Senior Process Engineer

The Senior Process Engineer is the site process engineering authority in their assigned area of responsibility. This role is a member of the Process Engineering team with significant collaboration with Operations, Commercial, Projects, Turnaround, and central BP Solutions technical teams.

The Senior Process Engineer is expected to develop and maintain in-depth technical knowledge of their area, demonstrate strong leadership abilities, and influence asset technical strategy and priorities at the site. This role sets the example for excellence in process engineering in a refinery, through application of engineering principles to deliver high quality technical outcomes. This role is a technical leader in the Engineering and Technical Services Department and is a key contributor to the development and inspiration of process engineering talent at Whiting.

The Senior Process Engineer is a specialist in multiple technologies and should be able to apply general unit operations experience for engineering support of all assets in the area. This role involves participation and leadership in baseline activities such as unit health monitoring, mentoring, optimization, problem solving, and scope development, in addition to supporting planned or unplanned events such as unit emergencies, turnarounds, project startups, and safety reviews. This role will require working shift / evening / weekend schedules, on occasion.

This role supports safe refinery operations and growing profitability by delivering in the following key accountability areas:

• Process Safety Management
• Unit and system monitoring
• Turnaround/Project support
• Unit operations support
• Unit and system optimization
• Grow capability

Key Accountabilities

Process Safety Management:

• Facilitate and serve as domain expert in risk reviews
• Process engineering representation in unit and project HAZOP reviews
• Participate in incident investigations and generate recommendations to prevent future occurrence
• Proactively identify process and personal safety risks from site or proven experience, and share findings
• Maintain knowledge of technology safety standards, participate in gap assessments and gap closure plans
• Lead engineering evaluations for action items raised by safety reviews and investigations
• Perform MOC Team Lead evaluations including checklist assignment/review, as delegated by PE Superintendent
• Review and endorse P&ID changes, as delegated by PE Superintendent

Unit Operations Support:

• Assist process engineers in asset operations support. Apply experience to upskill troubleshooting capabilities and solve problems methodically and efficiently
• Assist process engineers in developing operating procedures for the safe startup, shutdown and routine operation of the unit, applying specialized knowledge where applicable
• Support environmental compliance improvement initiatives
• Lead Process Engineering RCFAs and incorporate recommendations into the site reliability database
• Backfill unit process engineering roles, particularly during contingencies and job transitions

Unit and System Monitoring:

• Serve as the process engineering UHM “Program Manager”, which carries specific responsibilities for maintaining the integrity of the UHM process in the area
• Maintain quality of UHM program by gap assessment vs. technology standards and continuous improvements of existing tools
• Participate in unit health reviews with BP Solutions central team and catalyst and chemical vendors
• Approve changes to lab test schedules and analytical methods
• Forecast catalyst and chemical usage estimates for yearly budget process

Unit and System Optimization:

• Support optimization and central teams in the process model and LP submodel update work processes
• Provide technical recommendations regarding equipment constraints and catalyst life cycle management
• Work with optimization system teams to drive beneficial decisions and realistic delivery targets
• Drive energy and CO2 emissions improvements by participating in energy workshops and work with the Energy Engineer

Turnaround and Project Support:

• Participate in catalyst bidding and selection activities
• Assist process engineers in worklist development, scope rationalization efforts and TAR preparation activities
• Turnaround resource planning for process engineering team and applicable third parties
• Direct support of process activities during TAR execution such as startup/shutdown support, as-found inspections, sampling, catalyst loading, vessel internals and final closures
• Provide recommendations for TAR deferral evaluations including unit health assessments
• Support project commissioning and startup activities
• Represent the site process engineering team in project design reviews
• Develop scope proposals and cases for project development

Grow Capability:

• This is a lead engineer role accountable for mentoring process engineers and improving organizational competence
• Serve as the team resource for expertise in simulation, data analysis, and the application of engineering fundamentals for solving technical challenges
• Maintain a robust backlog of medium and long-term projects and activities, seeking opportunities to use outside resources to assist
• Deliver technical learning – accountable for ensuring technical knowledge is captured, maintained, easily retrievable, and shared appropriately in unit files and technical reports. Also maintain the technical file system for the team.
• Grow professional capability through participation in technology & industry forums inside and outside of BP
• Onboarding new engineers of varying skill levels, including unit qualification training