SOLUGEN

14549 Minetta St., Houston TX 77035

POSITION

Control Systems/Production Engineer

ABOUT SOLUGEN:

Solugen, Inc. is a revolutionary technology company seeking to use biology to transform the chemicals industry. Solugen was founded in 2016 and is a post-Series B venture-backed startup company supported by renowned venture capital firms including Founders Fund, Fifty Years, Refactor, and Y Combinator. Located in Houston, Texas, Solugen is currently scaling up its manufacturing facility to use its chemienzymatic process to manufacture biobased chemistries for water treatment, agriculture, and personal care. Solugen currently has 50+ full time employees.

MISSION

Solugen's mission is to decarbonize chemicals manufacturing. As a first step, Solugen is building a 10,000 tpy first commercial plant with the potential to offset up to 37,000 tpy of carbon dioxide equivalents. This role will directly support Solugen's mission by ensuring Solugen's manufacturing and R&D assets are achieving high levels of output and utilization via automated controls systems. Ultimately, this includes spearheading the implementation of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning-enabled process controls systems with the help of Solugen's commercial partners. Reporting to the Plant Manager, this is a hands-on role where the individual's initiative, engineering prowess, and energy level will make a substantial impact on the company's mission. Additionally, this individual will serve as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Control Systems/Electrical & Instrumentation for Solugen. This individual will oversee the development of control systems for projects as well as the improvement of the current control systems. This individual will also be responsible for the production engineering role while overseeing rate, quality, and process production opportunities. As the company grows and the individual progresses, the ideal candidate for this position can move up and laterally to different areas within the company including commercial plant operations, project engineering, process optimization, and technical business development.

KEY OUTCOMES

1. 1. Support the commissioning team as the Controls System/E&I SME to commission the plant by May 2021. This includes QA/QC of EPC-generated detailed engineering packages and Allen Bradley Compactlogix PLC programming. Manage the implementation of commissioning, startup, and operating procedures into the PLC-HMI to bring online the plant as quickly as possible.
2. 2. Once the plant is commissioned, measure operating performance (e.g. OEE) and then create a production improvement plan for the rest of 2021. Implement and execute said plan and track plant performance against OEE and other relevant operations metrics.
3. 3. In 2022, oversee the implementation of Artificial Intelligence enabled process control technologies into the plant's Distributed Control System. Measure its Day 1 performance and set measurable operations goals for the AI-enabled system to achieve over 2022. Compute the IRR.
4. 4. As the onsite Controls System/E&I SME, initiate the review and project improvement plans for automating Solugen's R&D and manufacturing assets. Document the completion of each project, whether the intended outcomes were achieved, and provide the asset ledger to the finance team.

KEY COMPETENCIES

JOB SPECIFIC

• ALLEN BRADLEY COMPACTLOGIX PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE IS A CRITICAL COMPETENCY REQUIREMENT

• Attention to detail and organization.

• Good communication, negotiation, leadership, and project management skills with the desire to further develop these skills as the company grows.

• Commitment to safe workplace goals and practices that ensure operational integrity, including compliance with all regulatory policies and procedures.

• Comfortable following safety protocols and wearing personal protective equipment—including hard hats, gloves, earplugs, and respirators--in work zones.

• Good familiarity with Office products as well as a general level of comfort with online communication and work management platforms such as Dropbox, Google Doc, and Slack.

• Advanced understanding of project management execution and scheduling software (e.g. Microsoft Project, Primavera)

• Analytical approach to problem solving, with a focus on managing a team environment with attention to results and a sense of urgency.

COMPANY SPECIFIC

• Ask a lot of questions, be curious, and have insights into your work

• Be nimble, embrace the speed and ambiguity of startup culture.

• A passion for green chemistry and fighting climate change.

• Ability to self-manage and set your own priorities and schedule.

• Be comfortable working in multiple roles.

• Emphasize safety above all else.

• Respect for others.

• Creative problem solving.

• Willingness to learn and research new engineering/science concepts.

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineer/Electrical Engineer or related field and minimum 5 years full-time experience working as a Control Systems/Production Engineering