Amgen Inc. Posted September 8, 2026

Principal Process Engineer - Upstream/Downstream

Holly Springs, United States Full time
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Amgen Inc. is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

Career Category

Engineering

Job Description

Job Description

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission, to serve patients living with serious illnesses, drives all that we do.

Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

Be part of Amgen's newest and most advanced drug substance manufacturing plant. When completed, the Amgen FleX batch facility will combine the latest in disposable technologies with traditional stainless steel equipment to allow for maximum flexibility in operations The FleX Batch facility will not only feature the best in-class drug substance manufacturing technologies with embedded industry 4.0 capabilities, but it will also integrate sustainability innovations to reduce carbon and waste, as part of Amgen's plan to be a carbon-neutral company by 2027.

Principal Process Engineer  - Upstream/Downstream

What you will do

In this vital role you will be joining the Facilities & Engineering (F&E) group to partner closely with the corporate engineering team to design, build, commission, and qualify new equipment and systems needed for drug substance production. You will lead technical projects, and drive innovation in product design and manufacturing processes. You will solve complex engineering problems, optimize processes, and ensure the company's engineering efforts align with strategic objectives . You will also provide leadership and guidance to the engineering team supporting 24/7 manufacturing and facility operations.

Site design, construction, start-up, and operational readiness:

S upport the design and build of manufacturing equipment systems by aligning design review processes and documents with site requirements , including equipment design and sizing, architecture and electrical distribution, and piping and instrumentation diagrams.

S upport factory acceptance testing working in partnership with global engineering during site installation , including reviewing protocols and resolving punch list items .

Work with capital project team to e nsure systems are installed and operating safely and comply with pertinent environmental health/safety practice, rules and regulations as well as Amgen global engineering requirements . Ensure that systems are installed per the design requirements .

Execute and guide the commissioning and validation of systems to ensure their operational capability is aligned with manufacturing requirements and GMP regulation and on-time project delivery. Support execution of engineering and performance qualification runs while providing hypercare support as needed.

P erform engineering assessments for plant equipment operations , implementing equipment modifications, and supporting engineering runs in support of new product/technology introductions as required .

Site O perations:

Provide system ownership for Upstream and /or Downstream Drug substance process equipment , areas, and systems providing end-to-end support for operations .

S erve as a main point of contact for Process and equipment engineering function.

Effectively collaborate with key customers and support groups ( e.g. Manufacturing, Quality, Process Development, Maintenance, network partners) to ensure reliable plant operations .

Work with original equipment manufacturers for breakdown and planned maintenance of process equipment as applicable .

Lead identifying and implementing engineering-based improvements or upgrades to process equipment systems. This may include developing business cases for improvements, identifying design requirements, and translating these requirements into process equipment/system design, specifications, and supporting the construction, startup, and validation of equipment.

Develop master maintenance programs for equipment , ensure the availability of spare parts, and coordinate maintenance activities to ensure systems are in proper working order.

Ensure plant readiness and quality and regulatory compliance for internal audits, external agency audits, and partner audits for the process equipment .

Provid e technical mastery and problem-solving leadership to proactively reduce production downtime. This includes leading technical root cause analysis and implementation of corrective/preventive action s for families of systems .

Lead new product/technology introductions by performing engineering assessments, equipment performance risk assessmen ts, identifying gaps and owning their remediation, implementing equipment modifications, and supporting engineering runs .

Provide mentorship and coaching to junior engineering peers when they encounter challenges and roadblocks, as appropriate .

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how building and process automation systems interact with and impact process equipment and be able to effectively communicate automation issues and needs to support groups and to management.

Effectively communicate the correct level of detail for process risks in a timely manner to support groups and leadership.

Provide rotational on-call support and ensure 24x7 day-to-day reliability of Upstream and Downstream systems for plant operations.

Up to 10% domestic/international travel .

​

What we expect of you

We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The engineering professional we seek enjoys challenges and is motivated to help serve patients with these qualifications.

Basic Qualifications:

Doctorate degree and 2 years of engineering experience

OR

Master’s degree and 4 years of engineering experience

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 6 years of engineering experience

OR

Associate’s degree and 10 years of engineering experience

Or

High school diploma / GED and 12 years of engineering experience

And

2 years of managerial experience directly managing people and/or leadership experience leading teams, projects, programs or directing the allocation of resources

Preferred Qualifications:

Bachelor ’ s degree in Chemical or Mechanical Engineering or related technical field. .

8 + years' of relevant work experience with 5 + years' experience in Biopharmaceutical operations/manufacturing environment focused on process and plant engineering function.

Demonstrated people and/or project management and l eadership experience .

D irect knowledge of design and troubleshooting with GMP Biopharmaceutical Production facility equipment/systems with direct experience with Upstream and  Downstream purification equipment such as cell culture reactors, centrifugation, chromatography, vi ral f iltration skids, and UFDF skids as well as other equipment needed to support these processes such as autoclaves, clean in place (CIP) systems, washers, clean steam, water for injection, etc.

Experience with designing and operating equipment used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing .

Experience with Tech Transfer, Process Design, and Commissioning & Qualification.

Experience working in a regulated environment ( e.g. cGMP, OSHA, EPA, etc.) and with GMP quality systems/processes such as change control, non-conformances, corrective and preventative actions, and qualifications/validation

Understanding of safety requirements working in a GMP Biopharmaceutical p roduction facility.

Independent, ambitious, organized, able to multi-task in project environments, and skilled in communication, facilitation, and teamwork .

Strong leadership, technical writing, and communication/presentation skills

Work schedule flexibility as required to support 24/7 operations .

Ability for domestic/international travel .

. Salary Range

140,334.15USD -189,863.85 USD

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Manufacturing & CMC
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Holly Springs, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 489 comparable Principal Manufacturing & CMC roles across 83 biopharma companies.

489Comparable roles tracked
461Currently active
83Companies hiring similar roles
33Countries represented

Salary context

192 of 489 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Senior Technician Calibration - Maintenance · Mylan Technologies, Inc. $37,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Peer group range $58,500 – $288,000 (median $150,600)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 489 comparable roles

United States307
India40
Ireland22
Netherlands18
United Kingdom10
Singapore9

+ 27 more countries

Seniority mix

489 of 489 peers have a known seniority level

Senior323
Principal87
Director79

Therapeutic area mix

3 of 489 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1

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The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

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Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

60%
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Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.