Engineering – Operations Director (278575) MBA, MS & BS Chemical Engineering, Green Belt / Biofuels, Refinery, Petrochemicals, Pulp-Paper, Plastics, Gas, Specialty Chemicals / Will relo

High-impact Engineering and Operations Leader with 20+ years of global experience in chemical, petrochemical, specialty chemical, and refining industries. Greg holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Operations & Finance), an MBA, and a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. He is known for transforming operational performance, He has managed capital budgets exceeding $1B and led projects from $1M to $80M through every phase from conceptual design to commissioning and startup. His proven ability to drive EH&S excellence, reliability, and cost reduction has earned him multiple awards and executive recognition.

His leadership has consistently delivered high-value outcomes in process optimization, turnaround execution, grassroots plant development, and multi-site operations management, including responsibility for up to 10 sites across five countries. Previous leadership roles at Shell, Chemtura, Tessenderlo Kerley, and others highlight his deep experience in refinery operations, chemical plant expansions, and biofuel technology commercialization. His cross-functional capabilities span project finance, Lean/Operational Excellence, EPC, and risk management, with deep technical knowledge across batch/continuous systems, PSM/GMP environments, and diverse process chemistries.
Availability: Based in Texas, open to national or global opportunities.

• Leadership for Defining and Completing Projects over $50M, Compliance and Strategic Growth Opportunities (8 major capital projects underway).
• Leader for successful $ 300 million HydroCracker Turnaround and Debottlenecking Project Execution Phase that increased capacity from 80K to 105K bbl/day (Received Special Recognition Award)
• Directly Leading Projects to upgrade all Instruments, Analyzers, Control Connectivity and Controllers/Distributed Control System across the Site (1000+ instruments, >$50M).
• Completed over 160 high refinery threat projects ($250K to $10M projects).
• Added over $453M in cost savings and profit margin improvements.
• Eliminated over $614M threat mitigation and loss avoidance in 9 months.
• Won President’s Award for Superior Engineering Execution
• Brought Operations on line new bio-mass technology torrefaction/briquetting plant ($10M, 30 ton/day).
• Optimized counter rotating tray high temperature torrefier to maximize wood energy value (20+MJ/kg).
• Designed, rapidly constructed and started up Chemtura Tire Development Plant in 8 months ($7M).
• Developed Global Engineering Processes for proprietary urethane polymers and 70X Operations scale up.
• Controlled/Mitigated Refinery Gas Operations (7M – 16M scfm normal production and managing spikesto 21M scfm) without going to the Flare.
• Rebuilt Distillation Column Internals, Stripping Columns, Re-Boilers and Reflux Condensers
• Prepared Reboiler Specifications and Operation for Direct Fired and High Temperature Dowtherm
• Developed Pumps, Piping and Valves detailed specification (up to 30” high pressure/temperature applications)
• Helped optimize natural gas plant sweetening process (Marathon) (160M scfm per day rate)
• Debottlenecked Ethane Distillation Removal to eliminate carryover and capture as a By-Product.
• Completed successful emergency engineering evaluation, repair and recovery operation for a refinery offline for two weeks due to environmental emissions non-compliance.
• Implemented plant turnaround from -$500K to favorable +$860K monthly operating expense.
• Improved material processing variance from -$480K to favorable +$470K to plan.
• Rapidly improved First Time Quality from 87% to 98.2%, and On-time Shipments from 85% to 97%.

• Budget And Planning Strategies
• Capital Project Implementation
• Chemical Plant Operations Management
• Chemical Process Design
• Commissioning
• Construction Management
• Cost Reduction
• Creating Biddable Packages
• Design Of Experiments DOE
• Design/Evaluation Of Process Unit Operations
• Detailed Engineering
• Developing Design Drawings
• Earned Value Mgmnt (EVMS)
• Engineering Team Management
• EPC Project Management
• Equipment Specification
• Equipment Upgrades
• ERP – Oracle
• Evaluating Bid Packages
• FAT
• FCC Process Engineering Or Operations
• FEED Studies
• Fluid Flow Dynamics
• Increasing Production Capacity
• Instrumentation / Controls
• Managing Contractors
• Managing Multiple Projects
• Managing Multiple Projects
• Mass Transfer Operations
• Monitoring Process Performance
• Negotiating Contracts
• Operating Indices
• Optimizing Processes
• P&ID’s
• Pareto Analysis
• Performing Engineering Drawing Reviews
• Piping Design / Layout
• Plant Turnarounds
• Probablistic Risk /PSA
• Process Engineering
• Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs)
• Process Optimization
• Process Safety Management
• Project Management
• Project Scope Development
• PS&Ds
• Pumping Head Calculations
• Reading Building Plans / Specs
• Reducing Operation Costs
• Reliability Engineering
• Researching / Specifying Equipment
• Review Processes
• Reviewing Equipment Drawings
• Reviewing Vendor Quotes
• Root Cause Analysis
• Solving Mechanical Problems
• Startup Operations
• Technical Document Review
• Technical Writing
• Troubleshooting Of Manufacturing Processes.
• Turnarounds
• Work Planning / Scheduling
• Alkylation
• Ammoniation
• Catalysis
• Coking Dealkylation
• Cracking
• Dehydration
• Dehydrogenation
• Distillation Process
• Esterification
• Gas Processing
• Halogenation
• Hydration
• Hydrogenation
• Hydrotreating
• Hydrolysis
• Oxidation
• Polymerization
• Reduction
• Separation
• Sulfonation
• Agrochemicals
• Biofuels
• Consumer Chemicals
• Elastomers
• Inorganic Chemicals
• Oil Refinery
• Gas Processing
• Pulp / Paper Mills
• Oleochemicals
• Organic Chemicals
• Paints
• Petrochemicals
• Pharmaceuticals
• Pigments
• Plastics
• Polymers
• Pulp/ Paper
• Specialty Chemicals

EDUCATION
Memphis State Univ.; Ph.D, Business Administration, Production & Operations Management, Economics & Finance
Memphis State Univ.; Master of Business Administration
Univ. of Kentucky; M.S. Chemical Engineering
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Technology; B.S. Chemical Engineering