Johannesburg: Process Engineer posted by HiveWorx HR

About the Role

Our client, a premier water treatment company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, is seeking an experienced Process Engineer to lead process design, commissioning, and performance run leadership for packaged water treatment systems. With decades of experience in the industry, they have established themselves as leaders in technology and solutions for the purification and treatment of water in the African market.

Key Responsibilities

• Own process design, commissioning, and performance run leadership for packaged water treatment systems (potable, wastewater, reuse, desalination), ensuring every unit is fully process-engineered, validated, and performance-proven.

• Perform process design and hydraulic modeling (using WAVE, PRSM, MM5, or equivalent) to optimize treatment trains, chemical dosing, filtration, disinfection, and sludge handling from initial P&ID to final as-built.

• Define and issue process design deliverables (PFDs, P&IDs, mass/energy balances, equipment lists, control narratives, instrument datasheets) that form the backbone of skid fabrication and system integration.

• Review and approve layouts, 3D models, piping design, and mechanical integration to ensure alignment with process intent, hydraulic performance, and operability.

• Develop and execute commissioning and performance run protocols, including FAT/SAT, wet testing, startup sequencing, control loop tuning, and full-load performance trials to achieve contractual guarantees.

• Lead factory and site commissioning teams through hands-on technical direction to install, start up, and stabilize packaged plants, resolving processes, hydraulic, and control issues in real time.

• Direct performance run trials to verify effluent quality, recovery, chemical consumption, energy use, and uptime against design and client KPIs.

• Conduct design-for-modularity and design-for-transport analysis to eliminate implementation risks.

• Drive post-commissioning optimization using online analyzers, PLC data trending, and statistical process control to sustain and exceed performance targets long-term.

• Create and maintain complete process design and commissioning packages (PFDs, P&IDs, control narratives, O&M manuals, commissioning reports, performance test results, and handover checklists) that enable rapid replication and future upgrades.

• Partner with sales engineers during bid phase to translate client requests into implementable, commissionable, and verifiable process designs, including pilot validation and modular scale-up studies.

• Champion implementation and performance readiness by delivering operator training, remote monitoring dashboards, commissioning schedules, and performance acceptance documentation that ensure client sign-off and sustained plant reliability.

• Support sales and proposal development by providing process schematics, performance guarantees, preliminary P&IDs, and technical write-ups for bids and client proposals.

• Contribute to proposal drafting with process descriptions, sizing calculations, and compliance narratives to strengthen technical submissions.

• Supervise and mentor junior process engineers, providing technical guidance, workload prioritization, design reviews, and professional development to build team capability.

Requirements

• 3-5 years’ experience as a process engineer in the industry

• Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s degree

• Valid driver’s license

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively

• Computer literacy in MS Office (Excel/Word/PowerPoint) and AutoCAD

• Strong attention to details

• Sound engineering knowledge of water and wastewater treatment processes

• Good mathematical and data interpretation capabilities

• Knowledge of water and wastewater legislation, particularly with respect Potable Water (SANS 241) and trade effluent discharge permit systems

• Working knowledge of water treatment process solutions including UF/NF/RO membranes, media filtration, ion exchange, disinfection systems and more technologies

• Working knowledge of effluent treatment process solutions including biological, chemical and physio chemical processes

• Working knowledge of H&S, Quality Assurance and Project Management practices

Qualifications

No formal qualifications mentioned in the original job description.