Senior Process Controls Engineer

Senior Process Controls Engineer 

Department: Engineering

Reports To: Director of Technical Services

Compensation: $125K–$145K

Location : San Antonio, Texas

Location Requirement: Local to the area preferred; relocation considered for the right candidate.

Role Purpose

The Senior Controls Engineer provides technical leadership for all refinery process control systems to ensure:

• Optimized production rates, yields, and product quality
• Safe, environmentally responsible, and reliable operations
• Continuous improvement that reduces waste and enhances profitability

Key Responsibilities

Control System Support & Design

• Provide daily troubleshooting and support for DCS (DeltaV), truck rack systems (Multiload), PLCs, HMIs, control loops, instrumentation, analyzers, communication networks, and SIS.
• Develop and maintain control logic, graphics, and related documentation.
• Support maintenance of analytical equipment.

Project Engineering

• Initiate and execute improvements to existing control systems.
• Support capital and small projects, including instrumentation sizing, specification, and selection.
• Lead control system upgrades and migrations.
• Support FAT, SAT, commissioning, and startup activities.

Safety & Compliance

• Serve as subject matter expert for alarm rationalization and alarm philosophy implementation.
• Assist in developing KPIs and alarms to prevent SOL exceedances and environmental/compliance issues.
• Support SIS design and lifecycle management per ISA/IEC standards.
• Ensure compliance with ISA, NFPA, API, and other applicable standards.
• Participate in HAZOPs, LOPAs, MOC processes, and root cause analyses.

Other Duties

• Maintain software licensing and documentation as required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Chemical Engineering.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in refining or petrochemical environments.
• Strong troubleshooting skills for refinery control schemes.
• Proficiency with DeltaV, PLCs, and online analyzers.
• Strong communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work effectively across all organizational levels.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint).
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving abilities.

Physical Requirements

• Regular walking, sitting, talking, and hearing.
• Occasional standing, climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, or crawling.
• Ability to lift/move up to 50 lbs occasionally.
• Vision requirements include close, color, peripheral, depth perception, and focus adjustment.

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