The posting
Company Description
Veolia Group is a global leader in environmental services, operating across all five continents with nearly 218,000 employees. Specializing in water, energy, and waste management, Veolia Group designs and implements innovative solutions for decarbonization, depollution, and resource regeneration, supporting communities and industries in their ecological transformation. Within this framework, Veolia's Water Tech Business brings together a dedicated team of experienced professionals committed to tackling the world’s most complex challenges related to water scarcity, quality, productivity, and energy. Together, we pursue a shared mission to create a more sustainable future.
Job Description
Job Summary
As a Chemical Plant Project Manager, you will lead high-impact capital and improvement projects, encompassing everything from batch reaction and chemical blending to raw-material handling and plant infrastructure. You are responsible for the safe, end-to-end delivery of projects—from initial concept and front-end loading through engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and final closeout.
Collaborating with cross-functional teams including Operations, Process Engineering, EHS, Maintenance, Quality, and Supply Chain, you will define scope, cost, schedule, and safety standards. You will also champion a safety-first culture by ensuring process hazards are identified early, robust safeguards are integrated into designs, and comprehensive safety reviews are completed, ensuring facilities are fully prepared for secure, successful startup operations.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Project Development and Execution
- Manage assigned capital projects from business need and feasibility through design, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, performance verification, turnover, and closeout
- Develop project charters, scopes of work, execution strategies, estimates, schedules, cash-flow forecasts, staffing plans, contracting plans, and stage-gate deliverables appropriate to project size and risk
- Establish the project basis, objectives, success criteria, battery limits, assumptions, exclusions, and interfaces with existing operations
- Coordinate process, mechanical, piping, civil/structural, electrical, instrumentation and controls, automation, environmental, and facility design activities
- Lead design reviews and ensure deliverables such as process descriptions, design bases, PFDs, P&IDs, equipment specifications, control narratives, cause-and-effect matrices, layouts, and tie-in plans are complete and fit for purpose
- Manage engineering firms, construction contractors, OEMs, and suppliers; support bid development, technical and commercial evaluations, contract awards, expediting, fabrication reviews, and vendor document control
- Plan brownfield work, shutdowns, tie-ins, temporary systems, isolations, and construction sequencing with Operations and Maintenance to minimize production disruption and control risk
- Monitor scope, cost, commitments, forecast, schedule, progress, quality, and contractor performance; identify variances and implement recovery plans
- Administer project change control, maintain decision and action logs, evaluate risks and opportunities, and promptly escalate matters that could materially affect safety, scope, cost, schedule, quality, or operability
Process Safety and Regulatory Integration
- Integrate process safety requirements into the project plan, schedule, budget, design criteria, procurement packages, construction activities, and startup strategy
- Confirm the project is evaluated under the site Management of Change (MOC) process and that affected Process Safety Information (PSI), procedures, training, drawings, equipment files, and asset records are updated before closeout
- Coordinate and participate in appropriate hazard reviews, including process hazard analyses (PHA/HAZOP), What-If/checklist reviews, layer of protection analysis (LOPA), combustible-dust or explosion-risk reviews, and other risk assessments based on project hazards and regulatory applicability
- Ensure hazards associated with reactive chemistry, exothermic reactions, incompatible materials, loss of agitation or cooling, overpressure, vacuum, thermal decomposition, charging errors, contamination, flammable or toxic releases, static electricity, and human factors are addressed in the design and operating strategy
- Coordinate specialist reviews of relief and vent systems, emergency depressurization, containment and drainage, ventilation, gas detection, fire protection, hazardous-area electrical classification, grounding and bonding, safety instrumented functions, interlocks, alarms, permissives, and emergency shutdown systems as applicable
- Verify that equipment, piping, materials of construction, instrumentation, controls, and safeguards meet applicable company standards, codes, recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP), and regulatory requirements
- Drive timely closure of hazard-review and safety-critical actions. Ensure proposed deferrals or alternative safeguards are formally evaluated, documented, approved, and tracked through completion
- Plan and lead the project portion of the Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR); confirm construction conforms to design, safety systems are functional, procedures and training are complete, action items are appropriately resolved, and authorization is obtained before introducing hazardous chemicals or energy
- Ensure startup, commissioning, and performance-testing plans define safe operating limits, hold points, roles, emergency response expectations, temporary operating procedures, and criteria for stable turnover to Operations
Construction, Commissioning, and Turnover
- Partner with site EHS and construction leadership to establish contractor safety expectations, pre-job planning, permitting, lockout/tagout, line-breaking, hot-work, confined-space, excavation, lifting, and simultaneous-operations controls
- Conduct field walkdowns and construction reviews to verify quality, installation against approved design, accessibility, maintainability, safe operability, labeling, and resolution of punch-list items
- Coordinate factory and site acceptance testing, loop checks, interlock and trip testing, equipment checkout, cleaning and flushing, commissioning, operator training, and startup support
- Deliver a complete turnover package, including approved as-built drawings, equipment data, inspection and test records, spare-parts recommendations, preventive-maintenance requirements, operating and maintenance manuals, warranties, and closed or formally transferred action items
- Complete financial closeout, lessons learned, post-project review, benefit verification, and archive of project records
Qualifications
Who You Are:
- Strong commitment to personal, construction, and process safety, with the confidence to stop or challenge work when risks are not adequately controlled
- Analytical and disciplined approach to scope development, decision-making, risk management, and technical problem-solving
- Effective leader of cross-functional teams, consultants, contractors, vendors, and subject-matter experts in a matrixed organization
- Clear communicator who can translate technical, safety, cost, and schedule issues for plant personnel and senior leadership
- Able to manage several active projects and changing priorities while maintaining sound judgment, documentation, and follow-through
- Collaborative, practical, and comfortable working in an operating chemical plant where project execution must be coordinated around production needs
Education and Experience:
Required
- Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a proven track record within PSM-covered or similarly regulated chemical manufacturing environments
- 5–8 years of progressive experience in engineering and project execution, with specific expertise managing equipment supply and construction in process-intensive industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, or specialty chemicals
- Hands-on experience with batch reaction and chemical blending systems, including the technical management of reactors, agitators, heat exchangers, and automated process controls
- Comprehensive understanding of capital project controls, including estimating, procurement, cost forecasting, and rigorous change management protocols
- Proficiency in process-safety fundamentals, including active participation in PHA/HAZOP studies, Management of Change (MOC), and Pre-Startup Safety Reviews (PSSR)
- Technical fluency in interpreting PFDs, P&IDs, equipment specifications, and complex construction documentation
- Exceptional communication and organization skills, with the ability to facilitate cross-functional alignment and manage diverse stakeholder expectations
Preferred
- Experience with reactive chemistry, flammable or combustible liquids, toxic materials, combustible dusts, or highly hazardous chemicals
- Experience leading brownfield projects in an operating plant, including shutdown planning, tie- ins, and management of construction around ongoing production
- Familiarity with OSHA Process Safety Management, EPA Risk Management Program, NFPA standards, API/ASME codes, ISA practices, and applicable environmental and building requirements
- Experience with distributed control systems (DCS), programmable logic controllers (PLC), batch control, safety instrumented systems, and automated material-addition or recipe-management systems
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, or willingness to obtain it within an agreed timeframe
Working Conditions:
- Work is performed in office, construction, and operating chemical-plant environments, with required use of site-specific personal protective equipment
- Must be able to walk active plant and construction areas, climb stairs and ladders, and periodically work outdoors or around industrial equipment, noise, heat, and chemical-handling operations
- Occasional work outside normal business hours may be required to support shutdowns, critical construction activities, commissioning, and startup
- Domestic and occasional international travel may be required, typically 5–20% depending on project assignments
Additional Information
Join a company that values Responsibility, Solidarity, Innovation, Customer Focus, and Respect. You'll have opportunities for comprehensive leadership development, career advancement, and the chance to make a meaningful impact on sustainability and environmental protection while leading a talented team.
At Veolia, we realize diverse teams make smarter decisions, deliver better results, and build stronger communities. We’re an organization that champions diversity and inclusion at every rung of the ladder and are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We offer challenging and meaningful careers. Because our people are our greatest assets, we also offer competitive compensation and benefits.
Benefits:
Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance Starting Day 1!
Life Insurance
Paid Time Off
Paid Holidays
Parental Leave
401(k) Plan
Flexible Spending & Health Savings Accounts
AD&D Insurance
Disability Insurance
Tuition Reimbursement
We also offer...
Opportunity for advancement. A place to build a career!
Training in valuable skills
Opportunity for new challenges. We’re growing!
Strong leadership team!
As an inclusive company, Veolia is committed to diversity and considers all applications equally, without discrimination.
****Applicants are required to be eligible to lawfully work in the U.S. immediately; the employer will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work authorization (e.g., H-1B visa) for this opportunity****
Veolia does not accept unsolicited resumes from external recruiting firms. All vendors must have a current and fully executed MSA on file before submitting candidates. Any unsolicited resumes and candidate profiles will be deemed the property of the company, and no fee will be due.
As an inclusive company, Veolia is committed to diversity and gives equal consideration to all applications, without discrimination.
