Pilot Plant Digital Process Engineer

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Business Context Pepsi Lipton, a joint venture between Unilever and PepsiCo, combines 125 years of tea expertise to pioneer in the ready-to-drink tea market. As an autonomous global company with its own board of directors, we launch products worldwide, offering our employees broad roles with significant responsibilities. We provide a culture of innovation and learning, competitive compensation, and comprehensive benefits. Our development centre at Colworth Science Park creates winning products for Europe, Africa and Asia with our R&D team innovating the future of the business and industry. Our team is passionate about being at the front end of innovation and it's exciting to see our creations in consumers' hands. We are seeking a practical and innovative Process and Digital Engineer to join our dynamic team. This role is perfect for an experienced Food Processing Engineers with a passion for digital transformation in a dynamic team environment. If you enjoy collaborating with fun, creativity, expertise and rigour, join us in unlocking the Power of Tea to produce phenomenal ready-to-drink products! To learn more, visit www.liptonicedtea.com . Role Context This role operates within the Pepsi Lipton Joint Venture pilot plant at Colworth Science Park, a highly utilised R&D environment supporting Ready to Drink tea process development for global innovation programmes. The Colworth pilot plant serves multiple stakeholders and projects simultaneously, requiring disciplined coordination of equipment availability, servicing, and compliance activities. The Pilot Plant Digital Process Engineer plays a critical enabling function by supporting operational readiness and governance across pilot-scale trials, working closely with pilot plant operations, digital leads, engineering, health and safety, and external service partners to ensure development activity can be delivered safely, efficiently, and predictably. Key Accountabilities Act as the process development leader to ensure On Time in Full (OTIF) delivery of projects including process design, laboratory and pilot plant prototypes and scale up trials. Lead the scoping, implementation and running of 'non-standard' or novel pilot plant operations for new innovations, involving cross-functional interaction with R&D, Technical Project Leads, Supply Chain, Microbiology, Site Safety etc., creating new processes and protocols to support novel workstreams. Lead digital enablement of pilot plant trials, including digitising workflows and automating data capture, ensuring data quality and adoption by users. Lead the process safety implementation for all Pilot Plant equipment, ensuring compliance with HSE and Unilever standards. Plan and coordinate equipment inspections, servicing, and remedial work with internal teams and external service providers to enable effective execution of pilot plant activities Propose, prioritise, and implement continuous improvement opportunities for pilot plant processes and operations using data-led problem solving (e.g. root cause analysis), standardisation, and practical trials. Own the implementation of agreed improvements: develop requirements, coordinate stakeholders, validate in the pilot plant, update SOPs/training, and track benefits (safety, quality, cost, speed, reliability). Deputise as Group Safety Advisor to the Pepsi Lipton team at Colworth, attending regular meetings with the Site Safety Team and rolling out site wide initiatives as required. Support the Pilot Plant Manager in identifying and implementing future-fit processing capabilities required to deliver the JV's innovation and growth strategy. Support Pilot Plant Food Safety agenda, including HACCP creation and implementation. Key Interfaces Pilot Plant Operations R&D Project + Digital Teams Health, Safety & Compliance External Service Providers Knowledge, Skills & Experience Degree in Engineering, Food Technology, or equivalent apprenticeship and experience. Experience supporting pilot plants, process development, or manufacturing environments. Comfortable working with data and digital tools to improve operations (e.g. electronic batch records, dashboards, data visualisation in Excel/Power BI or similar). Experience coordinating change implementation in a live operational environment: stakeholder alignment, risk assessment, documentation/SOP updates, training, and change adoption. Ability to manage multiple programs of work at any given time, with a keen eye for detail and rigor Strong communication skills. A strong team player who can also work independently as required. Strong coordination and stakeholder management skills across internal and external interfaces. Working knowledge of equipment servicing, operational planning, and health & safety requirements. Experience with HACCP and Foods safety appreciated. Ability to operate effectively in a regulated environment with multiple priorities.

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