Chemical/Process Engineer

About K1 Industries
For the first time in decades, power demand growth in the US has jumped 5x, driving multi-year lead times for critical power infrastructure. K1 builds and deploys modular power packages at scale, now.

The Role
We are hiring a Process Engineer to own the balance of plant for our power packages: everything that has to work for a gas turbine to turn fuel into electrons safely and reliably. Fuel gas conditioning and delivery, lube oil, cooling and heat rejection, compressed air, exhaust and emissions, water, drains, vents, and the instrumentation and controls that tie them together. You will define how these systems are architected, sized, specified, and documented, and you will carry that design through vendors, fabrication, and commissioning.

This is a design-focused role. You will spend most of your time on process design, engineering documentation, and vendor management, with regular time in the field to see your systems built, commissioned, and running. What we care about most is your first-principles thinking, your discipline around process safety, and how fast you move from a P&ID to a working plant.

What You'll Work On

Process Design and System Architecture

• Translate turbine and site requirements into clear functional requirements for each balance-of-plant system

• Size and select equipment from first principles: heat and mass balances, pressure drop and flow, thermodynamic cycles, heat exchanger duty

• Set system bounds early with order-of-magnitude estimates, then drive the design to close

• Define the process, mechanical, electrical, and controls interfaces between the turbine package and the plant

Design Documentation

• Own the process design basis, PFDs, P&IDs, heat and material balances, line lists, and equipment and instrument datasheets

• Write equipment and package specifications that vendors can bid and build to without ambiguity

• Develop operating philosophies, control narratives, cause-and-effect matrices, and start-up and shutdown sequences

• Maintain document and revision control as the design matures from concept to as-built

Process Safety

• Lead hazard identification and process safety reviews (HAZID, HAZOP, LOPA) and drive actions to closure

• Design relief, venting, gas detection, isolation, and safe shutdown systems, and specify the safety instrumented functions that go with them

• Apply the relevant codes and standards (ASME, API, NFPA, ISA) and know when and how they bind the design

• Build a safety culture on a small team: we move fast, and the process side is where we cannot get it wrong

Vendor and Package Management

• Develop the supplier base for skids, heat exchangers, compressors, filtration, valves, instruments, and packaged systems

• Run RFQs, evaluate technical bids, and negotiate scope splits with vendors

• Review vendor drawings and documentation, attend factory acceptance tests, and hold vendors to spec and schedule

Commissioning and Operations Support

• Develop commissioning plans, test procedures, and acceptance criteria for the systems you designed

• Support pre-commissioning, first fire, and performance testing at our test facility and at customer sites

• Troubleshoot process issues in the field, run root cause when things go wrong, and feed lessons back into the design

• Standardize the design so each package is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than the last

You Might Be a Great Fit If...

• You have a degree in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, or a related field

• You have designed process or utility systems and carried them from PFD through P&ID, specification, procurement, and commissioning

• You are fluent in heat and mass balances, fluid flow, heat transfer, and thermodynamics, and comfortable with process simulation tools

• You have run or participated in HAZOPs and know how to design for process safety, not just document it

• You have managed vendors and packaged equipment and know how to get what you specified, on time

• You write clearly and produce documentation that other people can actually build and operate from

• You want ownership, you ask for help when stuck, and you move fast

Bonus Points For Any Of:

• Natural gas fuel systems, fuel gas conditioning, or gas compression

• Gas turbine or engine balance of plant, power generation, or oil and gas facilities

• Lube oil, cooling water, air-cooled heat exchangers, or emissions control (SCR, oxidation catalysts)

• Modular or skid-mounted plant design for outdoor and remote industrial sites

• Experience with permitting inputs such as air emissions, noise, or spill prevention

• Time in a startup or small-team environment with real ownership