Sr. Process Operations Engineer — Methane-to-Methanol Commercialization

Emvolon is a climate-tech company commercializing systems that convert greenhouse gas emissions into fuels and chemicals. The Senior Process Operations Engineer will lead operational readiness, commissioning, startup, reliability acceptance testing, and ongoing performance optimization for a first-of-a-kind methane-to-methanol conversion system. The role also owns operating procedures, process safety activities, maintenance shutdowns, performance analysis, and operational knowledge development.

Responsibilities:

• Lead plant commissioning and startup activities, serving as the primary technical presence on-site during first-gas introduction, capacity ramp-up, and performance optimization
• Own the development and continuous improvement of startup, shutdown, and steady-state operating procedures for the full system and each individual subsystem
• Drive Reliability Acceptance Testing (RAT) execution — defining entry criteria, overseeing data collection, troubleshooting deviations in real time, and ensuring successful completion
• Monitor and analyze plant performance against design basis; identify root causes of underperformance and lead corrective action
• Lead planned maintenance shutdowns, pre-startup safety reviews (PSSRs), and post-startup operational reviews
• Coordinate with R&D, engineering, and business development teams to translate operational learnings into design improvements for future units
• Build and maintain the plant operating knowledge base — shift logs, incident reports, equipment history, and as-operated procedure revisions — that will underpin the next-of-a-kind (NOAK) design basis
• Support HAZOPs, PHAs, and Management of Change (MOC) processes, ensuring process safety is embedded in day-to-day operations

Requirements:

• • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Chemical Engineering or a closely related discipline
• • 5–10 years of process or operations engineering experience, with direct hands-on involvement in plant startup, commissioning, and steady-state operations
• • Demonstrated experience operating and/or commissioning newly installed process systems — know how to operate without an established precedent to follow
• • Substantive background in gas processing, reactor-based systems, or methanol/syngas operations
• • Strong working knowledge of DCS/PLC control systems, alarm management, and process instrumentation
• • Proficiency in process simulation tools (Aspen or equivalent) sufficient to support operational troubleshooting and process optimization
• • Solid grounding in process safety frameworks, including PSSR, MOC, HAZOP participation, and applicable API, ASME, and NFPA codes
• • Must be currently authorized to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available for this position
• Frequent travel to our headquarter site will be required during the initial onboarding period
• Expect periodic travel to fabrication yards, partner facilities, and pilot plant sites during key phases of project execution
• • Experience developing and implementing operating procedures, control philosophies, and training programs for a new or FOAK plant
• • Familiarity with Reliability Acceptance Testing (RAT) protocols and performance guarantee processes
• • Background in renewable natural gas (RNG), alternative fuels, or gas-to-chemicals processing
• • Experience in early-stage clean technology or startup environments, where operational systems are being built from scratch
• • Familiarity with plant KPI frameworks — availability, specific energy consumption, yield, mean time between failure — and experience using data to drive operational improvements