Gradiant is a Different Kind of Water Company. With a full suite of differentiated and proprietary end-to-end solutions for advanced water and wastewater treatment powered by the top minds in water, the company serves its clients mission-critical operations in the world's essential industries, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, lithium and critical minerals, and renewable energy. Gradiant's innovative solutions reduce water used and wastewater discharged, reclaim valuable resources, and renew wastewater into freshwater. The Boston-headquartered company was founded at MIT and has over 1,400 employees worldwide. Discover us at www.gradiant.com.
he Senior NPI Engineer will play a key role in the development, validation, and scale-up of PFAS-related technologies. This role is highly hands-on, combining laboratory experimentation, pilot testing, and data-driven optimization with project execution responsibilities.
The candidate will contribute to the scale-up of new technologies from bench to pilot to full-scale commercial deployment, bridging fundamental process understanding with practical engineering execution for end-to-end technology development and implementation. The role includes project coordination across internal teams, vendors, and customers to ensure successful delivery of pilot and demonstration projects.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Develop process design basis, technical specifications, operating windows, and performance assumptions/claims
- Maintain and standardize process design templates, calculation methods, and engineering tools
- Develop and improve internal tools for process design and equipment sizing
- Design and execute experiments, including building and operating bench-scale and pilot-scale systems for proof-of-concept (POC), design verification, and validation
- Lead pilot system design, setup, commissioning, and troubleshooting activities
- Conduct technical risk assessments (e.g., HAZOP), including identification of failure modes, mitigations, and control strategies
- Develop control philosophy and functional narratives in collaboration with PLC programmers to ensure robust system automation
- Coordinate engineering inputs required for GA drawings, 2D layouts, and 3D models
- Ensure technical deliverables are accurate, consistent, and aligned with validated performance data
- Work closely with Engineering and Manufacturing teams to translate R&D outputs into standardized, repeatable, and manufacturable design packages
- Establish commissioning and acceptance protocols, troubleshooting playbooks, and field readiness standards
- Support on-site commissioning and pilot studies as required
- Capture field learnings and translate them into design improvements, tool enhancements, and updated engineering standards
- Collaborate with commercial teams to incorporate feedback from operating projects into design improvements
- Execute NPI plans, including scope definition, milestones, and resource planning
- Support proposal and regional manufacturing teams in conducting costing exercise, drafting budgetary and technical proposal for solution packages offering
QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD degree in Chemical, Environmental, Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent)
- 3–5 years of experience in the water industry (EPC, OEM, or water technology/solution companies preferred)
- Experience with process modeling or design/ projection tools (e.g., Aspen, WAVE, IMS Design, OLI etc.)
- Demonstrated experience in industrial wastewater treatment solutions
- Hands-on experience with pilot systems, commissioning, and troubleshooting
- Strong foundation in process design, including mass balance and cost estimation
- Experience in preparing design documents (i.e., PFDs, P&IDs, Equipment list, Instrument list, 2D layout and GA drawings)
- Strong project management and organizational skills; able to manage multiple tasks simultaneously
- Demonstrate experience in scaling up emerging technology for successful commercialization
