Are you ready to move your career forward and help shape our company’s and customers’ futures?
If you aspire to challenge yourself, work with the best in the industry and join a successful team where you can make a meaningful contribution, then we invite you to join us at Ketjen Corporation, a provider of advanced catalyst solutions to leading producers in the petrochemical, refining, and specialty chemicals industries. Together, we can create a legacy marked by innovation, excitement, and energy.
Job Description: FCC Technical Excellence Engineer – Digital Systems & Toolkits
Location: Houston, TX
Travel: ~25%
Department: FCC Technical Services / Global Catalysts
Position Type: Full-Time, Exempt
About the Role
Ketjen’s Global FCC business is expanding its digital capabilities to elevate the way we support customers across the entire lifecycle—from pre‑sales technical engagements and commercial bids to post‑sales unit monitoring and optimization. We are seeking an FCC Technical Excellence Engineer with strong digital affinity to lead the development and deployment of advanced digital systems and technical toolkits that empower our technical services, commercial, and regional teams to deliver differentiated, data‑driven solutions to customers worldwide.
This role is ideal for a chemical engineer who understands FCC operations and has a passion for data models, digital systems, and the integration of IT/OT workflows to drive value. The successful candidate will shape how Ketjen brings technical excellence to market through scalable and intelligent digital tools.
Key Responsibilities
Digital Systems & Tools Development
- Design, develop, and maintain digital platforms, toolkits, and analytical models that support FCC technical services and commercial activities.
- Build and enhance standardized FCC technical tools for:
- Pre‑sales technical evaluations
- Catalyst selection and optimization modeling
- Technical bid development
- Post‑sales unit monitoring and performance tracking
- Partner with IT and data engineering teams to ensure systems are robust, scalable, and secure.
FCC Technical Excellence & Support
- Provide expert technical input into FCC performance models, mass balance tools, kinetic models, and operational benchmarking methodologies.
- Collaborate with regional technical teams to translate FCC operational insights into actionable digital solutions.
- Ensure tools accurately reflect latest catalyst technologies, process trends, operating limits, and customer needs.
Customer Interface / Value Delivery
- Support commercial teams with high‑quality, data‑backed assessments during pre‑sales engagements.
- Enhance after‑sales customer experience by improving digital monitoring capabilities, reporting frameworks, and performance dashboards.
- Help define and implement digital workflows that deliver consistent, high‑value customer service globally.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Work closely with R&D, Technical Services, Commercial, and IT to integrate FCC domain knowledge with digital architectures.
- Lead training and onboarding of global teams to adopt new digital capabilities.
- Identify opportunities to streamline and standardize FCC data and technical processes globally.
Qualifications
Required
- B.S. or M.S. in Chemical Engineering
- 3+ years of experience in refining, FCC operations, FCC catalyst technical support, or FCC process engineering
- Strong affinity for digital systems, data modeling, and data connectivity frameworks
- Understanding of refinery data sources (LIMS, DCS/PI, historian systems, unit test data)
- Ability to translate technical requirements into structured digital solutions
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and commercial functions
Preferred
- Experience in:
- Building analytical or modeling tools (e.g., Python, MATLAB, Excel VBA)
- Process simulation (e.g., Aspen, PetroSIM)
- Data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI)
- Digital transformation or IT/OT integration projects
- Exposure to FCC catalyst performance metrics and operational troubleshooting
- Familiarity with global technical service models in the refining sector
What Success Looks Like
- Creation of reliable, scalable digital systems that simplify and elevate FCC technical workflows
- Improved consistency and quality of pre‑sales technical and commercial deliverables
- Enhanced customer engagement through advanced monitoring and digital reporting
- Strong collaboration and adoption across global technical and commercial teams
- Measurable impact on service efficiency, customer satisfaction, and commercial differentiation
Why Join Ketjen
You’ll be at the forefront of transforming how FCC technical excellence is delivered across a global customer base. This role gives you the opportunity to combine FCC domain expertise with digital innovation to shape the next generation of refinery support tools. You’ll influence global teams, build high‑impact systems, and play a key role in strengthening Ketjen’s position as a leader in FCC solutions.
Benefits of Joining Ketjen
Competitive compensation
Comprehensive benefits package
A diverse array of resources to support you professionally and personally.
Apply today and help Ketjen unleash the POTENTIAL of advanced chemistry for industries that power the world.
Skills Required
- B.S. or M.S. in Chemical Engineering
- 3+ years of experience in refining, FCC operations, FCC catalyst technical support, or FCC process engineering
- Strong affinity for digital systems, data modeling, and data connectivity frameworks
- Understanding of refinery data sources (LIMS, DCS/PI, historian systems, unit test data)
- Ability to translate technical requirements into structured digital solutions
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills across technical and commercial functions
- Experience building analytical or modeling tools (e.g., Python, MATLAB, Excel VBA)
- Process simulation experience (e.g., Aspen, PetroSIM)
- Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI)
- Experience in digital transformation or IT/OT integration projects
- Exposure to FCC catalyst performance metrics and operational troubleshooting
- Familiarity with global technical service models in the refining sector
Albemarle Corporation Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Albemarle Corporation and has not been reviewed or approved by Albemarle Corporation.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement support is positioned as a standout element of the total rewards package, including a 401(k) with matching contributions and an additional automatic employer contribution with immediate vesting. This structure meaningfully boosts total compensation beyond base pay and is repeatedly emphasized as a differentiator.
-
Parental & Family Support — Parental and family support appears robust, including up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for either parent and financial support for adoption and surrogacy. Family-related programs extend into fertility and broader parenting support, reinforcing the depth of benefits beyond traditional medical coverage.
-
Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing and lifestyle benefits include dedicated wellness days, mental-health access with coaching and therapy support for employees and dependents, and a broad Employee Assistance Program. These offerings suggest the rewards package is designed to support health, resilience, and work-life needs alongside pay.
Albemarle Corporation Insights
What We Do
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine, and refining catalysts. We power the potential of companies in many of the world’s largest and most critical industries, from energy and communications to transportation and electronics. Working with our customers, we develop and customize solutions using the finest technology and ingredients with the knowledge and know-how of our highly experienced and talented team of operators, scientists, and engineers. Discovering and implementing new and better performance-based sustainable solutions motivates all of us. We think beyond business-as-usual to drive innovations that create lasting value. Realize your POTENTIAL with Albemarle. At Albemarle, we believe that our people make us successful. It’s that simple. We embrace the diversity of experience, talent, and thought. We work hard to create an inclusive work environment that empowers you to openly and honestly communicate, create and innovate. Your career will reach an international reach from the United States to Australia. Your decision to join our team will be rewarded with a positive, team-oriented workplace that inspires personal and professional growth. We will make every effort to support your career goals and create opportunities for you to realize your full potential. This is our culture. This is our commitment. AS PART OF OUR GLOBAL TEAM, YOU’LL EXPERIENCE: • Competitive compensation and benefits • Hands-on technical experience • Job variety and career flexibility • Collaboration with seasoned employees at every level • A proven record of innovation • Company-wide focus on economic and environmental sustainability • Deep commitment to our communities, education and social development • Concern and compassion for fellow employees • Among the best safety records in the industry The bottom line: no matter where you apply your talent and training, Albemarle
