Process Safety & Chemical Engineer

GKN Aerospace; Garden Grove (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 151,000; Full time

Job summary

GKN Aerospace is seeking a chemical/process engineer to provide technical leadership in process safety, chemical risk management, and engineered safeguards for a vertically integrated acrylic and glass facility supporting civil and military aerospace programs.

You will prevent fires, toxic releases, and production interruptions by applying disciplined engineering practices, MOC, RMP/PSM compliance, and robust operating procedures across MMA/monomer handling, solvents, coatings, and storage

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering or closely related technical discipline.
• 5+ years in chemical/process engineering, process safety, or regulated industrial operations.
• Experience with PHA/HAZOP/What-If, MOC, pre-startup safety review, and incident investigations.
• Knowledge of OSHA/Cal-OSHA PSM principles, EPA RMP, CalARP, and fire/HAZMAT codes.

Responsibilities

• Lead and maintain the site process safety framework and regulatory compliance.
• Direct PHAs, HAZOPs, LOPA, and risk assessments with cross-functional teams.
• Define engineering controls for storage, transfer, and process equipment.
• Perform incident investigations and emergency preparedness planning.
• Develop operating procedures, training, and field verifications.
• Coordinate with EH&S leadership and regulatory interfaces.

Skills

Process Safety

PHA/HAZOP

What-If Reviews

MOC

Education

Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering

Master’s degree (preferred)

Job description

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Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities.

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet. With over 16,000 employees across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.6bn in 2025. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Job Summary

Provide technical leadership for process safety, chemical risk management, and engineered safeguards across a vertically integrated acrylic and glass transparency manufacturing facility supporting civil and military aerospace programs.

Prevent fires, explosions, toxic releases, uncontrolled polymerization, chemical exposure events, environmental releases, and production interruptions by applying disciplined chemical engineering, process hazard analysis, mechanical integrity, management of change, operating procedure, and emergency preparedness practices.

Translate Cal/OSHA PSM, federal OSHA PSM, EPA RMP, California CalARP, Orange County CUPA, fire code, hazardous materials, and aerospace customer expectations into practical risk controls for MMA/monomers, flammable solvents, adhesives, coatings, resins, catalysts/inhibitors, tanks, reactors/mixers, ovens, autoclaves, furnaces, utilities, and chemical storage/transfer systems.

Job Responsibilities

1. Process Safety Program Leadership

• Develop, maintain, and improve the site process safety and chemical risk management framework, including process safety information, hazard review/PHA, MOC, pre-startup safety review, mechanical integrity, operating procedures, training, emergency planning, and incident investigation.
• Determine applicability and maintain evidence for Cal/OSHA PSM, federal OSHA PSM, EPA RMP, and California CalARP requirements based on regulated substances, flammable quantities, process configuration, and threshold calculations.
• Lead process safety governance for high-hazard areas such as MMA/monomer storage, resin/casting operations, solvent bonding, coating/primer application, mixing, curing, ovens, autoclaves, furnaces, tanks, utilities, and chemical transfer systems.
• Advise EH&S and site leadership on risk acceptance, escalation, capital needs, production changes, temporary operations, and stop-work decisions involving chemical or process safety risk.

2. Process Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment

• Lead or facilitate PHAs, What-If/Checklist reviews, HAZOPs, LOPA-style assessments, FMEAs, facility siting reviews, dust hazard screening, thermal hazard reviews, and task-based chemical risk assessments as appropriate.
• Maintain risk registers, recommendation logs, safeguard verification records, action owners, due dates, and effectiveness checks.
• Evaluate credible scenarios including MMA overheating or polymerization, loss of inhibition/cooling, flammable vapor release, static ignition, solvent fire, tank overpressure, dust collector fire, oven/autoclave upset, coating booth fire, utility loss, incompatible chemical mixing, and emergency shutdown failure.
• Ensure risk reviews include operators, maintenance, engineering, EH&S, quality, and area leadership to capture practical operating knowledge.

3. Chemical Engineering and Safeguard Design

• Define engineering controls for tanks, mixers, transfer systems, vents, relief devices, alarms, interlocks, emergency shutdowns, ventilation, grounding/bonding, secondary containment, temperature control, cooling/refrigeration, inhibitor management, and vapor control.
• Support design and troubleshooting of chemical storage, transfer, reaction/curing, coating, cleaning, filtration, dust collection, wastewater/waste interfaces, and emissions-control systems.
• Apply recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP), vendor requirements, insurer guidance, NFPA concepts, fire code expectations, and site standards to chemical/process equipment.
• Partner with engineering and maintenance to ensure critical safeguards are captured in preventive maintenance, inspection, calibration, testing, spare parts, and failure-response procedures.

4. Management of Change and Pre-Startup Safety Review

• Review changes to chemicals, formulations, suppliers, SDS data, process parameters, batch sizes, tanks, equipment, controls, utilities, ventilation, relief systems, layouts, software/PLC logic, operating procedures, staffing, and production rates.
• Ensure MOC reviews address EH&S, air/water/waste permits, fire code, CUPA/CERS, CalARP/RMP/PSM applicability, product quality, aerospace customer approvals, and emergency response impacts.
• Lead pre-startup safety reviews for new or modified processes to verify engineering completion, procedure issuance, training, PHA action closure, permits, inspections, labeling, emergency equipment, and maintenance readiness.
• Manage temporary change controls and ensure temporary deviations have risk assessment, duration limits, monitoring, authorization, and closure.

(cont...)

5. Chemical Inventory, Thresholds, and Regulatory Interface

• Maintain chemical/process threshold analyses for PSM, RMP, CalARP, CUPA/HMBP, fire code, hazardous materials storage, and emergency planning applicability.
• Review SDSs and chemical hazard data for flammability, reactivity, thermal stability, inhibitor requirements, peroxide-forming potential, polymerization risk, incompatibilities, toxicology, VOC/HAP/TAC content, and storage requirements.
• Support CERS/Hazardous Materials Business Plan accuracy, CalARP/RMP submissions if applicable, regulator inspections, information requests, and coordination with Orange County Health Care Agency CUPA and Orange County Fire Authority.
• Coordinate with environmental air, water, and waste leads when chemical/process changes affect SCAQMD permits, stormwater/wastewater controls, hazardous waste profiles, or spill prevention.

6. Operating Procedures, Training, and Field Verification

• Develop or technically review operating procedures for chemical transfer, tank unloading, mixing, storage, heating/cooling, bonding, coating, cleaning, startup, shutdown, emergency shutdown, abnormal conditions, and temporary operations.
• Train operators, maintenance, engineers, supervisors, and emergency responders on process hazards, safeguards, operating limits, alarms, emergency actions, chemical incompatibilities, and escalation expectations.
• Perform field verifications of procedure use, critical alarms/interlocks, relief devices, ventilation, grounding/bonding, container closure, inhibitor/cooling checks, hot work controls, and chemical transfer practices.
• Ensure procedures and training support multilingual workforces and practical shop-floor execution.

7. Incident Investigation and Emergency Preparedness

• Lead or support investigations of chemical releases, fires, near misses, overheating events, alarm bypasses, loss of containment, off-spec mixing, abnormal reactions, control-device failures, spills, exposure concerns, and emergency response activations.
• Apply rigorous technical root-cause methods and ensure corrective actions address engineered safeguards, operating limits, maintenance systems, procedures, training, supervision, and verification of effectiveness.
• Develop credible emergency scenarios for drills and tabletop exercises involving MMA, solvents, coatings, fires, earthquake impacts, power loss, tank failures, ventilation loss, and chemical release response.
• Coordinate with EH&S leadership, security, operations, OCFA, CUPA, and emergency response contractors on preplans, response resources, and recovery expectations.

8. Aerospace & Defense Mission Assurance Linkage

• Ensure process safety controls protect uninterrupted civil and military aircraft transparency production, customer commitments, and defense supply continuity.
• Maintain objective evidence for customer, insurance, AS9100/NADCAP-style, and regulatory audits, including risk assessments, MOC records, chemical approvals, training, safeguards, inspection records, and corrective actions.
• Partner with quality and program teams when chemical/process changes could affect optical clarity, adhesion, coating performance, qualification data, special process requirements, customer approvals, controlled scrap, or restricted programs.

Protect controlled program, customer-property, and export-controlled information during regulator visits, technical reviews, emergency response, and documentation requests.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, process safety engineering, mechanical engineering, materials engineering, chemistry, or closely related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in chemical/process engineering, process safety, chemical manufacturing, aerospace manufacturing, polymer/resin processing, coatings, flammable liquid systems, or regulated industrial operations.
• Working knowledge of process safety concepts including PHA/HAZOP/What-If, MOC, pre-startup safety review, process safety information, operating procedures, mechanical integrity, incident investigation, safeguards, and emergency planning.
• Working knowledge of OSHA/Cal-OSHA PSM principles, EPA RMP, California CalARP, HazCom/GHS, hazardous materials storage, chemical compatibility, and fire-prevention concepts.
• Experience evaluating flammable liquids, monomers/resins, solvents, adhesives, coatings, tanks, transfer systems, temperature control, ventilation, relief/venting, grounding/bonding, and process utilities.
• Ability to read and interpret P&IDs, PFDs, SDSs, equipment specifications, control narratives, relief device documentation, operating procedures, maintenance records, and regulatory requirements.
• Strong technical writing, facilitation, data analysis, root-cause analysis, project management, and cross-functional influence skills.
• Ability to work safely in chemical process areas, production areas, mechanical rooms, tanks/utility areas, maintenance environments, and emergency response planning settings.
• Must be a U.S. Person per ITAR regulations to comply with export compliance requirements

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in chemical engineering, process safety, fire protection, materials science, or related technical field.
• Professional Engineer (PE), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM), CCPSC, CFSP, Six Sigma/Lean, or equivalent technical certification.
• Experience with PMMA/MMA acrylic casting, monomer inhibition, reactive chemistry, polymerization hazards, thermal runaway screening, solvent bonding, aerospace coatings, optical finishing, autoclaves, ovens, furnaces, or laminated glass manufacturing.
• Hands‑on experience with Cal/OSHA PSM Section 5189, federal OSHA 1910.119, EPA 40 CFR Part 68, CalARP Title 19, CUPA/CERS, HMBP, and Orange County regulator interfaces.
• Experience with LOPA, relief design, dispersion/consequence screening, combustible dust hazard analysis, SIS/interlock management, alarm management, facility siting, and quantitative/semi-quantitative risk methods.
• Experience supporting aerospace and defense customers, AS9100/NADCAP audit cultures, defense-prime supplier expectations, ITAR‑adjacent environments, controlled materials, or customer-qualified chemical processes.
• Experience implementing digital MOC, action tracking, chemical inventory, PHA, mechanical integrity, or permit/compliance management systems.
• Bilingual English/Spanish capability or demonstrated ability to train and influence a multilingual manufacturing workforce.

Compensation Data

Salary range: $120,464.00 - $150,580.00

We’ll offer you fantastic challenges and amazing opportunities. This is your chance to be part of an organisation that has proven itself to be at the cutting edge of our industry; and is committed to pushing the boundaries even further. And with some of the best training on offer in the industry, who knows how far you can go?

A Great Place to work needs a Great Way of Working

Everyone is welcome to apply to GKN. We believe that we can only achieve our ambitions through a coming together of diverse minds who enjoy collaborating in an inspirational environment. Through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging and by living our five powerful principles we’ve created a culture where everyone feels welcome to contribute. It’s a culture that won us ‘The Best Workplace Culture Award’. By embracing and celebrating what makes us unique we encourage everyone to bring their full self to work.

We’re also committed to providing an accessible recruitment process, so if you require reasonable adjustments at any stage during our recruitment process please get in touch and let us know.

We arethe place where human dreams, plus humanendeavour, shape the future of aerospace innovation and technology.

Nearest Major Market: Orange County
Nearest Secondary Market: Los Angeles