Supervisor Asphalt Process Engineer

At GAF, we cover more than just buildings. We cover each other. Under this roof, you will have the tools and resources you need to grow and develop in your career. You will experience our incredible culture and will be empowered to support your teammates, your customers, and especially your community. Under this roof, we define the future while leading the present through our deep well of experience and our responsibility to the future to drive improvements and innovation in our products. We are GAF. And under this roof, we protect what matters most.

About GAF - Newton, Kansas

Newton is a vibrant Kansas community founded in 1871 on a spirit of work, from its earliest days as a railroad, agriculture and cattle drive hub. With a population of about 20,000, Newton and neighboring North Newton features an active arts community, three National Historic Districts, a variety of museums, trails, restaurants, shops and attractions, Bethel College, award winning school districts, a championship golf course, first-class convention center and many other amenities. This collaborative region is close to dynamic Wichita and may be the next best place for you to call home, in GAF’s newest “Field of Dreams!” 

New Plant, New Opportunities

If you haven’t been part of a greenfield startup, now is your chance. GAF is the North American leader in residential roofing materials. We are honored to be constructing our newest shingle manufacturing facility in Newton KS and hiring is underway as we build our initial plant leadership team. Due to our investment in training and the development of employees, you will have the opportunity to travel to our other locations, engage with peers, support the hiring of plant staff and participate in the design and construction of the facility. Expect your first years to be rewarding and challenging with an amazing team fully supporting you. You will wear many hats during the construction and commissioning phases of the project, and ease into your steady role over time.

Job Summary
The Asphalt Process Engineer is responsible for ensuring the safety, quality, and reliability of the stillyard processes to meet asphalt supply demands. He/she will supervise all stillyard personnel to ensure the efficient and safe operation of the stillyard, as well as develop, implement and execute process improvement projects with the goal of increasing efficiency, reliability and profitability while reducing process variation. When applicable, the Asphalt Process Engineer will execute approved capital improvements by coordinating with the Plant Engineering Manager and department managers on timelines, budget and resources needed. The Asphalt Process Engineer will use a hierarchy of values (Safety, Quality, Service and Cost) in prioritizing his/her activities, while supporting plant goals and improvement plans.
Essential Duties

• Provide a safe workplace through adherence to company safety policies, housekeeping and defined standards of training.
• Ensure compliance to safety policies and procedures. Promote a culture of a safe and clean work environment where safety is the highest priority.
• Conduct inspections of plant areas and ensure corrective actions are taken to investigate and resolve safety/quality/reliability/process related issues.
• Champions investigation of safety incidents and root cause analysis to help improve site and processes.
• Lead production crew safety meetings and ensure operator engagement in the plant safety programs.
• Demonstrate a high level of commitment to safety and be a leader in the areas of housekeeping and organization.
• Provide leadership for the asphalt operation and direction to the stillyard team on a daily basis.
• Guide and lead the team in operational excellence, quality, cost control, diversity, engagement and regulatory compliance.
• Drive productivity and foster continuous improvement through sound practices including communication of goals, training of operators, operation of machines within established process specifications, and identification and resolution of production related issues.
• Maximize production efficiencies and minimize yield losses while producing high quality products in a safe manner.
• Troubleshoot and quickly resolve process or machinery issues that are impacting productivity or quality.
• Support and amplify communication between the stillyard and the rest of the plant.
• Develop, communicate, and evaluate departmental and individual objectives. Set standards to advance initiatives and growth opportunities for the team. Provide effective employee feedback to employees using the performance evaluation process.
• Monitor and address performance issues including poor attendance in a timely manner.
• Maintain accurate timekeeping for stillyard employees and ensure timecards are approved on time.
• Comply with and enforce established quality policies and procedures.
• Develop, implement and execute process improvement projects and plant capital projects.
• Support strategic projects and plant initiatives.
• Implement company and industry best practices.
• Communicate effectively with the management team regarding resources needed to ensure the timely and accurate execution of process improvement projects.
• Work with the Asphalt Operations Manager and Plant Engineering Manager to prepare and submit requests for capital expenditures.
• Identify critical equipment and ensure effective PM strategy and schedule.
• Collaborate with Maintenance, Capital Delivery Engineers, and Reliability Engineers to effectively and economically improve equipment and process designs.
• Support all plant product qualifications, process capability studies, raw materials trials /qualifications and product development /improvement projects.
• Support all R&D and Plant trial requests (PTR’s). Ensure that trials are accurately conducted employing the latest PTR protocol (w/potential problem analysis) and reported per required standards, timelines and accounting cycles.
• Identify production or process problems and prepare /implement solutions as needed, using standard PI tools such as QualPro, MVT/DOE and Kepner-Tregoe problem solving techniques.
• Performs PPA /FMEA on all major process and raw material changes including documentation for the changes on updated P&IDs.
• Manage the application and interpretation of SPC charting and teach all machine operators the benefits of the tool and how to input data.
• Comply with and enforce established quality policies and procedures.
• Conduct compliance audits of raw material asphalt testing, process specifications, plant change notices (PCN’s) and other in-plant processes.
• Coordinate required inspections of tanks, pressure vessels, fired heaters and other critical equipment.
• Participate in plant technical support activities as required to achieve plant goals.
• Lead the integration of Braincube into the stillyard operation to analyze inputs/outputs to optimize processes, reduce abnormalities, and drive down variability.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications Required

• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS) in Engineering, ChE or ME Preferred
• A minimum of three years supervising/process engineering experience in a manufacturing environment Required
• Experience in refining or chemical manufacturing Preferred
• The ideal candidate will possess a strong commitment to safety and have experience with manufacturing controls (preferably PLC and HMI).
• Demonstrated knowledge of engineering fundamentals is required.

• Ability to meet extensive travel requirements in first 1-2 years for the opportunity to visit, learn your role and train on residential operations at existing GAF locations

• GAF is a tobacco and e-cigarette free facility

General Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to respond to requests in a professional and timely manner.
• Strong planning, prioritization, organizational and reporting skills.
• Independent problem-solving skills.
• Positive attitude, ability to adapt and contribute to a team environment is critical.

Technical Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to quickly identify safety hazards and make clear recommendations to resolve.
• Ability to perform advanced troubleshooting and solve complicated production challenges.
• Familiar with standard manufacturing concepts, practices and procedures.
• Advanced communication skills and the ability to work well with employees at all levels of the organization, as well as outside contractors and vendors.
• Advanced computer skills, including G Suite, WinSPC, AutoCAD, Braincube as well as the ability to quickly learn and master plant specific programs.
• Strong data analysis skills. Advanced spreadsheet design and data manipulation/analysis a plus.
• Strong problem solving skills and techniques, with an emphasis on the use of techniques such as PPA, MVT/DOE and Kepner-Tregoe.

Travel Requirements: 5%

How We Protect What Matters Most:

1. We offer a wide range of health insurance options that include medical, dental, and vision for you and your family. 2. Our Family-Building benefits support the many different journeys to fertility and parenthood. 3. Our robust 401K plan includes an employer match contribution with your pre-tax and/or Roth contributions. 4. Other exciting programs and perks are available to help employees achieve work-life balance, including (but not limited to) a wellness program, free financial coaching, a referral program, and product rebates when purchased for an employee’s primary residence. 5. Professional growth and development are very important to us! We offer internal training programs and courses, as well as a generous tuition reimbursement program. 6. We put diversity and inclusion into action with our Employee Resource Groups, which unite employees based on common perspectives, identities, demographic factors, or out of a desire to be an ally.

GAF complies with federal, state, and local disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact HR Services at 833-HR-XPERT.

We believe our employees are our greatest resource. We offer competitive salary, benefits, 401k, and vacation packages for all full time permanent positions. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and GAF, Standard Logistics, SGI, and Siplast are proud to be affirmative action employers. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. If applying for positions in the U.S., must be eligible to work in the U.S. without need for employer sponsored visa (work permit).