Process Safety Engineering Lead - HAZOP & Risk

Nikkiso Co.; Huntington Beach (CA); On-site; USD 91,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases in Huntington Beach, CA, seeks an Engineering Lead: Process Safety to provide global technical leadership for hazard studies and safety engineering decisions. This role combines hazard-study facilitation with engineering judgment and clear technical communication to translate safety requirements into practical design choices.

The position focuses on HAZOP/HAZID, risk reduction, and ensuring compliance across projects, requiring strong collaboration with

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in chemical, mechanical, electrical, safety engineering or related field.
• 8+ years of engineering and process-safety experience.
• Experience leading HAZOP and HAZID studies.
• Ability to review PFDs, P&IDs, control philosophies, cause-and-effect diagrams and other safety documentation.
• Knowledge of applicable engineering codes, standards and safety regulations.
• Strong multidisciplinary coordination, technical writing, presentation and facilitation skills; willingness to travel.

Responsibilities

• Lead HAZOP, hazard identification (HAZID), What-If, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), layer of protection analysis (LOPA) and Bowtie studies for the approved product scope.
• Confirm design maturity, study scope, documents and participants; maintain competent facilitators, recorders and safety integrity level (SIL) evaluators under the Head of TEC’s framework.
• Assess credible hazards, consequences, likelihood and safeguards; coordinate alarms, interlocks, shutdown, relief and detection systems and verify safety-instrumented risk reduction with technical owners.
• Assign action owners, priorities and dates; verify closure evidence and expedite unresolved safety actions before project milestones.
• Complete internal HAZOP and major action closure before customer HAZOP; retain engineering-team continuity where practical and preserve controlled study records.
• Support design, constructability, commissioning-readiness and management-of-change reviews, including new technology and operating procedures; provide proposal safety requirements, exceptions, effort and risk inputs.
• Coordinate applicable process-safety, fire, electrical and environmental requirements with engineering owners and CE&IG Safety; support permitting within the assigned scope.
• Maintain global study methods, training, tools and rolling two-year standards plans; obtain formal TEC approvals before Product Center release and incorporate operating and project lessons.

Skills

HAZOP leadership

HAZID studies

Safety engineering coordination

Technical writing

Facilitation skills

Presentation skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Safety Engineering or related

Tools

PHA software

Job description

Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases in Huntington Beach, CA, seeks an Engineering Lead: Process Safety to provide global technical leadership for hazard studies and safety engineering decisions. This role combines hazard-study facilitation with engineering judgment and clear technical communication to translate safety requirements into practical design choices.

The position focuses on HAZOP/HAZID, risk reduction, and ensuring compliance across projects, requiring strong collaboration with