Director Technology - Hydroprocessing

Valero is the best-in-class producer of essential fuels and products that are foundational to modern life. We invite you to join our ~10,000 employees to drive exceptional results for our company, the energy industry and our community.

A Director Technology - Hydroprocessing identifies, leads, and communicates high‑impact technical programs and projects that support and enhance refinery operations, reliability, and optimization in the short and long term. Directors provide strategic direction, oversee planning and execution, and ensure initiatives align with organizational priorities, clearly communicating objectives, risks, progress, and outcomes to stakeholders at all levels, including senior management and executive leadership.

Directors also serve as primary technical escalation points—delivering high‑level troubleshooting for complex process issues, guiding cross‑functional teams through diagnosis and stabilization, and converting lessons learned into durable standards. In parallel, Directors support project development by framing opportunities, evaluating options, and maturing technical scope, and they remain closely engaged through execution and start‑up to help ensure safety, operability, and value realization.

At Valero, this role performs duties that support our commitment to advancing the future of energy through innovation, ingenuity, and unmatched execution, including\:

• Identifies high impact technical programs, turnaround scope, and projects that advance refinery performance and align with organizational strategy.
• Leads, coordinates, and drives multi-site program planning and execution, ensuring clear objectives, adequate resources, and timely delivery.
• Represents the company in external technical discussions, industry forums, and partnerships.
• Leads high level troubleshooting of complex unit upsets, coordinating cross functional response and restoring stable operation.
• Reviews and approves (with signature authority) all Hydroprocessing catalyst purchases for assigned units, including catalyst request-for-quotation, working with site, procurement, and planning to accurately reflect unit goals and planned feedstock.
• Provides a reasoned technical and economic recommendation for catalyst including range of outcomes, showing continuous improvement as outlined in the Decision Support Package. Applies fundamental Hydroprocessing catalyst knowledge to Valero business in proper application of high activity, optimal selectivity and/or low cost options.
• Knowledgeable on catalyst manufacture, pilot plant testing, and catalyst quality parameters and provides input to catalyst development programs with Valero catalyst supplier partners.
• Knowledgeable of industry unit design criteria in Hydroprocessing and able to evaluate and bring new developments to Valero for potential application. Support early technical framing for initiatives\: clarify problem/opportunity statements, value hypotheses, options, key risks, and decision criteria.
• Partners with Project Development group to identify and progress project scope through PDEP milestones, set design criteria, evaluate alternatives, and confirm operability, maintainability, and lifecycle value.
• Represents Valero in external technical discussions with licensors and vendors; evaluates proposals and trials and verifies benefits realization.
• Coaches and develops early career, mid career engineers and technical specialists; fosters a culture of technical rigor, safety, and continuous improvement.
• Informally trains, shares lessons learned and best practices across units and sites to drive consistency and accelerate value delivery.

This position is salaried exempt status, which means you are not eligible for overtime pay.