Operations Manager Chemical Manufacturing

Bridgestone Americas; Mesa (AZ); On-site; USD 122,000 - 196,000; Full time

Job summary

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. in Mesa, AZ seeks a Chemical Manufacturing Operations Manager to lead a 24/5 pilot plant that extracts natural rubber from Guayule. The role combines management and technical duties, focusing on safe operations and process optimization.

You will supervise the process team, coordinate with EHSS, maintenance and engineering, and contribute to budgeting and scale-up from lab to pilot to commercial production.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering or closely related field.
• PSM experience: MOC, PSSR, PHA, MI, SOPs, root cause investigations, safety programs.
• Basic understanding of process control logic – ladder and function block.
• Five years operations management experience in a PSM plant.
• Ten years overall experience in a PSM plant.
• Process scale-up experience.
• Must have good engineering technical skills.

Responsibilities

• Ensure EHSS & PSM compliance for the process team.
• Provide data to EHSS for reporting and compliance.
• Lead risk assessments, PSSR’s, MOC’s, root cause investigations and HazOp’s.
• Serve as an emergency contact for the site.
• Generate production/sample/trial schedules and execute to the schedule.
• Schedule raw materials and supervise the process team.
• Oversee day-to-day activities in the process area.
• Lead continuous improvement of production methods and equipment efficiency.
• Provide input on annual operating budgets and manage to the budget.
• Interface with Maintenance and R&D to scale processes and provide input for capital projects.

Skills

PSM experience

Process scale-up

Engineering technical skills

Operations management

Education

B.S. in Chemical Engineering

Tools

Control logic basics (ladder)

Job description

Company Overview Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

Company Overview Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

Job Category Engineering & Science

Position Summary The realistic useable salary range for this position is in the $120,000 to a maximum of $160,000 range. The Chemical Manufacturing Operations Manager position is located at Bridgestone’s Bio-Rubber Process Research Center (BPRC) in Southeast Mesa, Arizona. This is not a remote or work from home position. The BPRC is a Process Safety Management regulated, 24/5, continuous Chemical Manufacturing Pilot Plant facility for developing the processes necessary to extract natural rubber from Guayule shrub, producing samples for product testing and gathering engineering data for commercial scale-up. The role is not just a management role as this role has both management and technical responsibilities and at a high level the Operations Manager Chemical Manufacturing will:

• Be responsible for safe operations of the plant
• Manage the process team (Sr. process engineer, process supervisors and process technicians) to meet site goals
• Collaborate with and assist other departments (EHSS, maintenance, engineering, lab) and contractors to fulfill the above
• Assist/perform advanced process troubleshooting in the plant, experiment design & execution in the plant, process development & design

Pay Range: $122,200.00 - $195,500.00 Pay Range: $122,200.00 - $195,500.00

Responsibilities

Specific Responsibilities

EHSS & PSM

• Responsible for EHSS & PSM compliance of the process team
• Provide data to EHSS for reporting and compliance
• Lead, participate in and document risk assessments, PSSR’s, MOC’s, root cause investigations and HazOp’s
• Serve as an emergency contact for the site

Operations

• Responsible for generating production/sample/trial schedules and executing to the schedule
• Schedule raw materials
• Provide supervision and direction to the process team
• Oversee day-to-day activities within the process area
• Lead continuous improvement of production methods/procedures, equipment performance and team efficiency
• Manage process and/or equipment trials
• Provide input on annual operating budgets for the process area and manage to the budget

Collaboration

• Interface with the Maintenance department to coordinate plant maintenance and project work and to plan the annual shutdown
• Interface with Corporate Research & Development teammates to develop new products
• Provide input to scale processes from lab to pilot to commercial
• Provide technical input for capital projects

Leadership Skills

• Lead by example
• Lead via routine genba walks
• Demonstrate honesty and high integrity consistently to build respect and trust

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering or closely related field is required.
• PSM experience: MOC, PSSR, PHA, MI, SOP’s, root cause investigations, safety programs
• Basic understanding of process control logic – ladder and function block
• Five years operations management experience in a PSM plant
• Ten years overall experience in a PSM plant
• Process scale-up experience
• Must have good engineering technical skills

LI-JB1

At Bridgestone, you are Free to Be We believe people can only provide superior service and quality to others when they feel safe bringing their chosen version of themselves to work. We believe in championing all perspectives, individuals and teams because we understand the importance of seeing the world and our business through many different lenses. So, show us what you are made of, because who you are is what we need.

What We Offer At Bridgestone, what really matters is to foster co-creation opportunities and empowering you to be creative and curious to make mobility safer, more efficient, and more sustainable for future generations. Whatever role you fill, when you represent Bridgestone, you are a valued teammate, and part of our larger mission to “Serve Society with Superior Quality”, for that, we offer you more than just a competitive compensation; we will provide you:

• A supportive and engaging onboarding experience to ensure a smooth transition into our team.
• The opportunity to develop and grow, through training and regular mentorship.
• Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
• A truly global, dynamic and challenging work environment.
• Agility and work/life effectiveness and your long-term well-being.
• An effective and inclusive team.

Bridgestone is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is our policy to consider all individuals for employment based on their unique merit and without regard to age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

Employment Eligibility If hired, a Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification must be completed at the start of employment. Temporary work authorization or the need for sponsorship may disqualify you from employment.