Refinery Chemist

Chevron•El Segundo, CA

8d•$91,500 - $180,500•Onsite

About The Position

The Refining Chemist serves as a technical resource for refinery laboratory operations, providing analytical chemistry expertise to support safe, reliable, and compliant operations. This role is responsible for supporting laboratory test methods, troubleshooting analytical instrumentation, interpreting refinery sample data, maintaining quality assurance practices, and partnering with Operations, Technical, Maintenance, Environmental, and other stakeholders to resolve process, product quality, and compliance issues.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in chemistry or related science field with significant college-level chemistry coursework.
Valid driver's license.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in chemistry preferred.
Laboratory experience in a refinery, petrochemical, petroleum testing, or industrial analytical laboratory environment.
Experience with laboratory quality systems, including ASTM D6299 statistical quality control, proficiency testing, method validation, auditing, corrective actions, and documentation control.
Experience operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting refinery laboratory instrumentation such as GC, ICP, AA, XRF, SFC, IC, FTIR, Raman, titrators, elemental analyzers, and LIMS-connected systems.
Knowledge of refining processes, refinery product slates, petroleum chemistry, ASTM methods and how laboratory data supports process optimization, troubleshooting, and product certification.
Demonstrated ability to prioritize work, solve practical problems, support investigations, and adapt to changing refinery needs.

Responsibilities

Conduct, support, and interpret chemical and physical testing of crude oil, intermediate process streams, finished petroleum products, water, solvents, and other refinery samples using approved laboratory procedures.
Monitor test results for compliance with product specifications, operating targets, environmental requirements, and applicable regulatory or industry standards.
Provide technical support for laboratory quality assurance and quality control programs, including statistical quality control review, proficiency testing, calibration records, control sample performance, method validation, and audit support.
Troubleshoot, maintain, verify, and improve laboratory instrumentation and methods to support reliable data generation and timely sample turnaround.
Develop, review, and update laboratory procedures, work instructions, training materials, and method documentation to ensure consistent execution and knowledge transfer.
Partner with Operations, Technical, Maintenance, Environmental, and corporate technical resources to investigate process discrepancies, product quality concerns, analytical outliers, and non-routine testing needs.
Support method development, instrument selection, equipment procurement, commissioning, and continuous improvement projects that improve laboratory reliability, efficiency, safety, and compliance.
Use laboratory information management systems, spreadsheets, and other data tools to document, analyze, trend, and communicate test results and recommendations.