Principal Technical Manager - Lubes

Company
HSB Solomon
Location
London , United Kingdom

HSB Solomon Associates LLC (Solomon), a subsidiary of Hartford Steam Boiler and Munich Re, is seeking candidates for a Technical Manager – Lube position to work in a dynamic, fast-paced business environment. Solomon is the leading performance improvement company for the global energy industry, serving clients in nearly 80 countries, with global headquarters in Dallas and regional offices in Houston, London, Manama, and Singapore. Solomon provides data-driven, strategic insight across the energy industry, leading to greater efficiency, reliability, and profitability.

Responsibilities

• Lube Study
  • This position resides within Solomon’s Refining & Logistics Business Unit, and it is integral to the overall success of the Worldwide Paraffinic Lube Refinery Performance Analysis (Lube Study).
  • The Lube Study is one of the main studies that Solomon executes. The Lube Study covers base oils, waxes, and specialties produced from base oil manufacturing plants, often associated to a fuel’s refinery.
  • The technical manager will be responsible for stewarding the technical content of Solomon’s Lube Study.
  • Drives the innovation of the content of the Lube Study technical scope, benchmarking methodology & calculations, and study insight generation.
  • Conceptualizes, defines, and implements changes to study scope, metrics, and deliverables to address current and future industry challenges.

• The Lube Study is built similarly to other Solomon studies, with many transferrable methodologies. The Technical Manager is expected to learn to help and contribute to the execution of other Solomon studies.
• Industry Trends & Market Intelligence
  • Keeps abreast of industry trends and key client initiatives and applying that market intelligence to evolve the Lube Study offerings.
  • Maintains contact with Base Oil and Lubricant industry community through the research and analysis of Solomon proprietary and publicly available data, with the objective of developing insights pertaining to relevant current market dynamics.
  • Establishes Solomon into a thought leadership position within the base oil industry. Develop original research and content to be divulged via conference participations, specialized magazine articles, and public events.
  • Increases client value by expanding and deepening the insights that the Lube Study participants receive from study participation.
• Application of New Technologies & Analytical Methodologies
  • Responsible for applying digital technologies and analytical methodologies to uncover new classes of insights from Solomon’s intellectual property and databases.
  • Responsible for defining infrastructure improvements that increase the efficiency of both client study participation and Solomon study execution, as well as reducing the effort required to obtain meaningful performance insights.

• Interfacing with clients and internal stakeholders to provide client business value. Execution of lube and fuels operational consulting projects.
• Internal Collaboration
  • Proactively collaborates with other Study Managers (Fuels, Olefins, Benchmarking Product Manager, Executive Vice President of Intellectual Property, and Technology Team) in coordinating technical study improvement activities in alignment with company timelines and resource availability.
  • Leads the Lube Study advisor team during execution phases of the study cycle, including input data review, study deliverables creation, and client results presentations.

Education

• Required:
  • Bachelor’s degree in engineering
• Preferred:
  • Master’s degree and/or advanced professional degree (e.g., MBA, PhD, etc.)

Work Experience

Required:

• The position would suit an experienced professional with at least 10 years of total work experience
• At least 5 years of that career experience needs to be in the Lube Industry to be successful in this role and to have gained the sufficient exposure and understanding of base oil manufacturing processes, lube market dynamics, and industry drivers

Preferred:

• Operating experience in both solvent and hydroprocessing base oil manufacturing processes, either in a technical, operating, planning, and scheduling capacity
• Base oil sales and marketing experience and an understanding of what global dynamics contribute to base oils price fundamentals
• Career tenure spanning multiple sites/facilities and multiple countries

Technical Skills

• Numerical Analysis – The technical manager will have demonstrated the ability to carry out numerical analysis in previous work experience. Training will be provided for Solomon specific tools, but we are looking for the ability to learn. For instance, the ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate skills by having experience in:
  • Advanced Microsoft Office® Excel® Modelling – Proficient in Microsoft Excel skills, ideally demonstrated the ability to create clear, well documented, and self-explanatory Excel models to execute complex calculations. Ideally, demonstrated use of basic Excel VBA scripts.
  • SQL Database Experience – Extracting and manipulating information from relational databases using simple scripts.
  • Linear Programming – At advanced user level, being able to run and create reports from one of the most common LP programs used in the refining or petrochemical industry. Basic ability to change LP model structure by inserting a new sub-model, blend, or other.
• Communication Skills
  • The ideal candidate will be comfortable with, and having demonstrated, the ability to write reports (both descriptive and technical) in English with a clear, concise, and logical language.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Will demonstrate the ability to communicate verbally clearly in different settings; for instance, in situations like project meetings with stakeholders having conflicting interests and objectives, presentations using PowerPoint, public talks, panel discussions, etc.
  • Will demonstrate the ability to make clear and simple the understanding of complex concepts to a non-technical audience. Be able to convey information concisely and unequivocally.
• Preferred:
  • Understanding of Solomon lube studies, normalization techniques, and metrics from client perspective.

Competencies

• Required
  • Development: Consulting requires an attitude to continuous personal development and moving outside one’s comfort zone. Learning about the other Solomon studies and performance improvement solutions and participate in their execution as required.
  • Empathy: Ability to see other people’s perspective, both internal colleagues, clients, or external partners and being assertive but humble and respectful. Holding strong and rational opinions but being capable of changing them if proved wrong. Strong sense of community with colleagues and team members.
  • Collaboration: Proven ability to collaborate in a multi-disciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team environment and setting expectations from others in managing upwards and downwards. Highlighting issues and proposing solutions. Listening carefully and generously.
  • Passion: Take personal responsibility for making things happen, even when there is no immediate or direct benefit. Choose a passionate attitude despite adverse circumstances and persevere and show true determination.
  • Innovation: Take intelligent risks by putting in place carefully measured plans for change, but at the same time, set up processes so that new ideas become repeatable practices.
  • Openness: Practice blameless problem solving and be open to other people’s ideas. Leave no space for the personal ego to prevent Solomon’s success. Engage in learning outside one’s comfort zone.

Other

• Willing to travel approximately 20% of the time, both domestically and internationally
• This position would be based in one of Solomon’s international offices (United Kingdom, Bahrain, Dallas, Houston)