Superintendent, Instruments & Controls

Primary Purpose:

The Instrument and Controls Superintendent provides technical, administrative, and people leadership for the Maintenance Instrumentation, Analyzer, and DCS Controls teams. The position is accountable for safe and reliable execution of instrumentation and controls maintenance; translation of Engineering strategies and technical recommendations into executable field work; discipline maintenance strategy, equipment health, and lifecycle planning; and effective stewardship of budget, contracts, workforce, and business performance. Working as the primary interface among Maintenance, Reliability/Engineering, Operations, Planning and Scheduling, Projects, and Supply Chain, the Superintendent ensures instrumentation and control systems are maintained in compliance with HSSE, regulatory, and company requirements while supporting plant availability, reliability, and cost objectives.

This position will be located in Hackberry, Louisiana. Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) is required.

Responsibilities/Duties:

Technical and Reliability Leadership:

• Serve as the Maintenance technical leader for the instrumentation and controls discipline and the primary Maintenance interface with Reliability/Engineering for field issues, equipment strategies, risk-based decisions, and long-term improvements.
• Own the overall performance and effectiveness of the Instrumentation, Analyzer, and DCS Controls maintenance teams, while maintaining accountability for equipment health, reliability, workforce capability, backlog, preventive-maintenance performance, and work execution.
• Provide technical direction during complex troubleshooting and plant recovery involving process instrumentation, control valves and actuators, online analyzers, metering, DCS/PLC systems, safety instrumented systems (SIS), emergency shutdown systems (ESD), and fire and gas systems; coordinate specialist and vendor support when required.
• Translate Engineering recommendations, reliability strategies, design changes, and project scopes into safe, maintainable, and executable work; ensure field observations, failure history, and lessons learned are communicated back to Engineering.
• Review and approve the technical content of maintenance procedures, preventive and predictive maintenance tasks, calibration and test methods, job plans, quality hold points, and acceptance criteria for instrumentation and controls work.
• Lead or actively support root cause analyses, 5-Why studies, bad-actor reviews, and chronic defect elimination; assign and track corrective actions and verify their effectiveness.
• Use equipment criticality, condition information, work history, failure data, and field experience to evaluate the effectiveness of established maintenance strategies and recommend changes to Engineering when maintenance tasks, frequencies, or methods are not achieving the desired reliability or risk objectives; provide discipline input to spare-parts requirements and lifecycle or obsolescence plans. Review Management of Change packages, design documents, vendor submittals, project turnover packages, commissioning plans, and start-up activities for maintainability, reliability, constructability, and operational readiness.
• Ensure required inspection, calibration, proof testing, functional testing, and maintenance records for critical instrumentation, protective systems, analyzers, and controls are completed and documented in accordance with approved requirements.
• Establish technical quality expectations for contractors and service providers and oversee field quality, testing, commissioning, documentation, and final acceptance of work.
• Partner with Engineering, Document Control, Materials Management, and Planning to maintain accurate drawings, logic and cause-and-effect documentation, equipment records, bills of material, spare-parts data, and vendor technical information.

Administrative and Business Management:

• Develop the annual Instrumentation and Controls maintenance budget and long-range cost outlook; prepare monthly forecasts, monitor actual costs and commitments, explain variances, and implement corrective actions to maintain financial performance.
• Prioritize spending and resource allocation based on safety, regulatory compliance, equipment criticality, reliability risk, production impact, and total lifecycle cost.
• Work with Supply Chain to develop scopes of work, sourcing packages, technical bid evaluations, and commercial recommendations for sourcing events and long-term service contracts; support negotiations, renewals, and contractor performance reviews.
• Administer contractor and service-provider performance, including work authorization, cost and productivity oversight, invoice or field-ticket validation, quality, safety, schedule performance, and compliance with contract requirements.
• Develop and present concise reports, dashboards, KPIs, business cases, and leadership presentations addressing safety, work execution, preventive-maintenance compliance, backlog, schedule performance, repeat failures, reliability improvements, budget performance, and contract performance.
• Ensure effective use of SAP or the applicable computerized maintenance management system, including work-order quality, cost capture, maintenance history, task lists, equipment master data, bills of material, and timely technical closeout.
• Support annual business planning, major maintenance and turnaround planning, audit responses, regulatory commitments, and department improvement initiatives while maintaining compliance with Maintenance business processes.

People Leadership and Maintenance Execution:

• Lead supervisors and oversee Instrumentation, Analyzer, and DCS Controls personnel; establish clear objectives, assign accountability, evaluate performance, provide coaching, address performance or conduct concerns, and support hiring and retention decisions.
• Develop succession, staffing, competency, training, and qualification plans that sustain technical capability across the discipline, including cross-training and appropriate vendor or industry certifications.
• Partner with Planning and Scheduling to establish priorities, validate job readiness, balance planned and emergent work, allocate resources, and hold the supervisors and maintenance personnel accountable for safe, efficient, and quality work execution, including adherence to approved procedures, job plans, technical requirements, testing requirements, and timely work-order closeout.
• Coordinate closely with Operations, Engineering, Projects, other Maintenance disciplines, and HSSE to manage risk, resolve conflicts, and deliver safe, reliable, and cost-effective facility operation.
• Provide leadership during equipment failures, callouts, and other emergent plant conditions, including after-hours support when required.
• Promote a culture of safety, ownership, technical rigor, continuous improvement, and compliance with company standards for performance and behavior.
• Perform other duties consistent with the responsibilities and business needs of the position.

Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation and Controls Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline from an accredited institution; or, in lieu of an engineering degree, a minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible and directly relevant instrumentation and controls maintenance, reliability, or technical experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading supervisors, technical professionals, and/or craft personnel in an operating industrial facility.
• Strong working knowledge of maintenance management systems and work-management processes, including planning, scheduling, execution, closeout, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).
• Ability and willingness to provide after-hours support and respond to plant emergencies or callouts when required.

Experience:

Required:

• Progressively responsible experience in instrumentation and controls maintenance, reliability, or engineering within a hydrocarbon processing, petrochemical, refining, power-generation, or comparable heavy-industrial environment.
• At least five years of formal leadership or supervisory experience with responsibility for personnel performance, work execution, safety, and resource allocation.
• Demonstrated technical knowledge of process instrumentation, control valves and actuators, analyzer systems, DCS/PLC platforms, SIS/ESD and fire and gas systems, calibration and testing practices, and complex field troubleshooting.
• Demonstrated ability to read and apply P&IDs, loop diagrams, wiring and termination drawings, logic diagrams, cause-and-effect diagrams, instrument data sheets, control narratives, and vendor technical documentation.
• Experience partnering with Engineering and Operations on equipment strategy, Management of Change, project turnover, commissioning, reliability improvement, and resolution of complex plant issues.
• Experience developing and managing budgets and forecasts and supporting sourcing events, technical bid evaluations, contract administration, and supplier performance management.
• Experience using root cause analysis, equipment history, condition information, and performance data to eliminate defects and improve reliability.

Preferred:

• Experience in liquefied natural gas production and/or natural gas processing.
• Experience supporting major maintenance, turnarounds, commissioning, start-up, or facility modification activities.
• Working knowledge of SAP Plant Maintenance or a comparable computerized maintenance management system and related reporting tools.
• Working knowledge of applicable process-safety, functional-safety, regulatory, and industry standards for instrumentation and control systems.
• Relevant professional certification such as CMRP, ISA CAP, ISA CCST, or a comparable technical or reliability credential.

Helpful Skills/ Knowledge/ Abilities:

• Strong technical judgment and structured problem-solving skills, including the ability to make risk-informed decisions during complex or time-sensitive plant events.
• Strong leadership, communication, conflict-resolution, and organizational skills with the ability to align technical and field-execution teams.
• Ability to communicate complex technical and business information clearly to executives, engineers, supervisors, technicians, contractors, and Operations personnel.
• Strong analytical skills and proficiency in developing KPIs, dashboards, forecasts, business cases, and executive-level presentations.
• Commercial awareness and the ability to balance technical quality, reliability risk, schedule, contractor performance, and cost.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and relevant maintenance, reporting, and data-analysis tools.

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to climb stairs and ladders ranging from 4 feet to 200 feet.
• Must be able to lift and carry equipment needed to perform or support work, consistent with company requirements.
• Must be able to wear required personal protective equipment, including a safety harness, respirator, and other protective equipment as necessary.

DOT Requirements:

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the company have adopted regulations governing the control of drug use by persons in certain job classifications. This position is subject to the Federal Pipelines Regulation and is stipulated in 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 40, which requires drug and alcohol testing and compliance with the applicable testing standards.

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions as defined per Company policy.