Project Engineer (Plant Engineering)

[Company name], an SMB in [plant engineering / mechanical engineering / process engineering / pharma equipment / energy] based in [city], [X] employees, [X] million euros revenue, is looking for a Project Engineer to steer [1-3] CAPEX projects with a focus on [regulated pharma or chemical plants / modular machine or skid plants / brownfield expansions in running operation].

Your role

As Project Engineer you carry the delivery responsibility for [1-3] CAPEX projects with a budget between [500 k€ and 5 million euros] per project, with [3-6] main suppliers across the trades [process engineering, mechanics, electrical engineering, I&C, HVAC]. You report to the [technical lead / management / project lead] and work in close partnership with plant management, the production crew and the occupational-safety specialist and, where applicable, environmental officers.

Key responsibilities

• Draw up the specification with plant management, production and the technical lead: functional requirements, plant performance, relevant standards, HSE requirements, the approval path and the CAPEX frame.
• Negotiate the detailed specification with suppliers: technical responsibility cuts, interface definition, defect mechanisms and the penalty clause in the contract.
• Steer the detail engineering across all trades: design reviews with documented release gates, an interface matrix with all suppliers and internal trades, calculation and conformity proofs under the relevant standards.
• Actively lead the risk and interface register: a weekly review in the engineering team, a fortnightly review with suppliers, a monthly steering committee with plant management and the technical lead, proactive escalation of the top risks.
• FAT preparation and support at the suppliers, on-site installation steering with a documented defect list, cold and hot commissioning, performance proof and SAT with the production crew.
• Own HSE and compliance: risk analyses under DIN EN ISO 12100, the CE declaration of conformity, the operating manual, training for production and maintenance, the interface to the occupational-safety specialist under ASiG, and where applicable approval support under BImSchG.
• Structure the closure phase: acceptance with plant management, a hypercare phase after commissioning, a lessons-learned document and the transition into maintenance responsibility.

Profile

• Essential: 3-8 years of experience in project engineering in plant engineering, mechanical engineering or process engineering with internal delivery responsibility; a demonstrated ability to lead at least 2-5 CAPEX projects between 500 k€ and 5 million euros fully from the specification to a safe commissioning; command of at least one discipline-specific engineering tool stack (CAD such as AutoCAD or Inventor or SolidWorks or Creo, electrical engineering with EPLAN Electric P8, sector-specific calculation tools) and the associated standards application (DIN EN ISO 13849, DIN VDE 0100, ATEX, BImSchG depending on sector); a completed engineering degree (diploma, master or bachelor) in mechanical engineering, process engineering, electrical engineering, mechatronics or a comparable discipline.
• Desired: sector depth in [pharma under GMP / chemicals under BImSchG / food under IFS and HACCP / energy under DIN VDE / automotive under IATF 16949]; experience with brownfield expansions in running operation; a VDI certification (Project Engineer VDI) or comparable specialist certification; English skills for steering international suppliers.
• Disqualifying: no internal delivery responsibility in a complete CAPEX cycle (a purely design profile with no commissioning experience or a purely commissioning-oriented profile with no specification responsibility); a missing standards interlock (standards are cited but not applied to real engineering decisions); a tendency to mask problems instead of escalating early, especially on HSE topics; instability (several 12-month stints in a row with no completed CAPEX project).

What we offer

• Gross annual compensation: fixed [52-85] k€ depending on experience, sector specialization and CAPEX scope. Where there is collective-agreement binding, grading per ERA EG 10 to EG 12 with special payments (holiday pay, Christmas pay, T-Zug) per the regionally valid M+E agreement. A possible project-completion bonus of 3-8 % on achieved commissioning milestones per company practice.
• Model: [full-time, hybrid with 3-4 days on-site in the plant or on the site, based in [city], occasional site travel of 20-30 %]. A 35-hour week where there is collective-agreement binding, otherwise a 40-hour week.
• Benefits: [a company pension under BetrAV, a job ticket or bike leasing, a meal subsidy or a canteen, 30 vacation days or a tariff arrangement, a home-office policy, a training budget including VDI certification and sector-specific training, a tool and travel-expense allowance for site deployments].
• Stack: [AutoCAD or Inventor or SolidWorks, EPLAN Electric P8, sector-specific calculation tools, document management, commissioning tracking, Microsoft Teams or Slack, and where applicable a digital twin for virtual commissioning].