Synthomer is a leading supplier of high-performance, highly specialised polymers and ingredients that play vital roles in key sectors such as coatings, construction, adhesives, and health and protection – growing markets that serve billions of end users worldwide. Headquartered in London, UK and publicly listed there since 1971, we employ c.3,900 employees across our 5 innovation centres of excellence and more than 29 manufacturing sites across Europe, North America and Asia. Around 20% of our sales volumes are from new and patent protected products.
At our innovation centres of excellence in the UK, Germany, China, Malaysia and Ohio, USA we collaborate closely with our customers to develop new products and enhance existing ones tailored to their needs, with an increasing range of sustainability benefits. Since 2021, we have been proud holders of the London Stock Exchange Green Economy Mark, which recognises green technology businesses making a significant contribution to a more sustainable, low-carbon economy.
The Senior Production Engineer is accountable for the support of manufacturing units at Synthomer Jefferson Site, located in Jefferson Hills, PA (approximately 15 miles south of Pittsburgh, PA). The Senior Production Engineer will also provide technical support as needed to assist in maintaining safe and reliable manufacturing operations.
Job Description:
Primary job function to provide day-to-day support to manufacturing units to ensure safe, stable and reliable operations.
Additional Responsibilities Include:
Monitoring operating data for assigned areas and provide analyses and troubleshooting as needed to achieve the operating plan
Review raw material quality data for product blend creation to ensure quality specifications are met
Identify and implement improvements to support business objectives (debottlenecking, plant trials, improved reliability) using the Management of Change process
Develop and review procedures and provide operator training as needed.
Lead incident investigations into process and equipment failures as appropriate
Serve as the Division Representative on capital projects to improve productivity and increase capacity in the manufacturing department.
Conduct Process Hazard Analyses and coordinate timely resolution plans to meet project deadlines.
Lead special project streams or initiatives for the area that include technology advancements, SHE improvements, debottlenecking efforts and expansion efforts.
Interface with SHES, Product Development, Maintenance, Process Improvement, and other supporting organizations to prioritize and initiate projects.
Mentor and support junior production engineers to better develop their skills to support plant needs
Qualifications:
B. S. in Chemical Engineering
7+ years of chemical engineering/relevant experience
Must be comfortable in a manufacturing environment with large, continuous chemical processing equipment
Must have the ability to easily interface with operations and maintenance personnel and lead cross-functional teams
Must have good troubleshooting skills to analyze process data, understand equipment operations, and determine root causes of failures
Experience with any of the following systems would be an advantage:
Distributed Control systems
PI Vision
Statistical Analysis tools
Lean Manufacturing/Six Sigma
🌍 Global Benefits Overview
💰 Competitive, market-aligned compensation
🎯 Discretionary global bonus scheme
📈 Discretionary Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) – for senior positions
🚗 Company car or car allowance – varies by region and role
🩺 Healthcare – tailored to regional locations
👶 Parental leave and family support – maternity, paternity, adoption (aligned with regional policies)
🏡 Working options – flexibility where it matters, based on role and business needs
📚 Learning & development opportunities – training, online platforms, buddy/mentorship programs, Internal Synthomer University with L&D offers
💙 Wellbeing support – employee assistance program (EAP), mental health resources, wellbeing initiatives
🌱 Retirement / pension contributions – plans vary by country
🤝 Culture of Inclusion – where everyone can thrive
🏆 Performance culture, global reward & recognition programmes
Skills Required
- Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering
- 7+ years of chemical engineering or relevant experience
- Comfort working in a manufacturing environment with large, continuous chemical processing equipment
- Ability to interface with operations and maintenance personnel and lead cross-functional teams
- Strong troubleshooting skills, including process data analysis, equipment operations understanding, and root-cause analysis
- Experience with Distributed Control Systems
- Experience with PI Vision
- Experience with statistical analysis tools
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma
What We Do
Synthomer is a business-to-business speciality chemicals producer. We create value for all our stakeholders by applying our expertise and innovation capabilities to provide high-performance water-based polymers and ingredients to a wide range of blue-chip customers in multiple attractive end markets. Synthomer are headquartered and stock listed in the UK. We have more than 30 operational sites across Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia including four innovation centres of excellence. The Company employs around 4,200 entrepreneurial, highly skilled employees with the expertise and experience to drive our success worldwide.
