Senior Principal Engineer - Process Engineering (API Manufacturing)

Location: Onsite/hybrid in Geel, Belgium, or Athens, Georgia, USA; willingness to travel up to 25% domestically and internationally

Base pay: €96,000–€165,025 per year

Company

Johnson & Johnson develops healthcare solutions and medicines through its Innovative Medicine and MedTech businesses.

What you will do

• Lead the intake, prioritization, and resolution of technical requests for synthetic drug substance manufacturing across global sites.
• Define early-phase process designs, technology strategies, capital scopes, schedules, and equipment selections for API manufacturing.
• Provide expertise across reactions, phase separation, distillation, crystallization, filtration, centrifugation, drying, milling, blending, and solvent recovery.
• Drive robust, standardized, inspection-ready processes aligned with cGMP, ICH Q7, product quality, and process safety requirements.
• Adopt real-time monitoring, advanced process control, data analytics, modeling, simulation, and smart manufacturing solutions.
• Collaborate with R&D/CMC, MSAT, Quality, EHS, Operations, external manufacturers, and industry experts across the network.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related technical field.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience in synthetic drug substance or API manufacturing.
• Expertise in API purification and solid-state or particle engineering, including crystallization, filtration, centrifugation, drying, and milling.
• Experience with API scale-up, technology transfer, process fixing, reactor systems, solvent handling, and process analytical or control systems.
• Strong knowledge of cGMP, API regulatory expectations, data integrity, documentation, process safety, and containment.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.

Nice to have

• Experience with inherently safe containment for potent materials, dust control, and exposure mitigation.
• Additional Dutch, Spanish, or Italian language skills.
• Experience influencing cross-functional teams, external partners, and global technical decisions.

Culture & Benefits

• Inclusive environment focused on collaboration, technical credibility, and patient impact.
• Annual bonus based on pay grade, location, and performance.
• Vacation, parental, bereavement, caregiver, and volunteer leave.
• Well-being reimbursement and financial, physical, and mental health programs.
• Insurance plans and service anniversary and recognition awards, subject to plan terms and location.