Plant Operations Engineer & Process Improvement Lead

Pilot Chemical Company; MIDDLETOWN (OH); On-site; USD 85,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Pilot Chemical Company in Middletown, OH, seeks an Operations Engineer to join the plant production leadership team. The role coordinates with the production planner and operations, supports operators to execute the production plan, and guides root‑cause analysis for improvements.

Required are a BS in Chemical/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering and 3–5 years in chemical plant or refinery operations, plus strong communication and teamwork. DeltaV/DCS experience and mentoring are preferred.

Qualifications

• BS in Chemical, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering.
• 3–5 years of industrial experience in chemical plant or refinery operations.
• Experience diagnosing chemical process and equipment issues, with leadership abilities.
• Some experience in project execution.
• Experience with Chemithon or similar sulfunation/sulfation systems.
• Proven verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience working with operators and maintenance technicians.
• Demonstrated continuous improvement
• Ability to diagnose and resolve plant issues while balancing short- and long-term needs.
• Must pass regular chemical dependency tests due to safety-sensitivity.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with the production planner to align production needs with current plant capability.
• Assist plant operators in delivering the production plan.
• Diagnose process and equipment issues with operators and coach them.
• Define and implement the production work‑process throughout the plant organization.
• Execute work safely and environmentally responsibly.
• Review production and lost opportunity data to drive efficiency improvements.
• Apply root‑cause analysis on critical issues and implement fixes.
• Collaborate with maintenance on reliability issues and resolutions.
• Represent operations on project execution teams.
• This is a Safety‑Sensitive position.

Skills

Field analysis

Root-cause analysis

Leadership

Project execution

Continuous improvement

Team collaboration

Safety compliance

Process optimization

Education

B.S. in Chemical Engineering

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

B.S. in Electrical Engineering

Tools

DeltaV CDS

MS Office

Process control systems

Job description

Pilot Chemical Company in Middletown, OH, seeks an Operations Engineer to join the plant production leadership team. The role coordinates with the production planner and operations, supports operators to execute the production plan, and guides root‑cause analysis for improvements.

Required are a BS in Chemical/Mechanical/Electrical Engineering and 3–5 years in chemical plant or refinery operations, plus strong communication and teamwork. DeltaV/DCS experience and mentoring are preferred.