Description

Formed in 2008 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Monument Chemical serves the specialty hydrocarbon industry as a specialty chemicals platform. From six plants in Belgium, Kentucky and Texas, Monument Chemical develops, manufactures and markets a variety of solvents, intermediates, specialty fuels and other specialty products and offers toll manufacturing services. As a company, they are continuously looking to expand their product portfolio to accommodate dynamic market conditions, using a flexible mindset and the support of a strong technical team and multi-purpose equipment.

Monument believes in investing in their businesses, processes, people and cultures. Monument is all about possibilities—for their customers, their businesses and the specialty chemicals industry. The team at Monument is aligned around a set of commitments to help guide their efforts as the company continues to grow. They are committed to:

• Worker health/safety and the environment
• Investment in long-term, profitable growth
• Innovation while achieving reliable performance
• Showing appreciation for each employee within the Monument family
• Developing opportunities for their people
• Integrity, excellence and responsiveness
• Making external connections to leverage the strengths of Monument

Monument’s goal is to be the most reliable, most adaptable and most responsive manufacturer in the specialty chemicals industry. They believe listening to customer needs first and then working with customers to formulate the best solution is what gives Monument a competitive advantage.

Monument Chemical is a privately held company owned by two families: the Fehsenfeld family (owners of The Heritage Group) and the Grube family. These two families have been business partners for over 20 years in various ventures, including Calumet Specialty Products Partners, which refines and processes hydrocarbon products.  

For more information on Monument Chemical visit https://monumentchemical.com/

Scope

Manufacturing excellence is core to the success of Monument Chemical. The Operations Manager will be responsible for chemical production operations in their Channelview site. The primary mission is to manage this semi continuous plant operating unit to reliably deliver low-cost, high-quality products in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.

This site is a nonunion facility located on 200 acres in Houston’s Channelview area. There is a total team at the Houston Site of approximately 160 people (including engineering and maintenance, HR, finance etc.) with a sales volume in the $150 Million range. Overall, the plant, which was opened in 1980, is performing well on operational, financial and employee engagement metrics with opportunities to achieve even better performance.

The Operations Manager responsibilities include:

• Oversight of plant area operations / production units and maintenance priorities
• Enforce consistent adherence to and implementation of HSE policies and procedures across all responsible areas
• Accomplish plant production goals and S&OP plan
• Achieve fixed cost budgets in operating areas and identifying/justifying capital needs
• Foster a well-trained and motivated work force
• Supporting data-driven, continuous improvement Lean-Six Sigma activities through employee involvement

Specific Responsibilities Include

Safety and Compliance

• Accountability for personnel & process safety performance in operating units
• Ensuring all site operations area adhere to pertinent internal/external regulatory requirements (HSE, Process Safety, Management of Change, Mechanical Integrity, Compliance Reporting, Action Item Closure, etc.)
• Compliance with all applicable process and personnel safety expectations

Site Manufacturing

• Accountability for asset reliability and availability, supporting initiatives to improve unplanned events and unit performance (OEE, utility consumption, energy, raw materials)
• Improving customer satisfaction through improved product quality First Pass Quality and On Time In Full
• Overseeing of maintenance planning/execution and resolving competing priorities and resource constraints across units
• Maintaining ISO 9001:2015 certifications for the businesses by complying with processes, procedures, and instructions
• Developing unit quality improvement plan to correct prior year quality issues. Plan must align with site objectives and support plant metrics
• Building production schedule with site forecast/planner based on required intervals and current operational cycle times
• Developing productivity/cost improvement plan for unit that aligns with site. Plan must support metrics
• Building annual unit capital improvement plan with site engineering manager
• Supporting the development of key operating metrics to measure area unit performance and drive business results
• Developing and managing execution of operating area priorities, fixed cost budgets and identifying capital project needs and priorities
• Reporting on operating metrics/deliverables outside targets by understanding and developing countermeasures to address actual to target variance performance
• Providing first line of support for resolving resource and coordination issues in operating units
• Communicating updates to Site Leader on area unit issues and activities to address or improve

Leadership & Personnel Development

• Accountability for supervision, development, and performance management of Operations staff and their direct reports, including recruiting and succession planning
• Assessing workforce staffing and overtime management
• Fostering a culture of Manufacturing Excellence – strong planning, execution and problem resolution
• Promoting a data-driven, continuous improvement culture with wide employee involvement
• Developing a succession plan for key roles in unit utilizing human resources and required format
• Completing all mid and annual performance reviews on schedule. Each review must align with site goals and support established metrics

Strategic Planning

• Supporting plant site long-range technical and commercial development strategies by facilitating new tolls/products commercialization, supportive of the site integrated plan and strategy
• Serving as a potential back-up to the Site Leader

Candidate Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have experience in operations in the process industries (chemical industries, oil and gas, refining)

Specifically, the successful candidate should have:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in chemical plant operations management as Production/Operations Manager of large site
• Strong experience in Process Safety Management (PSM) or other regulated facility
• Experience in hazardous materials manufacturing. Hydrogen reactor experience is preferred. Distillation experience is requited
• Experience with budgeting and manufacturing spend variance analysis
• Ability to drive incident investigations (HSE, quality, delivery, etc.) and ensure actions to mitigate future re-occurrences
• Proven leadership and people management skills – ability to foster effective relationships amongst diverse manufacturing teams
• Demonstrated ability to effectively plan and deliver results
• Strong Process Safety, Personal Safety and Environmental exposure and leadership
• Project management- experience managing projects, programs and/or initiatives
• Track record implementing continuous improvement for improved performance and cost reduction
• Lean/6-Sigma certification (Green Belt minimum) preferred
• Additional experience in or exposure to Project/Process Engineering, and/or HSE positions is desirable
• Hand- on troubleshooting skills
• Strong communication skills

Personal / Leadership Attributes

The Operations Manager will be hands-on, resourceful and committed to the safety and performance of the site.

Specific personal attributes and leadership characteristics include:

• Committed to a family-owned business approach of putting customers first, a “can-do” attitude and sensible risk taking
• Collaborative style with the ability to work and influence effectively in a team environment. Intellectually and emotionally strong enough to actively participate and offer critical review, yet modest and mature enough to recognize the need for partnership with the team
• Able to embody the Monument five leadership behaviors: trust, big picture perspective, responsibility, coach, and inclusion
• Confident but with a balanced ego and a strong focus on the success of the broader organization as the means to personal success
• “EQ”- self-aware, self-confident, and humble; grounded person, willing to listen as well as be decisive. Possesses a respectful, supportive, and inclusive style; able to laugh and truly enjoys being part of a team
• Leadership and effective people management skills
• Creative problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Finally, and importantly, the successful candidate should have a strong set of personal and professional ethics with unquestionable integrity

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering is required. An advanced technical or business degree is a plus.