Sr Principal Plant Engineering SME - Berkeley, CA

At Bayer we’re visionaries, driven to solve the world’s toughest challenges and striving for a world where 'Health for all Hunger for none’ is no longer a dream, but a real possibility. We’re doing it with energy, curiosity and sheer dedication, always learning from unique perspectives of those around us, expanding our thinking, growing our capabilities and redefining ‘impossible’. There are so many reasons to join us. If you’re hungry to build a varied and meaningful career in a community of brilliant and diverse minds to make a real difference, there’s only one choice.

Sr Principal Plant Engineering SME - Berkeley, CA

As a Sr Principal Plant Engineering SME, you are responsible for leading and coordinating technical initiatives across the organization to drive innovation and operational excellence; You oversee project engineering, maintenance strategies and process improvements to ensure optimal performance and compliance with industry standards; You emphasize the development of effective technical teams, fostering collaboration and promoting knowledge sharing to enhance capabilities; You identify and implement best practices, manage technical integrity and ensure that all engineering activities align with organizational goals for safety, quality and efficiency; You manage and drive continuous improvement of site-wide autoclave sterilizers and parts washers to increase systems reliability and cost efficiencies; You serve as a subject matter expert for Bayer Berkeley’s autoclave sterilizers and parts washers and lead site-wide condition-based and predictive maintenance programs for these systems and equipment; You identify and manage equipment risks that could adversely affect plant or business operations and evaluate components or equipment to improve the equipment and site’s overall performance and reliability status.

YOUR TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The primary responsibilities of this role, Sr Principal Plant Engineering SME, are to:

• Lead cross-functional work teams to develop and implement short- and long-term strategies that improve the reliability and infrastructure of autoclave sterilizers and parts washers;

• Manage and provide guidance site-wide for procedures including SOPs, maintenance plans and HSE policies associated with autoclave sterilizers and parts washers;

• Ensure adherence to regulatory and cGMP compliance for autoclaves and parts washers by partnering with internal and external experts and supporting inspections and validation activities;

• Develop engineering solutions, leveraging data from digital historians and insights from vendors, to mitigate repetitive failures and other issues that adversely affect plant operations, capacity, quality, cost or regulatory compliance;

• Work with asset owners to analyze assets, including asset utilization, overall equipment effectiveness, remaining useful life and other parameters that define operating condition, reliability and cost;

• Track production losses and abnormally high maintenance cost assets and partner with asset owners to eliminate or reduce losses and costs through root cause analysis, approval of improvement plans and facilitation of implementation;

• Provide cross-functional technical support to identify, report and resolve critical equipment issues, applying value analysis to repair or replace, repair or redesign and make or buy decisions;

• Adhere to Life Cycle Asset Management principles across the entire life cycle of new and existing assets, defining value-added preventive, condition-based and predictive maintenance tasks and optimizing maintenance frequencies;

• Develop and deploy condition-based, predictive and other non-destructive testing methodologies to identify and isolate reliability problems and reduce equipment downtime by optimizing routine maintenance activities;

• Guide efforts to ensure reliability and maintainability of equipment, processes, utilities, facilities, controls and safety or security systems, including procuring and coordinating contractor support as needed;

• Develop and coordinate plans for maintenance activities around equipment and facility shutdowns, including inspection tools and technologies that support site-wide equipment reliability and associated capital and purchasing paperwork;

• Establish and manage external vendor relationships for equipment monitoring, service and reliability, setting expectations for quality outcomes and routinely assessing results through field verification;

• Drive changes and build processes that improve equipment reliability, establish and present monthly key performance indicators to management and manage programs to update obsolete spare parts within MRO stores;

• Provide leadership to peers, standard work orientation to junior engineers, represent the Berkeley site in global communities and engineering conferences and collaborate across functions and globally to identify and implement condition-based and predictive maintenance processes.

WHO YOU ARE

Bayer seeks an incumbent who possesses the following:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline or an equivalent combination of education and experience;

• Experience in GMP or GLP-regulated environments with practical exposure to plant engineering, utility systems and cGMP compliance;

• Hands-on experience with pharmaceutical direct and indirect utility systems, equipment and facilities, including high purity water systems, clean room HVAC systems, process instrumentation and control systems, CIP and SIP systems and cleaning validation;

• Ability to troubleshoot complex equipment and systems and supporting utility services and to respond flexibly to business needs outside regular business hours;

• Proficient computer skills, including Excel, Word and PowerPoint, with familiarity in SAP or comparable enterprise systems;

• Strong planning and organizational skills, with the ability to support and prioritize diverse activities simultaneously while meeting schedule commitments;

• Ability to troubleshoot equipment failures promptly and communicate status clearly to customers and stakeholders;

• Strong oral and written communication skills and interpersonal skills to effectively communicate with a diverse customer base;

• Self-motivated mindset with the ability to exercise good judgment and operate independently while aligning with site and corporate standards.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Lean Six Sigma methodologies and application of continuous improvement tools in engineering and maintenance environments;

• Specialized knowledge and validation experience for autoclaves, sterilizers and parts washers, including process design and qualification life cycle phases such as IQ, OQ and PQ;

• Experience with process control systems, including DCS, PLCs, instrumentation and low-voltage electrical systems;

• Demonstrated background in applying value analysis and reliability or asset management concepts to repair or replace, repair or redesign and make or buy decisions;

• Proven experience representing sites in global engineering communities or conferences and building networks of external contacts appropriate to plant engineering and reliability leadership.

Employees can expect to be paid a salary between $131,600.00 - $197,400.00. Additional compensation may include a bonus or commission (if relevant). Additional benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, PTO, sick leave, etc.

This salary range is merely an estimate and may vary based on an applicant’s location, market data/ranges, an applicant’s skills and prior relevant experience, certain degrees and certifications, and other relevant factors.

This posting will be available for application until at least 10/10/2026.

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YOUR APPLICATION

Bayer offers a wide variety of competitive compensation and benefits programs. If you meet the requirements of this unique opportunity, and want to impact our mission Health for all, Hunger for none, we encourage you to apply now. Be part of something bigger. Be you. Be Bayer.

To all recruitment agencies: Bayer does not accept unsolicited third party resumes.

Bayer is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disabled/Veterans

Bayer is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodations in its application process for individuals with disabilities and encourages applicants with disabilities to request any needed accommodation(s) using the contact information below.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement: Notice for U.S. Visitors: All information on this site is subject to compliance with local rule and regulations as they may vary from time to time and across different geographies, including, without limitation, U.S. Executive Orders.

Bayer is an E-Verify Employer.

Location: United States : California : Berkeley

Division: Pharmaceuticals

Reference Code: 889795

Contact Us

Email: [email protected]