Senior Process/Production Engineer

Unclassified - State College, PA

Full-time - Mid Level

State College, PA

About the position

The Senior Process Engineer will play a crucial role in providing expert production and process engineering support to the site, focusing on ongoing production operations and new process introductions. This position requires a proactive approach to implementing engineering studies, designs, evaluations, and improvements aimed at optimizing utilization across various processes. The successful candidate will serve as the primary resource for managing small to large-sized process improvement projects, ensuring that scope, schedule, and cost are effectively controlled throughout the project lifecycle. In addition to project management responsibilities, the Senior Process Engineer will coordinate Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes, tracking the implementation of recommendations until resolution. The role involves developing and generating periodic utilization reports for processing unit equipment, identifying continuous improvement opportunities, and implementing process changes, cost studies, economic evaluations, and new process development initiatives to enhance throughput, quality, safety, and efficiency. The engineer will direct and monitor productivity, process yields, and overall product and process performance to meet production commitments efficiently. This includes providing engineering services that optimize equipment life and plant profitability while interacting with all plant personnel to identify, develop, and manage improvement projects. The Senior Process Engineer will also assume an advisory role, assisting in day-to-day troubleshooting of equipment and processes within the unit, and will be responsible for monitoring productivity and performance metrics. Furthermore, the engineer will support the maintenance organization by providing economic impacts of maintenance activities to assist in planning and staffing. The role requires continuous leadership and expertise in managing the company's engineering efforts, troubleshooting equipment and systems, and offering engineering support to production activities. Training on new technologies and methods for maintaining equipment to increase reliability is also a key aspect of this position. Familiarity with best practices in online equipment health monitoring, inspection, and repair techniques is essential, along with effective diagnostic methods for troubleshooting equipment failures. The engineer will champion reliability efforts, recommend design modifications to eliminate malfunctions, conduct life cycle cost analysis on new and critical equipment, and lead Turn-around planning and implementation efforts.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert production/process engineering support for ongoing production operations and new process introductions.
• Serve as project engineer responsible for scope, schedule, and cost on process improvement projects.
• Coordinate Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes and track implementation of recommendations.
• Develop and generate periodic utilization reports for processing unit equipment.
• Determine continuous improvement opportunities and implement process changes and economic evaluations.
• Direct and monitor productivity, process yields, and product performance to meet production commitments.
• Provide engineering services to optimize equipment life and plant profitability.
• Interact with plant personnel to identify, develop, and manage improvement projects.
• Assist in day-to-day troubleshooting of equipment and processes in the unit.
• Monitor productivity and process performance to meet production commitments efficiently.
• Provide maintenance organization with economic impacts of maintenance activities.
• Manage the company's engineering efforts by providing continuous leadership and expertise.
• Support existing operations by troubleshooting equipment and systems.
• Train on new technologies and methods for maintaining equipment to increase reliability.
• Identify actual operating variable ranges for equipment and communicate to maintenance and operations groups.
• Champion reliability efforts by providing technical assistance in resolving equipment design and operation problems.
• Recommend design modifications to eliminate machine or system malfunctions.
• Conduct life cycle cost analysis on new and critical equipment.
• Lead Turn-around planning and assist with implementation.
• Review equipment specifications and develop recommendations for reliability improvement.

Requirements

• 6-12 years of experience in chemical manufacturing.
• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering (ChE).
• Expertise in production/process engineering support.
• Strong project management skills for process improvement projects.
• Experience with Root Cause Analysis (RCA) processes.
• Ability to develop and generate utilization reports for processing equipment.
• Knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies and economic evaluations.
• Proficiency in monitoring productivity and process yields.
• Strong troubleshooting skills for equipment and processes.
• Familiarity with online equipment health monitoring and inspection techniques.
• Effective diagnostic methods for troubleshooting equipment failures.
• Ability to conduct life cycle cost analysis on equipment.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Turn-around planning and implementation.
• Familiarity with best practices in equipment maintenance and reliability improvement.