Job Description

This position is responsible for global R&D and design projects related to the processes required to manufacture Sherwin-Williams’ polymers and coatings.The responsibilities include optimization of existing processes and scale-up of new processes from laboratory through pilot to production environment.This position will interface with manufacturing on quality projects, productivity projects, process optimization, best practices, and process innovation as a source of competitive advantage.

Additional Information

The travel for this position is 20%

This role is not remote/hybrid. This role will report to Sherwin-Williams Morikis Global Technology Center located at 6745 Miller Road, Brecksville, OH 44141.

Job duties include contact with other employees and access confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s staff, employees, and business relationships.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

Engineering Services Consultant

• Serve as a technical expert to multiple business divisions and site locations in Sherwin-Williams in reaction engineering, kinetics, heat, mass transfer, and agitation.

• Present engineering process designs and provide feedback in engineering peer reviews, to ensure correctness and accuracy in form, fit, and function.

• Evaluate scope of capital proposals to meet targeted capacity, safety, and operational specifications.

• Interpret and support the development of engineering design standards and guidelines.

• Support process safety management (PSM) programs.Perform reactive material hazard evaluations to support risk assessments and emergency relief vent sizing.Coordinate or perform emergency relief vent and conservation vent sizing.

• Prepare written technical reports or verbal presentations for stakeholders, including upper management.

• Participate or lead local site safety initiatives

• Mentor and coach less-experienced engineer co-ops or trainees.

VSP-2 Calorimeter Operation and Reactive Hazard Characterization

• Lead the start-up, operation, maintenance and continuous improvement of a VSP-2 adiabatic calorimetry system to support process safety, process scale-up and process design activities

• Design and execute calorimetry experiments to characterize thermal behavior of chemical systems, including reaction exothermicity, adiabatic temperature rise, onset temperature, time to maximum rate (TMR) and gas generation.

• Develop appropriate test plans and experimental protocols to evaluate reaction hazards, decomposition risks, and compatibility of raw materials, intermediates and finished products.

• Analyze and interpret calorimetry data to quantify runaway reaction scenarios and define safe operating limits, including maximum allowable temperatures and pressures, heat removal requirements and safe processing conditions.

• Translate calorimetry data into engineering inputs for process design, scale-up and safety systems, including pressure relief system design, vent sizing and failure scenario evaluation.

• Ensure data quality and reproducibility through calibration, validation and adherence to standardized procedures and best practices.

• Maintain detailed documentation and technical reports summarizing experimental mthods, results, assumptions, and engineering conclusions for use in process safety reviews and regulatory compliance.

• Collaborate with R&D, engineering and manufacturing teams to integrate calorimetry findings into process hazard analyses (PHA), management of change (MOC), and design reviews.

• Stay current with industry standards and best practices related to reactive hazard evaluation, calorimetry techniques, and DIERS-based methodologies for emergency relief system design.

Engineering Equipment and Process Design

• Coordinate the design of new processes and equipment in the preliminary engineering phase of capital projects.

• Incorporate operational, manufacturing, and quality requirements into process and equipment designs.

• Incorporate new technologies into designs of processes, equipment, and facilities.

• Develop and review conceptual designs, block flow diagrams, process flow diagrams, and piping and instrumentation diagrams.

• Develop and validate mass and energy balances for process designs.

• Compose functional specifications, including data sheets for equipment bids, with a specific focus around agitation and heat transfer equipment.

• Review vendor bids for specified equipment and provide input for vendor bid selection.

• Direct external contractors, consultants, and engineering companies on capital projects (up to $250,000)

• Identify process data required for equipment and process designs. Coordinate experimental and analytical tests with R&D teams to generate the necessary data for process designs.

• Proficiently apply computational tools (e.g. computational fluid dynamics, CAD) to develop and to evaluate process designs.

• Solve moderately complex engineering design problems utilizing technical expertise and experience in chemical or mechanical engineering.

• Perform engineering calculations to identify and to assess safety and operational risks in process designs

• Participate in project management of change (MOC) process

New Product Scale Up and Process Transfer

• Provide process engineering guidance and support for R&D projects related to polymer synthesis and coatings formulation, with a significant focus on reaction chemistry.

• Provide technical guidance in polymer synthesis and formulation to optimize new process equipment design in tandem with new product design.

• Perform moderately complex engineering assessments to identify and to evaluate risks in scaling up new products or transfer existing products to new or existing process equipment.

• Design laboratory and pilot scale experiments to evaluate risk of scaling up new products or transfer existing products to new or existing process equipment.

• Lead the collection and analysis of data to identify and to assess scale up or process transfer risks.Utilize statistical data analysis to support actions and conclusions.

• Proficiently apply computational tools (e.g. computational fluid dynamics) to evaluate risks in the scale up of new products or transfer of products to different process equipment.

• Rate existing process equipment to identify process restrictions in scale up or transfer.

• Develop and validate new methods or models to improve product scale up processes.

• Develop technology transfer packages for internal and contract manufacturing and capital projects

• Participate in stage gate process to commercialize new products

Continuous Improvement (Systems, Tools, and Processes)

• Collaborate with cross-departmental teams to develop integrated solutions for business systems.

• Identify industry best practices for chemical processing.

• Identify improvement opportunities in existing manufacturing processes.Rate existing process equipment to identify process restrictions and improvement opportunities.Apply continuous improvement tools, such as Six Sigma DMAIC, value stream mapping, and root cause analysis, to identify improvement opportunities.

• Optimize equipment and process designs to improve quality, lower manufacturing costs, increase productivity, reduce cycle time, and increase energy efficiency.

• Conduct feasibility studies on new process technology concepts to improve quality, productivity, and efficiency.Communicate potential benefits and risks.Studies include new builds, retrofits, and external toll manufacturing options.

• Develop projects for piloting new process technologies and process improvements.Collaborate with R&D and manufacturing to execute piloting projects. Develop budgetary capital estimates and conversion cost estimates to evaluate process design concepts.

• Identify and capture opportunities for competitive advantages in Intellectual Property (IP); interpret patents, author invention disclosures, and assist with patent applications and IP strategy.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering

• 5 years of related engineering experience in industry or in academic research and development

• Application of chemical engineering principles to develop process designs.

• Profiency in Microsoft Office Applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Visio).

• Proven chemical process design skills, application of fundamental chemical engineering principles into process designs

Preferred:

• Advanced degree in Chemical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering

• 5+ years of related engineering experience in industry or in academic research and development

• 5+ years of research and development experience, preferably a mixture of computational and experimental work

• Experience applying chemical engineering fundamentals (thermodynamics, kinetics, heat, mass, momentum transport phenomena) to design processes and equipment

• Experience with scale up of chemical products from laboratory to commercial manufacturing scales

• Experience with computational fluid dynamic modeling, reaction kinetic modeling

• Experience with coating and polymer manufacturing equipment

• Experience in commissioning, start-up of new processes or equipment

• Experience with Process Safety Management (PSM), including Process Hazard Analysis (PHA).

• Knowledge of pertinent Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices (RAGAGEP’s)

• Knowledge of pressure relief vent sizing standards

• Portfolio management

• CAD (computer aided design) software, CFD (computational fluid dynamic) software, statistical software (e.g. MiniTab), project management software (e.g. MS Project)

• Continuous improvement, such as Six Sigma DMAIC, value stream mapping, design of experiments, and root cause analysis methodologies

At Sherwin-Williams, our purpose is to inspire and improve the world by coloring and protecting what matters. Our paints, coatings and innovative solutions make the places and spaces in our world brighter and stronger. Your skills, talent and passion make it possible to live this purpose, and for customers and our business to achieve great results. Sherwin-Williams is a place that takes its stability, growth and momentum and translates it to possibility for our people. Our people are behind the strength of our success, and we invest and support you in:

Life … with rewards, benefits and the flexibility to enhance your health and well-being
Career … with opportunities to learn, develop new skills and grow your contribution
Connection … with an inclusive team and commitment to our own and broader communities
It's all here for you... let's Create Your Possible

At Sherwin-Williams, part of our mission is to help our employees and their families live healthier, save smarter and feel better. This starts with a wide range of world-class benefits designed for you. From retirement to health care, from total well-being to your daily commute—it matters to us. A general description of benefits offered can be found at http://www.myswbenefits.com/ Click on “Candidates” to view benefit offerings that you may be eligible for if you are hired as a Sherwin-Williams employee.

Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case and will impact where actual compensation may fall within the stated wage range. The wage range listed for this role takes into account the wide range of factors considered in making compensation decisions including skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. The wage range, other compensation, and benefits information listed is accurate as of the date of this posting. The Company reserves the right to modify this information at any time, with or without notice, subject to applicable law.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws including with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act where applicable.

Sherwin-Williams is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.  All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, age, pregnancy, genetic information, creed, marital status or any other consideration prohibited by law or by contract.

As a VEVRAA Federal Contractor, Sherwin-Williams requests state and local employment services delivery systems to provide priority referral of Protected Veterans.

Please be aware, Sherwin-Williams recruiting team members will never request a candidate to provide a payment, ask for financial information, or sensitive personal information like national identification numbers, date of birth, or bank account numbers during the application process.