Job Details

Summary

Our client is a privately held company leading the development of Project ATLiS, a premier lithium project located in the Imperial County area of California, and the global deployment of its ILiAD technology, enabling the economic recovery of brine resources with minimal environmental impact. Their team is comprised of leaders in industrial project development and finance, continuous adsorption and lithium separation processes, and battery materials.

They are seeking Senior Process Engineers (chemical and/or mechanical) to work on lithium recovery systems and other unit operations. In this position, you will develop, support and manage capital
projects, equipment installations, and process improvement projects, with the objective of taking each initiative from concept to commercial production. The engineer is also responsible for evaluating safety, production, quality and cost performance on an on-going basis and on demand, with objective to rank and prioritize initiatives, and while interfacing with Technical, Operations, and Maintenance organizations. The job requires a constant awareness of process
improvement methodologies, as well as new technology that will improve the cost competitiveness and quality of performance. This includes implementing process modernization, such as advanced control systems, predictive analytics, automation, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a risk-based approach to assess operational performance (safety, production, quality and cost) with the ultimate goal to conceive, justify, design, and develop advanced process control strategies. This includes identifying and prioritizing improvement opportunities, preparing improvement project proposals, conducting cost-benefit analyses, performing scenario process simulations and supporting the budgeting and capital planning processes.
• Provide hands-on development and troubleshooting of process plant digitized and automated systems. This includes developing and upkeep of system specifications, engineering documentation, operation & maintenance procedures and other related procedures.
• Provide technical guidance, support, training, and expertise in conducting performance testing and performance evaluation for Real-Time Optimization and Process Modeling Simulations. Lead the development of new control strategies and validating the feasibility to improve productivity for the company.
• Conduct Root Cause Analyses as part of Zero Defect deployment, with follow up of solution development and implementation.
• Provide subject matter expertise in data analytics and process control statistical analysis. Provide technical support in embedding predictive analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• Lead development of Control Plans and process Key Process Indicators, utilizing Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Quality Control (QC) and Maintenance, Repair & Operations (MRO) standard metrics frameworks. Integrate operational KPIs and control plans in existing ERP, CMMS, and LIMS systems.
• Provide Business Intelligence (BI) visualization, through Excel and leading BI tools.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Education:
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering or equivalent.
  • Master’s Degree considered as a plus.
• Desired Experience Requirements:
  • Minimum 15 years in large-scale industrial process plants (chemical, oil & gas, mineral processing or manufacturing), including:
    • PLC and controls design and programming – hands on implementation and trouble shooting (Allen-Bradley, Rockwell). Hands on DCS knowledge a plus.
    • Inline process instrumentation and control schemes (flow, pressure, temperature, visual systems, density, etc)
    • Process design & engineering (PFD, P & IDs, equipment sizing, process layout, flowsheet development, heat & mass balance)
    • Automated data acquisition and SCADA. Knowledge in OSI-PI a plus.
    • Advanced and smart control systems, and OPC protocols
  • Expertise in Root Cause Analysis and Failure Mode Assessments, as well as preventive analysis (HAZOP, FMEA, Criticality). Working knowledge of OSHA standards and Process Safety Management
  • Hands-on knowledge of statistical methodology and process control (SPC, Cpk, DOE, ANOVA, hypothesis testing, Gauge R&R, etc) and software such as Minitab
  • Hands-on knowledge of computerized process modelling (SysCAD, Metsim, CADSIM, IDEAS, etc) and digital twin integration (such as Rockwell Studio, Metris, Dessault, AVEVA, Bentley, Siemens, etc)
  • Working knowledge of machine learning, predictive analytics and data mining.  Integration with process plant Smart Controls, Automation and Robotics.
  • Working knowledge of developing and maintaining control plans and establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) within OEE frameworks and integration with MRO, CMMS, LIMS, QC and ERP systems.
  • Expertise in Business Intelligence (BI) visualization and Big Data analysis, using related software (such as Tableau or Microsoft Power BI), as well as advanced Excel tools and ad-ins
  • Successful execution of continuous improvement and process improvement methodologies in industrial plants (certification a plus in Lean manufacturing and/or six sigma)
  • Project management skills (PMI certification a plus)