Process Monitoring and Optimization Engineer (Crude Units)

Total Number of Openings: 1

Job Summary

The Process Monitoring and Optimization Engineer is a member of the Facilities Process Engineering organization within Chevron ENGINE. This role provides process monitoring, optimization, and technical assurance support focused on refinery process units, including crude distillation, separation, treating, product upgrading, and utilities interfaces. The engineer plays a critical role in supporting safe, reliable, and efficient operation of refinery process units through proactive monitoring, analysis, and optimization of complex process systems.

This role requires a strong understanding of multicomponent distillation, including fractionation, cut point control, pump around heat removal, and stripping, as applied to atmospheric and vacuum crude columns. The engineer will also apply knowledge of crude preheat train heat integration, desalting, fired heater performance, and vacuum system operation to improve yields, energy efficiency, and run length. Familiarity with crude assays and how crude slate changes affect product quality, fouling, and corrosion is essential to support reliable and profitable unit operation

Engineers will work closely with Operations, Process Engineering, Digital, Control Systems, Maintenance, and Environmental teams to deliver work priorities including routine process monitoring, yield and energy optimization, operating envelope assurance, data quality validation, and engineering analysis. Engineers will interface directly with Chevron s refining assets to provide technical ownership and remote support for monitoring tools, methodologies, and performance insights.

The role works as an extension of the site Process Engineering team. Site Process Engineers retain ownership of day-to-day activities; this role provides the monitoring, analysis, and recommendations that help site teams act earlier, capture margin, and protect reliability.

The Key responsibilities are described in the sections below.

Key responsibilities

• General process monitoring and optimization
• Develop, maintain, and standardize process monitoring methodologies, dashboards, and analytics to ensure consistent application across refining facilities.
• Perform engineering analysis to support mass and energy balances, yield accounting, loss identification, and process performance trending.
• Develop and maintain process monitoring and data analytics tools (e.g., PI, SEEQ, Power BI or similar) to support operational decision-making and optimization.
• Identify and develop process improvement and digital enablement opportunities to enhance throughput, yield, energy efficiency, and operability.
• Monitor process trends and operating conditions to support continuous improvement, early issue detection, and abnormal situation prevention.
• Collaborate with Operations and Process Engineering teams to address reliability risks, operability challenges, and performance gaps.
• Provide technical support for troubleshooting process upsets, performance deviations, control issues, and data anomalies.
• Proactively monitor to identify constraints as early as possible, quantify their impact, develop interim mitigations, and support turnaround scope justification.
• Support integrity operating window (IOW) monitoring related to critical process parameters, equipment limits, and safe operating envelopes.
• Support audits, technical reviews, and internal assurance activities related to process performance, monitoring practices, and data integrity.
• Provide analytical and technical input for incident investigations, root cause analyses, and corrective action development related to refinery operations.
• Participate in HAZOPs, management of change (MOC), and process safety reviews with a focus on operability, safeguards, and loss prevention.

• Update, validate, and issue the monthly medium-to long-term monitoring report.
• Monitor and track utility usage, i.e., steam, natural gas, fuel gas, nitrogen, and power.
• Provide environmental release calculations.

Crude unit monitoring

• Provide medium to long term monitoring of crude and vacuum distillation units with emphasis on process stability, yields, cutpoint analysis, and constraint management.
• Monitor and analyze the impact of crude slate and feedstock variability on separation efficiency, product quality, fouling, and corrosion.
• Monitor Crude pre-heat train and desalter performance and recommend exchanger cleaning timing. Furnace fouling monitoring, Washbed monitoring, Vacuum system health monitoring and project when fouling may impact plant rates and provide recommendations to prevent future events.
• Develop and maintain heat exchanger monitoring dashboards.

Required Qualifications

• 5-10 years of process engineering or operations support experience within refining or other similar complex processing facilities, preferably on crude and vacuum units.
• Bachelor s degree in chemical engineering or related engineering discipline from an accredited university.
• Proficiency with process monitoring and data analysis tools (e.g., PI, SEEQ) and working knowledge of simulation tools (e.g., PRO/II, HYSYS, HTRI)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with heat exchanger and furnace fouling monitoring, preheat train optimization, and vacuum system troubleshooting.
• Strong process engineering fundamentals, including mass balance, thermodynamics, distillation, heat transfer, and fluid flow.
• Familiarity with HAZOP, root cause analysis, and process safety management practices.
• Ability to communicate effectively with operations, technical teams, and leadership across multiple refining sites.