Air Liquide

OT & Instrumentation Expert

South Africa, Secunda Full time

How will you CONTRIBUTE and GROW?

The Air Liquide Africa Middle East, India & Kazakhstan (AMEI) Cluster Industrial Direction - Asset & Technology team is seeking a highly skilled and experienced OT & Instrumentation Expert to lead/contribute to the deployment of Asset & Technology strategic roadmaps, programs and best practice in the domain of instrumentation and operational technology.

This role is crucial to the cluster’s industrial performance (in process safety, reliability and efficiency), functioning as a technical lead and interface between Cluster Operations, Industrial Projects, Procurement, engineering & technology vendors, and group technical experts.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical Lead/Expert

  • Support and guide cluster operations compliance to Group (GTs)/Industrial Standards and help devise maturity roadmaps to reach industrial best practices.

  • Lead and/or participate in technology evaluation and selection considering total cost of ownership.

  • Participate in supplier evaluation and audits ensuring supplier technical compliance, capacity and capability for support throughout the life of assets.

  • Provide technical support to Cluster Operations to implement asset integrity strategies supporting safety, reliability and efficiency targets.

  • Propose or review proposals for implementing or integrating new technologies,tools, methods and procedures while adhering to management of change process. 

  • Participate in the development of project feasibility ensuring that system maintainability, operability and cybersecurity and relevant standards are respected.

Safety and Compliance Management

  • Interpret regulatory requirements, Group Industrial Policy, and IMS documents to implement and maintain compliant operations within the OT and Instrumentation domain.

  • Participate in the AMEI cluster incident review process at the request of the reliability team and proposed continuous improvement actions.

  • Lead and/or participate in selected incident investigations, ensuring appropriate Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and capitalization of lessons learned.

  • Provide leadership and guidance to drive continuous improvement for process safety related to OT and Instrumentation.

  • Support the development of selected risk assessments for new and existing assets and the implementation of subsequent action plans.

  • Support selected local and Group level IMS audits as a technical auditor for the OT and Instrumentation field, and provide technical assistance to address audit findings.

Design & Project Implementation

  • Review and evaluate proposed changes to existing plants via the Management of Change (MOC) process and ensuring technical validation and assessment of proposed mitigations.

  • Ensure subsidiary compliance with directives from Air Liquide Group related to OT and Instrumentation.

  • Provide relevant technical expertise in the identification, proposal, appraisal, and selection of relevant technologies to meet project objectives including consideration of overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), reliability, and efficiency.

  • Participate or lead in defining clear technical scopes of work as input for sourcing and project implementation.

Operations & Maintenance

  • Provide operations support within the domain of OT and Instrumentation on complex troubleshooting.

  • Issue lessons learned to prevent recurrence of incidents.

  • Work closely with entity engineering disciplines to ensure the latest technology is identified and deployed.

  • When requested, review plant level operating procedures (SOP) for scope, technical accuracy, and best practice identification.

  • Be aware of Group initiatives for OT and Instrumentation from the Group Industrial Direction, SIS, and others.  Provide interpretation to entities for implementation and participate in the development of such programs.

Collaboration & Training

  • Work in a collaborative manner with entities and group functions.

  • Mentor and support developing employees to expand knowledge sharing.

  • Encourage clear and consistent communication, participation, and consensus building with Industrial Asset & Technology customers (Industrial Projects, Key Programs, and Operations), ensuring adequate handover and ownership of program/project deliverables.

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Are you a MATCH?

Experience

  • 5 - 10+ years of process industry experience.

  • 5+ years of experience in programmable control system specification, configuration, networking, commissioning, and technical support, preferably with a mix of control systems, but at least expert level in one DCS system.

  • Field experience in industrial control and automation.

  • Excellent writing skills including writing project proposals, estimates, control narratives, and scope definitions.

  • Experience with Virtual Operating Systems.

Education

  • B.Tech Instrumentation/ Electrical Light Current

  • B. Degree in Electronic/Control Systems/Instrumentation & Control /Computer Engineering

Specific Knowledge & Know-How

  • Ability to read and develop functional diagrams.

  • Knowledge of advanced control techniques.

  • Practical understanding of computer networking and cyber security.

  • Familiarity with industrial control systems communication protocols.

  • Able to perform loop tuning.

  • Good knowledge of field instrumentation including gas analysers 

  • Solid understanding of different instrumentation types, especially analyzers and flowmeters.

  • Basic knowledge of cryogenic air separation process technology, distillation process technology, or Steam Methane Reformers.

  • Knowledge of Google Office Productivity Suite (Drive, Doc, Sheets, etc.).

  • Knowledge of MAXIMO or other ERP systems.

  • Knowledge of Alarm Management Tools, APC Techniques and Software (AFF, MVPC)

Behavioral Skills

  • Leadership.

  • Autonomous.

  • Decision-maker.

  • Adaptability.

  • Strong communication skills, both written and oral, with the ability to effectively interface with other engineering disciplines/organizations, plant operations, and senior management.

  • Strong analytical and organizational skills, able to multi-task with changing priorities according to operational requirements.

  • Solid project management skills.

  • Ability to effectively work within a diverse and international organization.

Additional Requirements

  • Willingness to travel approximately 35% of the time.

  • Ability to carry a cellular phone and have access to company computers to respond to requests for technical assistance during off-duty hours.

Our Differences make our Performance


At Air Liquide, we are committed to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the diversity of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders and cultures across the world.

We welcome and consider applications from all qualified applicants, regardless of their background. We strongly believe a diverse organization opens up opportunities for people to express their talent, both individually and collectively and it helps foster our ability to innovate by living our fundamentals, acting for our success and creating an engaging environment in a changing world.