Senior Process Engineer

Alpha Hpa Limited; Gladstone Regional; On-site; AUD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Alpha HPA is a publicly listed Australian company leading the world in high purity alumina production. The Senior Process Engineer provides technical direction to the site team through Operational Readiness, Commissioning and ongoing operations at the Stage One HPA First Project in Yarwun.

The role is based at the Gladstone region site, guiding process improvements, ensuring safety, and driving best practices to maximise on-spec production while mentoring engineers and solving complex problems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Process or Chemical Engineering with 8+ years in manufacturing.
• Proven experience leading improvement projects.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• RPEQ certification preferable.
• Experience in chemical handling/processing environments and Major Hazard Facility familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Ensure safety, health and environmental rules are followed.
• Develop technical capabilities of engineers and operations staff.
• Provide technical support with clear operating instructions to production and maintenance teams.
• Lead changes and improvements with proper change management.
• Develop and maintain process documentation and operating instructions.
• Lead root cause problem solving and produce corrective actions.
• Mentor and supervise junior engineers and develop best practices to improve production rates and quality.

Skills

Process Engineering

Leadership

Communication

Problem solving

Multitasking

Independent work

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Process or Chemical Engineering

Tools

Control systems

Job description

Job Description

Title:

Senior Process Engineer

Job Type:

Full-Time (Permanent)

Location:

Gladstone, QLD

• Join a highly innovative Australian company leading the world in high purity alumina production.
• Play a key role in the commissioning and operational readiness for a greenfield facility.
• Build a long-term career with a global leader in sustainable advanced manufacturing.

The Organisation

Alpha HPA is a publicly listed, Australian-based company that has commercialised the world’s first solvent extraction (SX) purification technique applied to aluminium. This breakthrough process produces a growing range of ultra-high purity aluminium materials – oxides, hydroxides and nitrates – used across advanced industries such as LED lighting, synthetic sapphire, semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries.

Alpha HPA’s materials deliver market-leading purity levels with a significantly lower carbon profile. The Stage One HPA First Project in Gladstone is already in production – the first commercial application of Alpha HPA’s proprietary Smart SXTM process, producing >99.99% pure aluminium products.

Construction of the large-scale Stage Two facility is underway, with full-scale production targeted for late 2027. Once operational, Alpha HPA will produce 10,000 tonnes of HPA equivalent per year, right here in Gladstone. The Stage 2 facility will be a Major Hazard Facility and the largest high purity alumina plant in the world.

The Opportunity

The Senior Process Engineer provides technical direction to the site team throughout the Operational Readiness, Commissioning and operational phases of the project to optimise production processes and control safety, environment and quality risks.

The Senior Process Engineer will serve as technical lead on assigned projects and lead Root Cause Problem Solving activities.

They will set the priorities for improving production and quality performance through monitoring and analysis of process performance in line with business requirements. They will lead continuous improvement activities on the highest priorities.

They will be responsible for setting up and maintaining standard work activities and systems to ensure the process is controlled to meet the business objectives.

Key responsibilities

• Ensure that safety, health and environmental rules and programs are strictly adhered to.
• Develop the technical capabilities of Process Engineers and Operational staff
• Provide technical support to the Production and maintenance teams, including clear operating instructions
• Initiate, Manage and implement process changes and improvement, ensuring proper change management practices are followed
• Develop and maintain process sampling schedule in agreement with stakeholders.
• Be an initiator and responsible technical reviewer for Change proposals.
• Contribute to setting the priorities for Improvement activities for production and quality.
• Supervise and mentor junior engineers.
• Develop best practices, routines and innovative solutions to improve production rates and quality of output.
• Ensure monitoring and troubleshooting of the process is conducted in a timely manner to identify and eliminate the root cause of any problems
• Prioritise problems to be solved
• Lead and conduct Root Cause Problem Solving activities on problems.
• Develop and maintain process documentation and operating instructions
• Design, run, test and upgrade systems and processes to maximise on-specification production safely.
• Develop and implement technical systems and processes during the Operational Readiness phase of the PPF Phase 2 and Stage 2 of the HPA facility
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

About You

You’ll bring:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Process or Chemical Engineering with a minimum 8 years’ experience in manufacturing.
• Demonstrated experience leading improvement projects
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• RPEQ certification preferable.
• Proven and demonstrated experience within a chemical handling/process operation environment
• Detailed understanding of control systems and processes.
• Ability to solve practical problems, handle multiple tasks effectively and able to work with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrated experience with industrial safe work procedures and practices and operational experience on a Major Hazardous Facility is desirable.
• Ability to operate independently
• Self-motivated, highly pro-active and resilient attitude.

Your Reward

This is a permanent, full-time opportunity offering a competitive salary commensurate with experience, plus additional benefits.

You’ll be based at Alpha HPA’s Stage One HPA First Project in Yarwun, working within a collaborative and high-performance team and enjoy genuine long-term career growth as the commercial facility comes online.