Principal Process Engineer

About Us:

Trilliant Food & Nutrition is a leading, vertically integrated manufacturer of premium coffee and powdered beverages, proudly headquartered in Little Chute, Wisconsin. With a legacy rooted in quality, innovation, and service, Trilliant delivers branded and private label solutions across retail, foodservice, and e-commerce channels. 

Horseshoe Beverage Company, based in Neenah, WI, is a leading ready-to-drink beverage manufacturer dedicated to delivering an exceptional beverage experience. By combining industry-leading talent, cutting-edge equipment, and a vertically integrated supply chain, we drive innovation and consistently deliver the highest quality products to our customers—first and fast.

Our brand portfolio includes Victor Allen’s®, Dutch Bros® beverages and Nurri™, our better-for-you protein beverage line.  We are passionate about beverages – and about building a team that’s just as energized.  We invite you to explore opportunities at Trilliant or Horseshoe, to see if your talents and career aspirations may fit with our openings.

Our Core Values:

Diversity and Inclusion at Trilliant and Horseshoe:

We believe talented, great people are the building blocks of our success.  We believe in finding the right people, with the right attitude, and providing them with opportunities to excel.

Position Overview:

The Principal Process Engineer / SME – Coffee Processing will serve as the company’s technical expert for all coffee-based beverage processes, driving innovation, operational excellence, and category growth. This role will drive the engineering execution behind new coffee-based product platforms (RTD, cold brew, functional blends, protein-infused coffee, energy coffee, powdered formats), while ensuring superior quality, regulatory compliance, and cost efficiency. As a subject matter expert, the role will embed deep coffee-specific expertise, accelerate innovation pipelines, and build internal capability to deliver consistent, high-performing products at scale.

Responsibilities:

·         Lead end-to-end coffee process development—from pilot to commercial scale—covering extraction, aroma capture, homogenization, stabilization, and thermal treatments.

·         Drive continuous improvement to reduce losses, improve yields, and optimize energy usage across coffee manufacturing operations.

·         Ability to drive strategic initiatives and influence stakeholders at all levels.

·         Troubleshoot complex coffee-specific process challenges (e.g., oil separation, sedimentation, bitterness development).

·         Develop and maintain process documentation, validation protocols, and compliance records.

·         Entrepreneurial mindset with an initiative-taking, hands-on approach to problem solving.

·         Mentor and develop cross-functional teams (Operations, R&D, Quality) to build sustainable in-house coffee expertise.

Qualifications:

·         Bachelor’s or master’s in chemical engineering, Food Engineering, or related field (advanced degree preferred).

·         10 years in process engineering, with extensive experience in coffee or complex beverage systems.

·         Proven ability to scale processes, improve efficiency, and deliver high-quality, compliant products.

·         Familiarity with sustainability strategies, environmental regulations, and global regulatory compliance requirements.

·         Strong analytical, communication, and project leadership skills in high-volume manufacturing environments.

·         Ability to influence and drive alignment among diverse internal and external stakeholders.

Hours, Location and Pay:

We offer a competitive-based pay rate and comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees.  This role works standard business hours Monday – Friday at either our Little Chute or Neenah, WI manufacturing facility.

Physical and Mental Demands:

·         While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, hear, use hands to type data, use a personal computer and telephone. This employee may occasionally have to operate business machines and lift and/move up to 50 pounds.

·         Specific vision abilities required in this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

·         Mental demands include multi-tasking, decision making, problem solving, comparing, copying, computing, compiling, analyzing, coordinating, and synthesizing data.

·         Potential for exposure to chemicals, heights, loud noises, mechanical equipment, wet environments, and other potential hazards exists.

Safety Statement:

At Trilliant and Horseshoe, safety is every employee’s first responsibility.  We expect all employees to adhere to all safety practices, have the moral courage to stop other individuals from performing unsafe acts, and immediately report unsafe conditions.

Disclosures:

·         The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

·         Responsible for following food safety/regulatory policies and procedures, executing responsibilities as identified in standard operating procedures, and reporting food safety/regulatory concerns to the Production or Quality Manager.

·         Trilliant Food & Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage Company are Drug Free Workplaces. All applicants are subject to a drug screen and background check as a condition of employment.

·         Trilliant Food and Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage participate in the E-Verify process.

·         EEO/AA including Vets and Disabled

·         If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at HR@trilliantfood.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

·         Trilliant Food and Nutrition and Horseshoe Beverage are Equal Opportunity Employers.

·         The principles of the OECD and UN have been taken into consideration and used as guidance in our human rights practices and procedures.