Process Engineer

LyondellBasell Industries - Westlake, LA

Full-time

Westlake, LA

Chemical Manufacturing

About the position

LyondellBasell is seeking a Process Engineer for the LKO site in Westlake, Louisiana. The primary responsibility of this role is to provide technical support as a technical expert, conducting process analysis, troubleshooting, and design for the site's units. The goal is to sustain and improve profitability while maintaining a strong commitment to safety and environmental compliance. This position requires daily interaction with operations, technical, safety, maintenance, and reliability teams to drive overall improvements in unit performance. The Process Engineer will lead the design and installation of long-term projects aimed at overcoming process constraints, resolving reliability issues, and ensuring compliance with environmental regulations. This includes defining project scope, providing front-end-loading, and incorporating process knowledge during engineering phases. Additionally, the engineer will advise on initiatives to maintain a competitive advantage in the market. In a typical day, the Process Engineer will monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize operating units to drive process and product improvements. They will apply their technical knowledge to detect causes of deviations in quality, capacity, yield, and energy consumption. The role involves collaborating with operations to identify new opportunities to maximize on-stream time and profitability while ensuring safe, environmentally compliant, and reliable operations. The engineer will analyze complex operating issues and provide documented recommendations to improve performance, lead capital and special project scope development, and provide technical expertise in process safety, including Process Hazard Analyses (PHAs) and other Process Safety Management (PSM) activities. They will also advocate for improvements in safety and environmental performance and participate in cross-functional improvement teams within the site.

Responsibilities

• Collaborates with operations to identify new opportunities to remove constraints to maximize on stream time and profitability while ensuring safe, environmentally compliant, reliable operations
• Analyzes complex operating issues and provides documented recommendations to improve performance
• Leads capital, expense and special project scope development, execution, support and training
• Leads Management of Change process (MOC/PSSR)
• Provides technical expertise in process safety including, PHAs, PSVs, safety system bypasses, and other PSM activities in the area
• Provides technical expertise during troubleshooting, turnarounds, startups, shutdowns, catalyst changes and other non-routine unit activities
• Reviews engineering calculations to quantify environmental impacts and releases
• Advocates and drives improvements in safety and environmental performance
• Participates on cross-functional improvement teams within the site
• Maintains strong safety and environmental compliance focus
• Monitors, troubleshoots and optimizes operating units
• Contributes in a team environment and establishes work relationships with onsite and offsite functional groups to achieve results
• Balances day-to-day operational priorities with long term strategic objectives to ensure alignment with company goals
• Supports gap closure and continuous improvement activities by providing technical expertise, engineering calculations, and justifications for new projects and participating in capital, expense and special project scope development, execution, support and training
• Develops new and enhances existing management systems and procedures to quantify and compare operating performance with established standards and assures compliance with existing standards
• Determines causes of deviations in quality, capacity, yield, and energy consumption
• Develops and manages KPI

Requirements

• BS degree in Chemical Engineering with 2 years of industry experience
• Or Bachelor's Degree in a scientific field with 3 years of engineering-specific experience
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office applications
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work across multi-disciplinary teams and interact with all levels of the organization
• Process troubleshooting ability and knowledge of tools and resources to perform such activities
• Innovative thinking to solve complex issues
• Self-motivation and high initiative
• Knowledgeable in the HSE/PSM regulations including Process Hazard Analysis

Nice-to-haves

• Experience working with polymers, olefins or utility processes
• Experience in refining or petrochemical processes