FCC Catalyst Development Specialist

Overview

We are seeking a catalyst development scientist with deep experience in Fluid catalytic Cracking (FCC) processes to join the Catalyst Center of Excellence (CCoE) at Aramco’s Research & Development Center (R&DC).  The CCoE is responsible for developing innovative catalysts to improve refining performance and revenue.

The candidate will conduct R&D research to develop novel catalysts for FCC processes to convert conventional (e.g. VGO) and non-conventional (e.g. plastic derived oil) feeds into fuels and petrochemical building blocks. The candidate is expected to work closely with team members, internal business proponents, and external collaborators to drive our research projects.

Key Responsibilities

Candidate will assess technical and business opportunities, identify potential areas for research and development, and establish strategy and tactics to achieve technical and business goals. The candidate will lead FCC catalyst technology development projects and/or tasks including idea generation, planning of project/task, interacting with stakeholders from Engineering, Project Management, and other business proponents. 

As part of job duties, candidate is expected to:

Maintain an active portfolio of catalyst development projects in the field of FCC processes including other refining, petrochemicals, or sustainability applications.
Develop a technology from concept to a catalyst design freeze within a short time span.
Develop catalyst development and deployment plans based on project priorities and/or catalyst changeout schedules.
Financially plan all projects ensuring all required resources are available and that all tasks are executed in due course. 
Effectively communicate with proponents to learn about targeted units’ objectives to design new catalyst solutions.
Develop and implement experimental plans to conduct in-house catalyst synthesis, characterization and testing.
Utilize advanced and routine catalyst characterization tools/instruments to gain insights about structure-activity relationships and effectively use them to optimize the catalyst.
Improve the center’s catalyst synthesis, testing and characterization capabilities to maintain the center as a world class catalysis research hub. 
Build knowledge base for R&DC’s catalyst development efforts. Present research results in internal seminars, technical presentations, technical reports or external publications.
Generate patent applications to protect Aramco’s intellectual properties as appropriate.
Provide technical advice to other catalyst development projects when necessary.
Provides consultation to other R&D domains on matters relating to their area of expertise.
Interact and work with molecular modeling and data scientists to leverage computational catalysis and artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery of new catalysts.
Mentor and train junior scientists and technicians to improve their technical background and skills.
Stay current on latest catalyst technologies or discoveries related to the research projects and identify potential areas or opportunities to investigate.
Manage laboratory activities and develop/implement required safety protocols to ensure compliance with all safety standards.
Represents the company in industrial or technical society joint efforts as a Company technical advisor in their discipline.

Minimum Requirements

A PhD/Master degree in Chemical Engineering with 10+ years of research experience. Proof of having a major technical contribution in heterogeneous catalysis or related fields. Deep understanding of  reaction mechanism and experience with experimental catalyst development. Proven track record of catalyst development and deployment including publications in significant and granted patents. Candidate have achieved substantial industry recognition in their area of expertise. Strong communication skills to lead cross-function teams.