Business System Engineer in Gramercy, Louisiana at Atalco Gramercy Operations

Job Title: Business System Engineer

Department: Business Systems & Transformation

Reports to: Transformation Manager

FLSA: Exempt

Date: 09/01/2026

SUMMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the Transformation Manager, the Business System Engineer deploys and sustains the refinery operating system in assigned departments at the Gramercy plant, and leads the analysis and structured problem solving that closes the gap between current and target performance. The position is assigned to one or more departments or improvement workstreams at a time and leads cross-functional teams on assignment; it has no direct reports.

Working alongside department leadership, the role installs management routines, visual management and standard work; translates site objectives into departmental activity; facilitates improvement workshops; and coaches supervisors and frontline leaders in the disciplines that make the system work day to day. The Business System Engineer works daily with department managers, superintendents, shift supervisors, process engineers, planners and operators, and draws on Technical, Maintenance, HSE and Finance for data, validation and procedural approval. Where external consultants are engaged, the position works alongside them and is accountable for absorbing their methods into the site.

This is a hands-on, floor-based role. The engineer is expected to be in the operating areas, with the data, and in front of the teams — not managing improvement from a desk.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Operating System Deployment

· Deploy the refinery business system elements in assigned departments — tiered meetings, visual management boards, standard agendas, action and escalation discipline, and role accountabilities.

· Build and commission daily management boards with the department team: define the measures, the data source, the update routine and the problem / cause / action / owner / date discipline beneath each measure.

· Attend the tiered meeting structure alongside the department until it delivers as intended, then step back to observation and coaching.

· Assess assigned departments against the operating system maturity standard, document the gaps, and agree and track a closure plan with the department manager.

· Feed practical improvements to the system standard back to the Transformation Manager so the site standard reflects what actually works.

• Objective Cascade and Standard Work

· Translate site objectives into department-level targets, measures and improvement activity, supporting the alignment exercise between departments and site leadership.

· Build and maintain departmental strategy deployment matrices, driver trees and bowler charts; verify that the arithmetic between site, department and personal objectives holds.

· Convert target conditions and improvement decisions into operating procedures, standard work, control plans, checklists and one-point lessons, jointly with Technical, Operations and HSE.

· Route all procedural and equipment change through the site's management of change (MOC) and process safety management (PSM) requirements.

· Define and install leader standard work and confirmation routines that verify standards are being followed.

• Facilitation, Training and Coaching

· Deliver training in structured problem solving, standard work, visual management and performance dialogue to supervisors, engineers and operators.

· Coach shift supervisors and frontline leaders at the point of work on meeting quality, problem statement discipline and action follow-through.

· Prepare clear, uncluttered materials — board layouts, training packs, review slides — to the site's presentation standard.

· Produce concise written summaries of workshop outputs, decisions and commitments within agreed turnaround.

• Critical Analysis and Problem Solving

· Analyze process and production performance — rate, yield, liquor productivity, recovery, caustic and energy consumption, downtime, quality and constraint data — to quantify losses and size opportunities.

· Lead cross-functional problem solving on assigned losses using structured methods (A3, 5-Why, 8D, DMAIC, fishbone, fault tree), verifying root cause before countermeasure.

· Build and maintain the analysis behind bottleneck and debottlenecking plans for assigned departments, including capability and constraint tables.

· Quantify the benefit of improvement actions, agree the calculation basis with Finance, and track delivery to closure.

• Auditing and System Improvement

· Conduct scheduled and unannounced audits of the operating system in assigned departments — meeting adherence, board currency and accuracy, action closure, standard work compliance and leader standard work execution.

· Apply the site audit protocol and scoring standard consistently, and take part in calibration sessions so a score carries the same meaning across auditors and departments.

· Verify standard work by direct observation at the point of work, not by document review alone.

· Audit the data on boards and in reports against the systems of record; where it disagrees, correct the source of the error rather than the number.

· Record findings with evidence, agree corrective actions and dates with the department manager, and verify closure rather than accepting assertion.

· Identify findings recurring across departments and raise them to the Transformation Manager as system defects requiring a change to the standard, not repeated correction.

· Propose, pilot and prove improvements to the operating system's routines, tools and templates in one area, then feed the proven version into the site standard.

• Reporting and Documentation

· Maintain the initiative register entries for assigned workstreams — status, stage gate, benefit and risk — to the standard required for governance review.

· Prepare inputs to weekly and monthly operations and transformation reviews.

• Safety and Compliance

· Comply with all site safety, environmental and process safety requirements, and intervene on unsafe conditions and behaviors.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

· Deployment progress: Assigned departments reach the agreed operating system maturity level within the wave timeline.

· Routine health: Tier meeting adherence, action closure rate and quality of problem statements in assigned areas.

· Improvement delivery: Finance-validated benefit delivered from assigned workstreams against plan.

· Standard work: Procedures, standard work and control plans issued through MOC for every closed improvement.

· Facilitation: Workshops delivered on schedule with documented outputs, owners and dates; participant capability observed to improve.

· Audit programme: Assigned audits completed to schedule; findings evidenced, dated and verified closed, not assumed closed.

· System improvement: Improvements to routines, tools or templates piloted, proven and adopted into the site standard.

· Sustainment: Audit result in assigned departments at 3, 6 and 12 months after handover.

· Analytical quality: Analysis withstands challenge: sources cited, assumptions stated, numbers reconcile to systems of record.

· Safety: Zero recordable injuries; full compliance with PSM and MOC requirements.

SKILLS and QUALIFICATIONS

Skills

· Demonstrated application of structured problem solving and root cause analysis to real operational losses, with quantified results.

· Ability to prepare and deliver training and facilitate group sessions with mixed operator, supervisor and management audiences.

· Clear, concise written communication; able to reduce a complex analysis to a single page.

· Working knowledge of management of change (MOC) and process safety management (PSM) requirements.

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office and site operational reporting systems.

· Willingness to work in operating areas across shifts.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

· Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Process or Industrial Engineering.

· Demonstrated experience applying structured problem solving and root cause analysis to real operational losses, with quantified results.

· Experience in alumina refining, metals processing, mining or chemical manufacturing preferred.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

· Ability to read, analyze and interpret information. Ability to write reports and basics business correspondence. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups, managers, clients, customers and the general public.

POST OFFER/ACCEPTANCE:

· Must successfully complete Atalco Gramercy’s required drug screening and physical examination.

· TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential) required prior to offer acceptance; MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) training to be completed upon hire.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

· The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Upon request, reasonable accommodation may made to enable individuals with qualified disabilities to perform the essential functions.

· Must be able to support plant operations which are in continuous operation and work outdoors in various types of weather conditions.

· Fast-paced, high-pressure environment requiring flexibility and resilience

· May require travel and on-site presence with affected business units

· High visibility role with direct interaction with executive leadership

ATALCO is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Skills

· Demonstrated application of structured problem solving and root cause analysis to real operational losses, with quantified results.

· Ability to prepare and deliver training and facilitate group sessions with mixed operator, supervisor and management audiences.

· Clear, concise written communication; able to reduce a complex analysis to a single page.

· Working knowledge of management of change (MOC) and process safety management (PSM) requirements.

· Proficiency in Microsoft Office and site operational reporting systems.

· Willingness to work in operating areas across shifts.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE

· Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Process or Industrial Engineering.

· Demonstrated experience applying structured problem solving and root cause analysis to real operational losses, with quantified results.

· Experience in alumina refining, metals processing, mining or chemical manufacturing preferred.