Process Engineer II

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 laboratories 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.

This position is also eligible for bonus based on performance and subject to the terms of the Company's applicable plans.

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.

Engineering Services Consultant

• Serve as technical expert to multiple business divisions and site locations within Sherwin-Williams in reaction engineering, kinetics, heat and mass transfer, and agitation.
• Present engineering process designs 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.
• Prepare written technical reports or verbal presentations for stakeholders, including upper management.
• Participate in or lead local site safety initiatives.
  
  

VSP-2 Adiabatic Calorimeter Operation and Reactive Chemistry Testing

• Operate the VSP-2 (Vent Sizing Package 2) adiabatic calorimeter under the guidance of senior engineers, developing familiarity with instrument setup, safe sample loading, hardware assembly, and data collection procedures for reactive chemical systems.
• Assist in the planning and execution of adiabatic calorimetry experiments using heat-wait-search (HWS) methodology; develop understanding of how temperature search ranges, step sizes, and detection thresholds are selected based on the chemistry being evaluated.
• Prepare test cell samples (~80 mL in 116 mL, low phi-factor cells) with supervision, building proficiency in safe handling of reactive, flammable, or toxic materials in accordance with established laboratory safety protocols and standard operating procedures.
• Develop hands-on skills in VSP-2 hardware assembly and pre-test verification, including test cell assembly, heater and thermocouple installation, pressure transducer (P1/P2) connections, and containment vessel leak testing under the guidance of experienced personnel.
• Participate in the design and execution of upset scenario simulations (e.g., loss of cooling, reagent mischarge, contamination) to build understanding of runaway reaction hazards and the role of adiabatic calorimetry data in process safety assessments.
• Support process safety engineers, R&D chemists, and capital project teams by contributing VSP-2 test results and observations; build communication skills around reactive chemistry hazard data through participation in technical discussions and peer reviews.
• Assist in drafting technical reports documenting VSP-2 experimental procedures, raw data, and preliminary results; develop technical writing skills through collaboration with senior engineers on formal reports used in Process Safety Management (PSM) programs.
  
  

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.
• Perform engineering assessments under guidance of senior level engineers to identify and evaluate risks in scaling up new products or transfer existing products to new or existing equipment.
• Lead the collection and analysis of data to identify and assess scale up or process transfer risks. Utilize statistical data analysis to support actions and conclusions.
• Apply computation tools under guidance of senior level engineers in order to design laboratory and pilot scale experiments to evaluate risk of scaling up new products or transfer existing products to new or existing process equipment.
• Develop and validate new methods or models to improve product scale up processes.
• Develop technology transfer packages for manufacturing and capital projects.
  
  

Continuous Improvement (Systems, Tools and Processes)

• Collaborate with cross-departmental teams to develop integrated solutions for business systems.
• Identify industry best practice 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.

Minimum Requirements:

• Must be at least eighteen (18) years of age
• Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without needing sponsorship for employment work visa status now or in the future
• Must have Bachelor's degree or higher in Chemical Engineering
• Must have at least two (2) years of experience in engineering in industry or in academic research and development
• Must have at least three (3) years of work experience in engineering applying chemical engineering fundamentals (thermodynamics, kinetics, heat/mass/momentum transport phenomena) to process and equipment design
• Must have experience with Microsoft Office Applications (e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and/or Visio)
• Must have experience with process modeling

Preferred Qualification:

• Have Master's degree or higher in engineering
• Have experience with reactive chemistry pilot or laboratory
• Have at least five (5) years of work experience in engineering applying chemical engineering fundamentals (thermodynamics, kinetics, heat/mass/momentum transport phenomena) to process and equipment design
• Have experience with scale-up of chemical products from laboratory to commercial scale
• Have experience with reactive chemistry, chemical reaction engineering, or process safety,
• Have work experience with VSP-2, ARSST, or ARC
• Have experience with process safety concepts, including exothermic reactions, runaway reaction hazards, and the role of calorimetry in emergency relief system (ERS) design
• Have experience with DIERS methodology
• Have experience with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software, Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, and statistical software (e.g. MiniTab).
• Have experience with Continuous improvement, such as Six Sigma DMAIC, value stream mapping, design of experiments, and root cause analysis methodologies