R&D Pilot Plant Supervisor

Albemarle•Pasadena, TX

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Ketjen Corporation is seeking an R&D Pilot Plant Supervisor for their FCC R&D Pilot Plant. This fully in-office role is located in Bayport, TX. The supervisor will lead safe, reliable, and effective pilot plant operations supporting research, product development, process scale-up, manufacturing support, and customer sample generation. The position requires strong technical judgment, analytical problem-solving, and people leadership to identify practical solutions, improve operating discipline, and enhance pilot plant capability in line with business and R&D priorities.

Requirements

High school degree and xx years of pilot plant, manufacturing, or process operations will be considered.
Experience in pilot plant or commercial plant operations, manufacturing, process development, product development, or scale-up operations, preferably in a chemical, catalyst, materials, or related industrial environment.
Demonstrated ability to lead, coach, and develop operators or technical staff in an operations-focused environment.
Working knowledge of process safety, operating procedures, hazard recognition, incident investigation, management of change, and safe work practices.
Ability to troubleshoot equipment and process issues, manage competing priorities, interpret technical data, document results, and communicate effectively with research, operations, engineering, and business stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science, or a related technical field preferred
Experience in pilot plant or commercial plant operations, manufacturing, process development, product development, or scale-up operations in a chemical, catalyst, materials, or related industrial environment.

Responsibilities

Supervise and develop a team of 5 pilot plant operators, setting clear expectations, effective work planning, and consistent execution of operating priorities.
Gather and deliver performance feedback.
Maintain a safe operating environment through regular inspections, audits, procedure discipline, and proactive improvement of process technology.
Serve as a trainer and key participant in Ketjen safety programs; develop safe operating procedures for new equipment; and support process hazard analyses and root cause investigations as needed.
Establish training and development plans for pilot plant equipment, maintenance practices, troubleshooting, and operational readiness.
Manage the end-to-end process for producing high-quality samples for internal and external customers, balancing delivery commitments with safety, quality, and resource constraints.
Provide pilot plant equipment, technical services, and operating support for research and development activities across internal customer groups.
Drive continuous improvement in pilot plant efficiency, reliability, capability, and capital readiness.
Manage pilot plant resources and priorities in alignment with business needs.
Develop and track performance metrics to improve planning, throughput, backlog management, operational effectiveness, and bottleneck resolution.
Establish and supervise quality programs for equipment, processes, raw materials, and sample outputs.
Participate in product development projects by translating laboratory results into safe, practical, and executable pilot-scale plans.
Document pilot plant results, observations, and learnings in technical reports that support future scale-up, troubleshooting, and knowledge transfer.
Contribute to process development projects by providing pilot plant expertise, capability assessments, and guidance on data translation between laboratory, pilot, and commercial scales.
Serve as a steward for process know-how on current technologies.
Capture and grow technical expertise in compounding, mixing, drying, fluidization, TOPAZ, JADE, and related pilot plant processes.
Develop, validate, and continuously improve translation factors between pilot plant and commercial plant operations for relevant technologies and equipment.
Identify and implement tangible improvements to existing technologies, operating practices, and pilot plant capabilities.
Develop capital projects that improve pilot plant capability, reliability, safety, and flexibility.
Support strategic goal setting for the pilot plant, translating business and R&D priorities into clear improvement plans for capability, capacity, safety, and operational performance.
Lead the pilot plant team with a focus on capability building, communication, accountability, continuous improvement, cost efficiency and effective cross-functional support.