Optimization Engineer: Power & Refining M&A Specialist

trafigura; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Trafigura in Houston seeks an Optimization Engineer to join its Refining Technical team on a hybrid technical-commercial track. The role splits duties between day-to-day LP-based optimization of the splitter asset and commercial support for M&A activity in the Power business, interfacing with trading, business development, and external advisors.

You will translate technical constraints into actionable inputs, deliver margin and yield analyses, and contribute to due diligence and post-acquisition

Qualifications

• Experience with power and oil/refining assets.
• Early-career project engineering or management on plant capital projects.
• Exposure to M&A processes.

Responsibilities

• Run and maintain LP-based optimization models for the splitter asset to maximize margin.
• Evaluate operational and structural optionality and quantify commercial value.
• Translate technical constraints into actionable optimization inputs with plant operations.
• Provide margin, yield, and sensitivity analyses to support trading and planning decisions.
• Support M&A activity and technical due diligence for power assets and prospective acquisitions.
• Interface with third parties and assist post-acquisition integration and optimization.

Skills

Optimization modeling

Finance/margin analysis

Power sector knowledge

Oil/refining familiarity

Stakeholder communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

Python

Excel

GAMS

Job description

Trafigura in Houston seeks an Optimization Engineer to join its Refining Technical team on a hybrid technical-commercial track. The role splits duties between day-to-day LP-based optimization of the splitter asset and commercial support for M&A activity in the Power business, interfacing with trading, business development, and external advisors.

You will translate technical constraints into actionable inputs, deliver margin and yield analyses, and contribute to due diligence and post-acquisition