Ethanol Area Leader

Lake Preson, SD

Posted: 01/19/2023 Job Number: 20633

Job Description


About the role:

Seeking an Ethanol (EtOH) Area Leader for the corn-based ethanol to jet fuel plant at our Lake Preston, SD project currently in development. The position is responsible for all technical aspects within the Ethanol Area and over time will cross train with the Hydrocarbon and Utilities Areas and is a member of the Site Leadership Team.   This position is responsible for all technical aspects and management of Ethanol production and over time will cross train with the Hydrocarbons and Utility Areas.   The duties will be performed personally or through others, while supporting vision, mission, values and objectives of the company.

Who you are:
  • Build and lead the organization that will operate the Net Zero 1
  • Create an atmosphere of employee engagement, continual improvement, delivering on expectations and personal accountability
  • Drive the use of Behavior Based Safety to ensure a safe working environment for all employees
  • Responsible for supporting other departments including EH&S, Quality, Hydrocarbon, Utility, Customer Service, and Maintenance including identifying opportunities for improvement, providing feedback, and conducting performance reviews
  • Coordinate with EH&S Manager to ensure compliance with all city, county, state, and federal regulations are met at all times and all systems for regulatory and environmental compliance are maintained
  • Maintain a positive, team-oriented interaction with co-workers
    • Ensure successful recruitment, training, onboarding, and retention of employees.Allocate resources effectively and fully utilize assets to produce optimal results.
    • Utilize Corporate resources as needed to achieve desired results.
    • Ensure subordinate managers hold their teams to expectations around providing constructive, and consistent feedback to their employees.  
  • Support and lead efforts to maximize plant performance through engaging a variety of experts, facilitating creative problem solving, and implementing process changes in a safe manner
  • Prepare reports, analyze data, and make recommendations for improving plant operations and maintenance.
    • Ensure achievement of KPI’ s and targets, including sustainability and carbon intensity.
  • Work in a team-oriented environment with a demonstrated ability to lead a team to achieve high levels of efficiency, quality, and safety
  • Hold self and others accountable, take and give critical feedback
  • Eager to expand knowledge and skills outside of normal duties. Seeks outside expertise whenever possible to ensure best practices are understood and implemented
  • Prepare and deliver information in a concise, accurate and professionally written format and present information in an informal setting
  • Analyze and develop solutions to problems independently and as a team with a strong perspective on financial impact of those solutions
  • Provide technical support to the Hydrocarbon Area                                                 
  • Utilizes understanding of interactions between machine, materials, methods, environment, and people to achieve robust operating systems.
  • Utilizes understanding of sanitization, sterilization systems to achieve clean propagation and fermentation processes.
  • Develops and maintains material balances and unit operation capability information to ensure optimal production rates, parameters, and formulas.
  • Conducts capacity studies, enhances system reliability, and identifies/implements productivity improvements including new technologies for assigned site.
  • Develops/maintains strategic technical improvement plans for systems in alignment with engineering processes, philosophies, and methodologies
  • Serves as technical liaison for production/maintenance employees, plant technical and management resources, and engineering.
  • Develops/delivers technical training for various levels of the organization and serves as resource in cross-functional platform/technology/product teams

Requirements and Experience
  • Bachelor’ s degree in Microbiology, Chemical Engineering or other related technical field
  • At least   8-10 years of experience in at least one of the following areas (preference to individuals with experience in more than one):
    • Fermentation and propagation including thorough understanding of grain milling & handling, enzymatic processes, CIP/SIP systems, etc.
    • Hydrocarbon or similar processes such as catalytic reactions, distillation, dehydration, dimerization or hydrogenation
    • Hydrocarbon tank farm management, loading, logistics and shipping
  • Previous experience as an Operations, Facility, or other Asset Manager
  • Knowledge of jet fuel and gasoline specifications
  • Strong organizational, project management and budgeting skills
  • Competency in MS Word, Excel and Outlook and the ability to learn and use new software applications
    • Experience in operating data historian is a plus but not required
  • Willing to expand knowledge and skills outside of normal duties
  • Knowledge and stewardship of PSM-regulated facilities and programs.
  • Authorized to work in the US

 Physical Requirements
  • Significant time spent in plant which requires climbing ladders and stairs, working at heights, working in confined spaces, and working in extremely hot and cold environments - depending on weather conditions around a variety of chemical industry equipment.
  • Must be able to climb ladders and steps and lift a minimum of 50 lbs
  • Must be able to adapt to outside work environments which could include cold, heat, wind, rain, snow and slippery surfaces
  • Ability to sit, climb, crawl, stoop, lift up to 50 pounds, be able to detect changes in plant sounds and visually discern color variations in products
  • Individual will be exposed to high noise levels

 Who We Are
  • We are People First
  • We are Mission-Focused
  • We are Agile
  • We are Innovators 

What Offers You
  • Free health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance for employee and family
  • 22 days of sick and vacation time plus 11 paid holidays
  • 401k contribution plan
  • Annual incentive plan, based on Company performance
  • Paid community service time
  • Tuition reimbursement
  • Be part of a smart, high performing, passionate team

Meet Your Recruiter

Shane Readyhough

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