Also called: Senior Food Engineer, Food Process Engineering Manager
Senior engineer who designs whole production lines for foods like cereal, snacks, dairy and plant-based meat.
Your company is launching a new plant-based burger. You design the line that mixes, shapes, cooks and freezes 10,000 patties an hour, then stand on the floor during the first run tasting samples and adjusting cooker temperatures.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's or master's in food, agricultural or chemical engineering plus 10+ years of experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Food Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Chemical Engineering.
Growing about average. Steady demand at large food companies.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps plan lines and quality checks; designing whole plants, food-safety calls and mentoring stay human.
Classes: Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Family and consumer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2199.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.