Process Engineer - Compounding & Quality Systems

Verla International is a full-service contract manufacturer in the beauty and personal care industry. We provide turnkey formulation, compounding, filling, and packaging services for leading global and emerging brands. Our capabilities span fragrances, skincare, color cosmetics, hair care, body care, and personal care products across more than 50 manufacturing and filling lines.

We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Senior Process Engineer – Compounding & Quality Systems to lead technical manufacturing excellence across our production operations.

This is not a traditional desk-based engineering position. The successful candidate will spend significant time on the production floor working alongside Production, Quality, Maintenance, R&D, and Operations to manage and improve cosmetic batch manufacturing processes, perform shade matching, troubleshoot complex production challenges, commercialize new products, and strengthen quality systems.

The ideal candidate combines strong batch manufacturing experience with a passion for process improvement and enjoys solving technical problems in a fast-paced contract manufacturing environment.

Responsibilities

Manufacturing Process & Commercialization

• Own the technical execution of compounding and batch manufacturing operations.
• Lead commercialization and scale-up of new products from laboratory development through full-scale manufacturing.
• Develop, optimize, and standardize manufacturing processes for creams, lotions, emulsions, fragrances, gels, liquids, color cosmetics, nail products, and other personal care formulations.
• Optimize mixing parameters, processing times, heating and cooling profiles, homogenization, filling, and packaging operations.
• Support color matching, shade adjustments, and batch correction activities for color cosmetic products.
• Troubleshoot manufacturing issues including viscosity, emulsions, filling accuracy, batch consistency, crimping, packaging, and equipment performance.
• Improve first-pass yield, throughput, labor utilization, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and material utilization.
• Conduct time studies and identify opportunities to eliminate waste and improve productivity.
• Develop manufacturing instructions, batch records, process specifications, and technical documentation.
• Train production personnel on standardized manufacturing practices and process controls.
• Support capital equipment selection, installation, commissioning, and process validation (IQ/OQ/PQ).

Quality Systems & Continuous Improvement

• Partner with the Quality team to strengthen GMP compliance and manufacturing quality systems.
• Participate in customer audits, regulatory inspections, and internal quality audits.
• Lead investigations involving deviations, non-conformances, CAPAs, and root cause analysis.
• Support compliance with FDA, cGMP, ISO 22716, and customer-specific quality requirements.
• Analyze manufacturing and quality data to identify trends and implement sustainable corrective actions.
• Assist in developing SOPs, validation protocols, and process control documentation.
• Drive Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives throughout the operation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, Cosmetic Science, Chemistry, Industrial Engineering, or another related technical discipline (or equivalent industry experience).
• Five or more years of experience in cosmetic, personal care, OTC, pharmaceutical, food, or other batch manufacturing environments.
• Demonstrated experience with process scale-up and commercialization.
• Strong understanding of batch manufacturing processes, including emulsions, creams, lotions, gels, fragrances, liquids, and similar formulations.
• Experience troubleshooting manufacturing processes in a GMP environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Comfortable working extensively on the manufacturing floor.

Preferred:

• Experience in cosmetic or personal care contract manufacturing.
• Experience with color cosmetics, pigment dispersions, and shade matching.
• Knowledge of FDA regulations, cGMP, and ISO 22716.
• Lean Manufacturing and/or Six Sigma certification.
• Conversational Spanish.
• Experience with high-mix, multi-SKU manufacturing environments.

What We’re Looking For

A self-motivated engineer who takes ownership, works cross-functionally, and can translate data into practical improvements that increase throughput and reduce waste.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive salary (based on experience)
• Health, dental
• Paid time off
• Growth opportunity within an expanding manufacturer