Company:

INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA

Interested in joining a winning team? A team whose employees are empowered to make a difference?

Grade

34-35

Organizational context
and job purpose

INEOS Organization:

INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. It comprises 36 businesses, each with a major chemical company heritage. Its production network spans 194 manufacturing facilities in 29 countries throughout the world.

Business Context:

The O&P USA business includes the product lines Ethylene, Propylene, Butadiene, Polypropylene and Polyethylene. Manufacturing sites include Chocolate Bayou Works (Alvin, TX), Battleground Manufacturing Complex (LaPorte, TX), and Carson (Carson, CA), with a division office in League City, TX. Battleground Manufacturing Complex (BMC) has one polypropylene unit, and seven polyethylene units.

How the Role Fits in:

INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA is one of the largest integrated producers of polyolefins in North America. With manufacturing locations near Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles, California it is a merchant marketer of ethylene, polypropylene, high-density polyethylene, and butadiene with annual revenue of over $4BB. The strategic goals of INEOS O&P USA are to conceive, build, improve, and maintain highly competitive assets for the production of olefins, polypropylene, and high-density polyethylene in the Americas and produce value-added polyolefin resins for use in consumer-industrial, automotive, and packaging applications.

This position is in the Technical Service and Development (TS&D) Organization at the Battleground Manufacturing Complex. The Polyethylene Product Development Scientist supports annual production and sales of over three billion pounds of polyethylene, used to produce molded containers, pipe, film, automotive fuel tanks, packaging and various other plastic products. The Polyethylene Product Development Scientist is expected to be able to combine business acumen with an understanding of internal and external customer needs and requirements to help the organization to achieve business goals.

The Main Purpose of the Role:

The job is for an individual to join the Catalyst and Product Development group and manage a series of projects for the polymer production plant, the technical service group and the business. The focus of these projects is on polyethylene, including but not limited to polymerization catalysis, production process and end use properties.

This is an applied role in which the Scientist will use his/her knowledge to support key business development objectives, complex product optimization and in depth technical investigations. His/her major focus will be on improving or inventing polyethylene products using the existing commercial assets and the individual in this role must be able to translate fundamental catalyst principles to polyolefin process technology. Effective daily problem solving requires good understanding of inorganic chemistry reactions associated with catalyst preparation, polymerization reaction mechanisms, polymer structure/property relationships as well as plant processes. In addition, the ability to interface effectively with both internal and external catalyst development teams is critical to this role. Statistical tools will be used as part of the Six Sigma company model.

To help define problems and have a quick solution, the Scientist is expected to effectively communicate with technical service, manufacturing, pilot plants, and catalyst suppliers. For career growth, the Scientist will work with peers in a cross-functional, team based environment to learn fact-based product development skills and relevant knowledge in this area.

Responsibilities AND Accountabilities

Comply with safety policies, laws, regulations, standards, and best practices, including the INEOS 20 Principles.
Strong organization skills for project management.
Technical lead for catalyst and polymer research and development:
- Inorganic reactions, catalyst preparation, catalyst reaction, catalyst evaluation
- Polymerization chemistry and applied plant process
- Polymer material science and resin end use properties
Clearly communicate project goals and results with peers, operations and management
Active member of the TS&D team who supports the polymer business, and the polymer plant. Team player.
Develop and Implement solutions to respond quickly and efficiently to business and internal customer needs.
Prepare reports and provide technical recommendations and presentations.
Manage priorities for multiple requests of different sizes and scopes.
Interact with peers for joint investigations, cross-training and workload sharing.
Participate in work team meetings to improve current system, for problem solving and developments.
The ideal candidate will have the flexibility to start in the polyethylene area, and if needed, to branch out and support other product development efforts in polypropylene, polymer additive or circular economy. There will be opportunities to learn and expand in other areas in response to business needs.

Skills & Knowledge Required

Education/Experience

Required: PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Material Science or the equivalent with 0-3 years’ experience.
Preferred: candidates having 3-10 years’ product development experience with demonstrated skills related to this role.

Technical skills

Strong safety leadership
Strong product development skills and quick response to business needs
Strong understanding of chemistry and chemical reactions
Strong understanding of polymerization process and polymer structure
Good understanding of reaction, reactor, plant process and polymerization engineering
Good understanding of testing techniques for catalyst and for polymer evaluation
Knowledge of polymer catalysis is considered added strength

Behavioral skills

Result oriented and performance bias
Teamwork - Relationship skills – Flexibility Good communication skills to be able to discuss requests and priorities
Positive attitude - open to challenges and new ideas
Creative and Customer oriented, positive personality to build successful relationships not only within the TS&D group, but also with operations and business
Effective communication skills: verbal and written
Organized and capable of working on multiple tasks under pressure to meet deadlines

New employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to their start date.

Our culture is one of honesty and integrity with an emphasis on safety, health and environmental performance.On our team, people are acknowledged for embracing new practices that help create real value for customers.