Chemical Engineer Resume Example (2026 Guide)
Chemical Engineer resume example
A complete sample in the Modern template FitMyRole exports. The person and employers are fictional; the structure, skills and bullet style are what to copy.
Santiago Szabo
[email protected] • (555) 016-9013 • Baton Rouge, LA • linkedin.com/in/santiagoszabo
Professional Summary
Chemical Engineer with 7 years of experience in process engineering for petrochemical, refining and polymer plants on the Gulf Coast, covering unit monitoring, debottlenecking, capital projects and process safety. Currently owns two continuous units producing 180,000 tonnes a year of specialty amines, where yield and energy projects have added about $2.5M a year in margin. Builds process models in Aspen Plus and Aspen HYSYS, writes P&IDs and process design packages for projects, and leads HAZOP and LOPA reviews. Licensed Professional Engineer in Louisiana who works problems on the unit with operations and maintenance before proposing capital.
Technical Skills
- Process Engineering: Process design, mass and energy balances, heat exchanger and distillation design, debottlenecking, yield optimization, energy reduction, unit monitoring
- Simulation & Modeling: Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, Aspen Exchanger Design and Rating, AFT Fathom, Excel VBA, Python
- Process Safety: HAZOP, LOPA, OSHA PSM (1910.119), management of change, PHA revalidation, relief valve sizing (API 520 and 521), PSSR
- Plant Systems & Data: P&IDs, PFDs, OSIsoft PI, Honeywell Experion DCS, SAP PM, root cause analysis
- Capital Projects: Front-end engineering design (FEED), scope and cost estimates, equipment data sheets, commissioning and startup, turnaround planning
- Continuous Improvement: Six Sigma DMAIC, design of experiments, statistical process control, Minitab
Education & Certification
- Senior design: process design and economics for a 200,000 tonne-per-year ethylene glycol unit; member of Tau Beta Pi.
Work Experience
Process EngineerSeptember 2023 – PresentBayou Ridge Chemical Company, Geismar, LA
- Raised amine reactor yield from 91.5% to 94.2% by running a design of experiments on temperature and catalyst feed ratio with operations, worth about $1.9M a year in raw material savings.
- Cut steam use on the purification column train by 11% by retuning reflux and adding a feed-effluent exchanger modeled in Aspen Plus, saving $650,000 a year.
- Led 3 HAZOP and LOPA studies covering 40 P&IDs as process engineer of record, closing all 52 recommendations ahead of the site’s PSM audit.
- Wrote the process design package for a $7.5M capacity expansion, including PFDs, heat and material balances, equipment data sheets and relief valve sizing.
- Built OSIsoft PI displays of 60 key unit variables that operators use every shift, catching a fouling exchanger two weeks before it would have limited rates.
- Review about 70 management of change packages a year for both units, checking process safety, P&ID and procedure updates before approval.
- Served as process lead for a 21-day turnaround, finishing the process scope on schedule and restarting with no safety incidents.
Production EngineerApril 2021 – August 2023Pelican Bend Refining, Lake Charles, LA
- Reduced unplanned downtime on a 45,000 barrel-per-day hydrotreater by 15% by leading root cause analysis on recurring charge pump trips and changing the minimum flow recycle control.
- Found a $400,000 a year hydrogen saving by rebalancing recycle gas purity targets with the planning group.
- Updated 120 operating procedures and P&IDs after a unit revamp, and trained 30 operators on the changes before startup.
- Tracked catalyst activity and hydrogen consumption daily in PI and Excel, giving planners a cycle-length forecast that moved the next catalyst change by four months.
- Served as process lead on the unit’s PHA revalidation, documenting safeguards and following each recommendation to closure.
Associate Process EngineerJuly 2019 – March 2021Sabine Polymers, Orange, TX
- Cut grade transition waste by 18% on a 300,000 tonne-per-year polyethylene unit by revising transition procedures and tracking off-spec rates by grade.
- Built Aspen HYSYS models of the monomer recovery section, which the team used to test a compressor upgrade before it was funded.
- Ran performance checks on 25 heat exchangers and set a cleaning schedule based on fouling trends instead of fixed intervals.
- Wrote pre-startup safety review checklists for 6 small projects and walked down each installation with operations.
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Tailor my resumeWhy This Resume Works
- Yield and energy results are given in the units plant managers use: reactor yield from 91.5% to 94.2% and 11% less steam, each with a dollar value per year.
- Process safety is concrete: 3 HAZOP and LOPA studies over 40 P&IDs, 52 recommendations closed before the PSM audit, and about 70 MOCs reviewed a year.
- Simulation is tied to decisions, such as the Aspen Plus model behind the feed-effluent exchanger and the HYSYS model used to test a compressor upgrade before funding.
- Plant scale is stated in every role (180,000 tonnes a year of amines, a 45,000 barrel-per-day hydrotreater, a 300,000 tonne-per-year polyethylene unit), so a recruiter can judge fit at a glance.
- The Louisiana PE license and Six Sigma Green Belt are dated in Certifications, supporting the engineer-of-record and DMAIC claims in the bullets.
Common Resume Mistakes
- No yield or efficiency metrics.
- Missing simulation or P&ID keywords.
- Vague "worked in process" without outcome.
Keywords Recruiters Look For
- Chemical engineering
- Process design
- P&ID
- HAZOP
- Simulation
- Aspen
- Yield
- Plant
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