Senior Area Instrumentation Engineer

American Air Liquide - Houston, TX

Full-time - Senior

Houston, TX

Chemical Manufacturing

About the position

Messer owns and operates a large portfolio of industrial gas plants, including ASU, CO2, H2, He, as well as on-site plants, serving customers within a wide range of industries. Instrumentation and automation are key components required for operation of these industrial gas plants. This position will report to the Area Maintenance and Reliability Hub Team, supporting the Area Operations Teams, providing technical engineering support and SME recommendations for all instrumentation, analytical, and controls equipment utilized within the facilities in the area. As a Senior Area Instrumentation Engineer, you will provide technical, troubleshooting, and maintenance support to all ASU, CO2, H2, and He plants within the area for all instrumentation equipment including PLC/DCS hardware, control wiring, I/O, transmitters, positioners, control valves, pneumatic systems, metering systems, and analytical equipment. You will also provide day-to-day plant instrumentation and associated low voltage electrical support where qualified; to operations and assist with the execution of small improvement projects. Your role will involve redlining, maintaining, and developing necessary electrical and instrumentation documentation including wiring schematics, elementary drawings, layout drawings, I/O drawings, cable and conduit schedules, panel schedules, and loop drawings. You will support plant instrument technicians with troubleshooting and repair of failed instrumentation, including MOC guidance, plant/equipment outage decision making, repair plan, and root cause analysis. Additionally, you will identify, define, estimate, develop, and execute instrumentation turnaround maintenance activities including instrument replacement, upgrades, new installations, calibrations, and functional checks. You will provide supervision and oversight for Instrument technicians and external contractors, ensuring accurate scope completion, proper documentation updates, standards compliance, and applicable code compliance (ISA, IEEE, NEC, NFPA, etc.). Furthermore, you will complete area instrumentation technical reviews of MOCs and provide supplemental engineering data, drawings, and analysis as necessary. You will also support the certification process of all area Instrumentation Technicians in regard to ISA CCST (Certified Control Systems Technician) Level I, Level II & Level III, providing guidance and support for required training for the ISA certification process of all area technicians, ensuring proper knowledge and practical training around utilization of instrumentation equipment within each Messer plant in the area. Travel may be required as part of this role.

Responsibilities

• Provides technical, troubleshooting and maintenance support to all ASU, CO2, H2, and He plants within the area for all instrumentation equipment including PLC/DCS hardware, control wiring, I/O, transmitters, positioners, control valves, pneumatic systems, metering systems, and analytical equipment.
• Provides day to day plant instrumentation and associated low voltage electrical support where qualified; to operations and assists with execution of small improvement projects.
• Experienced with redlining, maintaining, and developing necessary electrical and instrumentation documentation including wiring schematics, elementary drawings, layout drawings, I/O drawings, cable and conduit schedules, panel schedules, & loop drawings.
• Supports plant instrument technicians with troubleshooting and repair of failed instrumentation, including MOC guidance, plant/equipment outage decision making, repair plan, and root cause analysis.
• Identify, define, estimate, develop, and execute instrumentation turnaround maintenance activities including instrument replacement, upgrades, new installations, calibrations, and functional checks. Provide supervision and oversight for Instrument technicians and external contractors.
• Manage and provide technical support to instrument contractors to ensure accurate scope completion, proper documentation updates, standards compliance, and applicable code compliance (ISA, IEEE, NEC, NFPA, etc.).
• Complete area instrumentation technical reviews of MOCs and provide supplemental engineering data, drawings, analysis as necessary.
• Supports the certification process of all area Instrumentation Technicians in regard to ISA CCST (Certified Control Systems Technician) Level I, Level II & Level III.
• Provides guidance and supports required training for the ISA certification process of all area technicians, ensuring proper knowledge and practical training around utilization of instrumentation equipment within each Messer plant in the area.
• Travels as required.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in relevant Engineering discipline required.
• 10 years of experience with at least 5 years in an operational and engineering environment working with electrical and instrumentation equipment.
• Demonstrates exceptional operational safety leadership.
• Self-starter and self-directed with ability to manage multiple activities at once and achieve results with minimal supervision.
• Excellent technical and clear communication skills with solid interpersonal skills.
• Proven experience in the installation, maintenance and troubleshooting of PLC/DCS systems, I/O devices; including transmitters, positioners, control valves, and analytical equipment.
• Proven experience with plant process instrumentation including a wide variety of pressure, temperature, and flow devices; including control valves, actuators, limit switches, measurement devices, analog and digital indicators.
• Proven effectiveness at troubleshooting control loop issues, identify problem components and interfaces, and execute effective and efficient solutions to restore critical and needed plant control functions.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits
• Ongoing training and career progression
• Steady schedules
• Appreciable pay