Shape safer, smarter refining — one day at a time
Picture your day at Safety-Kleen (a Clean Harbors company) in East Chicago, IN. You start with a field walk, verifying that inspections on pressure vessels and storage tanks are on schedule. A contractor meets you at a pump skid — you review specs you authored, confirm scope, and prep the team for a safe installation. Mid-morning, you chair a Management of Change (MOC) review, ensuring risk assessments, training, and documentation are airtight before any modification touches the process. After lunch, you lead a Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR), then pivot to analyzing heat exchanger performance data to boost throughput and energy efficiency. You finish by updating P&IDs and closing out action items from a recent PHA. Safe, reliable, efficient — that’s your signature.
What you’ll drive
- Champion refinery safety and operational excellence across Operations, Maintenance, Health & Safety, and Compliance.
- Serve as a core resource for the Process Safety Management (PSM) program — facilitate PHAs, incident reviews, audits, and continuous improvement.
- Act as the site MOC coordinator and gatekeeper: ensure technical reviews, risk analyses, approvals, training, document updates, and tracking through closeout (including temporary changes).
- Lead PSSRs for projects and modifications; verify prerequisites, procedures, inspections, and training prior to startup.
- Own the Mechanical Integrity and Inspection program: planning, scheduling, documentation, and tracking for covered equipment and systems.
- Interpret inspection results with technical experts; recommend repairs/replacements; track deficiencies to resolution; communicate equipment risks and required actions to leadership.
- Keep process safety information current — process flow diagrams, P&IDs, equipment specs, and design data reflecting approved plant changes.
- Guide the annual capital plan with the Refinery General Manager — scope, estimates, business cases, and schedules.
- Deliver multiple small capital projects annually, and occasional larger efforts up to ~$1MM, from concept and engineering through procurement, installation, commissioning, and closeout.
- Coordinate permitting with Compliance and stakeholders; align plant activities with Operations, Shipping/Receiving, Maintenance, H&S, Compliance, management, and corporate engineering.
- Develop equipment specifications and contractor scopes; evaluate proposals; procure equipment/services per policy, regulations, standards, and budget.
- Partner with H&S, Compliance, Operations, and Maintenance to solve equipment and process issues — improving safety, environmental performance, reliability, and production.
- Support Maintenance on troubleshooting, failure analysis, repair planning, reliability upgrades, and planned outages (inspection scopes, priorities, technical requirements).
- Analyze process and equipment data to elevate throughput, quality, energy efficiency, and operating costs; implement best practices with internal/external technical groups.
- Author and revise operating and maintenance procedures and process instructions; support technical training for new equipment, process changes, and lessons learned.
- Be an active member of the Health & Safety Committee — inspections, hazard reviews, prevention initiatives, and corrective action follow-up.
What you bring
- Bachelor’s in Mechanical, Chemical, Petroleum, Industrial Engineering, or related field.
- 3+ years of engineering experience in a refinery, chemical processing, or comparable industrial environment (5+ preferred).
- Hands-on experience within a mature PSM environment (MOC, PHAs, PSSRs).
- Background in Mechanical Integrity programs: inspection scheduling, documentation, findings review, and corrective action tracking.
- Proven capital project management: scope, estimates, procurement, contractor coordination, installation, and startup.
- Working knowledge spanning process and mechanical engineering — instrumentation, piping, valves, pumps, pressure vessels, tanks, heat exchangers, materials, and controls.
- Mechanical aptitude for plant troubleshooting and practical problem solving.
- Proficiency reading P&IDs, PFDs, blueprints, equipment drawings, and technical specs.
- Ability to interpret process data, spot trends, and recommend improvements to safety, reliability, efficiency, and quality.
- Familiar with relevant engineering codes and inspection standards.
- Strong organization and follow-through across multiple projects and programs; diligent documentation.
- Influential communicator who can align cross-functional teams without direct authority.
- Microsoft Office proficiency; Microsoft Project (or similar) is a plus.
- Experience in waste industry, used oil re-refining, refinery, or chemical processing is an asset.
- Field capability in an industrial setting: lift up to 50 lbs, climb stairs/ladders, stoop, work at heights, bend, stand for long periods, and work in varying weather conditions, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- Willingness to provide off-hours technical support for outages, startups, and emergency callouts.
Why Safety-Kleen and Clean Harbors
- Safety-first culture — we live it 3-6-5.
- Industry leader in environmental products and services.
- Competitive pay, comprehensive benefits (medical/dental/vision) starting after 30 days.
- 401(k) with company match and employee stock purchase plan.
- Generous paid time off, company-paid training, and tuition reimbursement.
- Growth opportunities at every career stage in positive, safe workplaces.
Our impact
Safety-Kleen Systems, a Clean Harbors company, helps keep North American businesses green. We generate more than $1.2B in annual revenue as a world-class environmental services leader in hazardous waste management, parts-cleaning technologies, and oil re-refining. Each year we collect over 200 million gallons of used motor oil and operate the largest re-refining capacity in North America, enabling us to re-refine more than 150 million gallons annually.
Ready to lead meaningful change? Apply here: Submit your application