Solugen
Houston TX 77035
Position
Production Engineer
About Solugen:
Solugen is a groundbreaking technology company on a bold mission to decarbonize the physical world. At the heart of our innovation is the world’s first sustainable molecule factory—the Bioforge®. This unique manufacturing platform uses a chemienzymatic process to convert plant-derived substances into essential materials that have historically been made from fossil fuels—all with minimal emissions and no hazardous waste. A highly scalable and localized alternative to conventional approaches, the Bioforge® enables us to produce a range of high-performance, cost-competitive, and sustainable solutions to meet the diverse needs of our customers.
Mission and Outcomes:
Reporting to the Production Engineering Manager, this individual will be responsible for optimizing value of Solugen’s manufacturing assets. This is a hands on role where the individual’s initiative, engineering prowess, energy level and creativity for process optimization will make a substantial impact on the company. In addition to process optimization, this individual will have responsibility for executing small capital projects ($50k-$5M) that support the improvement of Solugen’s manufacturing facilities. This individual may travel to customer field sites for modular plant deployment and new technology implementation. As the company grows and the individual progresses, the ideal candidate for this position can move up and laterally to different areas within the company including commercial plant operations, project engineering, process optimization, and technical business development.
Key Outcomes:
• Optimize plant Overall Equipment Efficiency by working closely with Operators, Logistics, and Procurement
• Support and lead commissioning, start-up, and operation of new technologies and processes that have potential to improve productivity, reduce costs, produce new products, and/or enhance safety performance
• Provide operational and engineering support to the operations team for Solugen’s primary chemical production facility, the Bioforge®.
• Develop documentation relating to safe start-up, operation, and shutdown of both new and existing assets.
• Identify and implement manufacturing improvement projects (up to $5M in capital spend).
• Propose and support rating adding, rate protecting, compliance and surveillance investment opportunities.
• Manage equipment failures and conduct root cause analysis.
• Provide mentorship and coaching to team members – including early career engineers and operators
Key Competencies
Job Specific:
• Attention to detail and organization.
• Good communication, negotiation, leadership, and project management skills with the desire to further develop these skills as the company grows.
• Commitment to safe workplace goals and practices that ensure operational integrity, including compliance with all regulatory policies and procedures.
• Comfortable following safety protocols and wearing personal protective equipment—including hard hats, gloves, earplugs, and respirators--in work zones.
• Previous experience commissioning new assets for a new production facility.
• Willing to work shift schedule to support execution of new projects and start-up/commissioning of new assets.
• Potential willingness to travel within the continental United States for project support and commissioning and startup activities.
• Good familiarity with Office products as well as a general level of comfort with online communication and work management platforms such as SharePoint, Google Doc, and Slack.
• Basic understanding of project scheduling software (e.g. Microsoft Project, Primavera)
• Analytical approach to problem solving, with a focus on managing a team environment with attention to results and a sense of urgency.
Company Specific:
• Ask a lot of questions, be curious, and have insights into your work.
• Be nimble, embrace the speed and ambiguity of startup culture.
• A passion for green chemistry and fighting climate change.
• Ability to self-manage and set your own priorities and schedule.
• Be comfortable working in multiple roles.
• Emphasize safety above all else.
• Respect for others.
• Creative problem solving.
• Willingness to learn and research new engineering/science concepts.
Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related field (Chemical or Mechanical preferred).
• 5-10+ years full-time experience working as a Production Engineer at a chemical facility.
• Projects experience, working w/ multi-discipline teams and experience managing multiple small projects simultaneously within a capital program or turnaround desired.
• Ability to conduct field walks at project sites and facilities.
• Ability to lift and carry up to (25) lbs.
Solugen is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other legally protected status Origin.
Top Skills
What We Do
At Solugen, we believe planet-scale change starts with the chemistry we use every day. So we’ve built the world’s first clean molecule factory. Fusing biology with chemistry and technology to make the materials we need to sustain life on Earth.
We’re pioneering the way to scale synbio. One that uses evolved enzymes, plant-based feedstocks and clean, catalytic reactions to make 90% of the world’s essential molecules. With this process, we’re bringing products to market faster, cheaper and without compromise.
