Operations and Product Quality Consultant

• Work closely with the VP of Technology of the selected technology provider to coordinate technical development, design integration, testing, and technology implementation.
• Provide operations and product-quality input throughout FEED and Detailed Engineering to ensure the process design is practical, operable, maintainable, safe, and capable of consistently meeting product specifications.
• Work cooperatively with a cross functional team that includes Project Director, Process Engineering, Operations Consultants, Government and Customer Laboratory teams, Equipment Specialists, Commercial, and external engineering contractors.
• Participate in process design reviews, PFD and P&ID reviews, equipment selection, design-basis development, operating philosophy, control philosophy, safeguarding reviews, and equipment operability assessments.
• Define critical process variables, product-quality control points, sampling locations, laboratory requirements, operating envelopes, alarm limits, and process monitoring requirements.
• Review process simulations, material and energy balances, equipment sizing, heat-transfer systems, fired heaters, fractionation systems, storage, blending, and product-handling facilities from an operations and product-quality perspective.
• Identify design risks that could affect asphalt binder quality, coproduct specifications, equipment reliability, startup performance, or long-term operability.
• Support Management of Change, HAZOP, risk assessments, and other process-safety reviews throughout project development.

 Laboratory Testing and Product Development

• In coordination with the VP of Technology, develop and coordinate laboratory testing programs required to understand the relationship between bitumen feed chemistry, process conditions, intermediate streams, and finished asphalt binder.
• Support government laboratory testing and technical-validation programs associated with product development, process validation, funding programs, or commercialization activities.
• Coordinate customer laboratory testing and qualification programs to demonstrate that asphalt binder meets applicable product and performance requirements.
• Review and interpret laboratory results, identify trends and correlations, and translate testing outcomes into recommendations for process design, operating conditions, product specifications, and equipment requirements.
• Develop statistically sound testing and sampling programs and ensure laboratory results are representative, repeatable, and suitable for engineering and commercial decision-making.
• Support development of asphalt binder specifications, product limits, certification requirements, sampling procedures, and quality-control plans.
• Provide technical support for characterization, specification development, and commercial disposition of diluent and gas oil coproducts.

 Commissioning, Startup and Operational Readiness

• Support development of commissioning, startup, operating, sampling, testing, and product-qualification plans.
• Define product-quality acceptance criteria and testing requirements for commissioning and initial production.
• Support preparation of operating procedures, startup sequences, operating envelopes, troubleshooting guides, and operator training materials.
• Support performance testing and validation of plant capability against design assumptions, process guarantees, product-quality requirements, and customer expectations.
• Capture findings and recommend process, equipment, control, or operating modifications required for reliable long-term operation.

 MUST HAVE Qualifications and Experience

• Degree in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Chemistry, or a closely related discipline; professional engineering designation or equivalent industry experience is an asset.
• Typically, 15+ years of relevant refinery, upgrader, heavy-oil, bitumen-processing, asphalt, or hydrocarbon-processing experience, with demonstrated involvement in major projects, commissioning, startup, or technology commercialization.
• Expert in heavy-hydrocarbon and bitumen chemistry and the relationship between feed properties, processing conditions, product yield, and asphalt binder performance.
• Demonstrated knowledge of asphalt binder production, laboratory testing, product specifications, quality control, and performance grading.
• Experience supporting FEED and Detailed Engineering, including design reviews, process-safety studies, operating philosophies, equipment selection, and operability assessments.
• Experience developing or managing laboratory, pilot, government, third-party, or customer product-testing programs.
• Practical knowledge of statistical methods, heat and mass transfer, fired heaters, fractionation, process controls/APC, sampling systems, storage, blending, fouling, and heavy-hydrocarbon handling.
• Strong working knowledge of Process Safety Management, including MOC, HAZOP/PHA, LOPA, risk assessment, incident investigation, and root-cause analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary technical, commercial, laboratory, project, and operating teams.