Lead Process Engineer

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position: Project Lead – Refinery O&M, Reliability & Asset Integrity Improvement Project

Function: Operational Excellence / Technical Assurance

Location: Turkmenistan, TOPC Refinery

Salary: Negotiable

Role Overview

The Project Lead directs a multidisciplinary technical audit evaluating refinery operating practices, maintenance efficiency, asset reliability, and structural integrity. This role benchmarks existing performance against international oil and gas standards, identifies operational risks and bottlenecks, and designs a prioritized three-year improvement roadmap to achieve operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

1. Refinery Operations & Process Audit:

Evaluate operational discipline, operating philosophies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), emergency response, and shift handover systems. Assess control room and field practices, alarm/trip management, process stability, and unit constraints to drive standardization and production efficiency.

1. Maintenance Management Audit:

Audit end-to-end maintenance workflows—from work identification through planning, scheduling, execution, and closeout. Assess backlog management, PM/PdM compliance, turnaround interfaces, contractor productivity, and CMMS/EAM data integrity.

1. Reliability Engineering Assessment:

Evaluate the refinery’s equipment reliability framework to shift operations from reactive repairs to predictive maintenance. Review asset criticality rankings, bad-actor elimination, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), RCM/FMEA implementation, condition monitoring, and MTBF/MTTR metrics.

1. Asset Integrity Management Audit:

Audit asset integrity governance covering static equipment, piping, pressure vessels, storage tanks, furnaces, boilers, and relief systems (PSVs). Assess Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) programs, non-destructive testing (NDT), corrosion management, Integrity Operating Windows (IOWs), Fitness-for-Service (FFS), and defect management.

1. Benchmarking & Gap Analysis:

Establish a structured methodology benchmarking refinery performance against top-quartile international refining practices and industry standards. Quantify gaps across Operations, Process, Maintenance, Reliability, and Asset Integrity.

1. Improvement Program Design & Implementation Roadmap:

• Translate audit findings into a phased, risk-ranked transformation plan:
• Quick Wins (0–3 months): Immediate process/integrity risk mitigation, backlog reduction, and critical KPI reporting.
• Medium-Term (3–12 months): Maintenance workflow optimization, advanced condition monitoring, and SOP enhancements.
• Long-Term (12–24 months): Enterprise RCM, digital asset integrity, and fully integrated O&M management systems.

1. Project Leadership & Stakeholder Management:

Lead multidisciplinary audit teams, manage field assessments and functional workshops, validate technical findings with plant leadership, and present executive business cases and audit deliverables to steering committees.

1. Core Deliverables

• Integrated O&M Audit Plan and Baseline Assessment Reports (Maintenance, Reliability, Asset Integrity)
• Benchmarking, Gap Analysis Matrix, and Risk & Opportunity Register
• Quick-Win Action Plan and 3-Year Strategic Implementation Roadmap
• Future-State O&M and Performance KPI Governance Framework
• Final Executive Audit & Improvement Report

1. Qualifications & Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in chemical, Mechanical, or Petroleum Engineering (Master’s or relevant professional certifications—e.g., CMRP, CRE, API—preferred).

25+ years of operational, maintenance, or reliability experience within refining or downstream petrochemical facilities, including substantial leadership experience in technical audits or operational turnaround programs.