Critical Utilities Lead Engineer

About Us

Clayco is a full-service, turnkey real estate development, master planning, architecture, engineering, and construction firm that safely delivers clients across North America the highest quality solutions on time, on budget, and above and beyond expectations. With $7.6 billion in revenue for 2024, Clayco specializes in the "art and science of building," providing fast track, efficient solutions for industrial, commercial, institutional, and residential related building projects.

LJC Design & Engineering is a full-service architecture, engineering, and design firm committed to enhancing the quality of the human experience through integrated design. We are a team of high-energy professionals who share a passion for design, a collaborative approach, and a casual culture. We solve challenges by leveraging the collective expertise and ingenuity of the best and brightest minds across development, design, and construction.

LJC is seeking a Critical Utilities Lead Engineer to provide technical leadership in the planning, design, and delivery of clean and critical utility systems that directly support life sciences manufacturing operations. This role focuses on utilities that come into direct contact with the product or manufacturing process, requiring a strong understanding of regulated environments, system reliability, and operational risk.

The Critical Utilities Lead Engineer plays a key role in early project definition, system strategy development, and multidisciplinary coordination, working closely with process engineers, mechanical engineers, architects, and construction teams. This position is suited for an experienced utilities engineer capable of leading complex systems within a design-build delivery model and supporting front-end project pursuits.

• Lead the planning and design of critical and clean utility systems for life sciences manufacturing facilities from early planning through construction support.
• Develop system strategies for clean and critical utilities such as purified water (PW), water for injection (WFI), clean steam, clean compressed air, process gases (as applicable), process waste, biowaste, and associated distribution/collection systems.
• Collaborate with process engineers to align utility system capacity, quality, redundancy, and operational requirements with manufacturing processes.
• Define system architectures that support GMP, GxP, and regulatory expectations, including reliability, maintainability, and contamination control.
• Support front-end project efforts by contributing to proposals, utility narratives, conceptual system layouts, and client presentations.
• Lead technical discussions with clients related to utility system performance, risk mitigation, redundancy strategies, and lifecycle considerations.
• Coordinate with mechanical, electrical, architectural, and construction teams to ensure critical utilities are fully integrated with building systems and equipment layouts.
• Review calculations, drawings, specifications, and equipment selections to ensure quality, consistency, and alignment with regulatory and project requirements.
• Support compliance with applicable codes, standards, and guidelines, including GMP/GxP, FDA, ISPE Baseline Guides, ASME, and relevant local regulations.
• Participate in multidisciplinary coordination and design reviews to resolve technical challenges and support constructability.
• Mentor and support the development of junior engineers involved in critical utility system design.
• Contribute to the development of LJC’s critical utilities design standards, tools, and best practices for life sciences manufacturing facilities.

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 10–20+ years of experience designing critical and clean utility systems for life sciences manufacturing, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or other regulated production facilities.
• Demonstrated experience leading the design of clean and critical utilities that directly support manufacturing processes.
• Strong understanding of critical utility system design, including…