Potential Customer Requirements Notice

To meet customer requirements and comply with local or state regulations, applicants for certain customer-facing roles may need to:

- Undergo additional background screens and/or drug/alcohol testing for customer credentialing.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

Ecolab will provide reasonable accommodation (such as a qualified sign language interpreter or other personal assistance) with our application process upon request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require accommodation assistance in this application process, please visit the Recruiting Support link in the footer of each page of our career website.