Process Safety & Chemical Engineer

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Fantastic challenges. Amazing opportunities.

GKN Aerospace is reimagining air travel: going further, faster and greener! Fuelled by great people whose expertise and creativity sets the standards in our industry, we’re inspired by the opportunities to innovate and break boundaries. We’re proud to play a part in protecting the world’s democracies. And we’re committed to putting sustainability at the centre of everything we do, opening up and protecting our planet.

With over 16,000 employees across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries we serve over 90% of the world’s aircraft and engine manufacturers and achieved sales of £3.6bn in 2025. There are no limits to where you can take your career.

Provide technical leadership for process safety, chemical risk management, and engineered safeguards across a vertically integrated acrylic and glass transparency manufacturing facility supporting civil and military aerospace programs.

Prevent fires, explosions, toxic releases, uncontrolled polymerization, chemical exposure events, environmental releases, and production interruptions by applying disciplined chemical engineering, process hazard analysis, mechanical integrity, management of change, operating procedure, and emergency preparedness practices.

Translate Cal/OSHA PSM, federal OSHA PSM, EPA RMP, California CalARP, Orange County CUPA, fire code, hazardous materials, and aerospace customer expectations into practical risk controls for MMA/monomers, flammable solvents, adhesives, coatings, resins, catalysts/inhibitors, tanks, reactors/mixers, ovens, autoclaves, furnaces, utilities, and chemical storage/transfer systems.

1. Process Safety Program Leadership

• Develop, maintain, and improve the site process safety and chemical risk management framework, including process safety information, hazard review/PHA, MOC, pre-startup safety review, mechanical integrity, operating procedures, training, emergency planning, and incident investigation.
• Determine applicability and maintain evidence for Cal/OSHA PSM, federal OSHA PSM, EPA RMP, and California CalARP requirements based on regulated substances, flammable quantities, process configuration, and threshold calculations.
• Lead process safety governance for high-hazard areas such as MMA/monomer storage, resin/casting operations, solvent bonding, coating/primer application, mixing, curing, ovens, autoclaves, furnaces, tanks, utilities, and chemical transfer systems.
• Advise EH&S and site leadership on risk acceptance, escalation, capital needs, production changes, temporary operations, and stop-work decisions involving chemical or process safety risk.

2. Process Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment

• Lead or facilitate PHAs, What-If/Checklist reviews, HAZOPs, LOPA-style assessments, FMEAs, facility siting reviews, dust hazard screening, thermal hazard reviews, and task-based chemical risk assessments as appropriate.
• Maintain risk registers, recommendation logs, safeguard verification records, action owners, due dates, and effectiveness checks.
• Evaluate credible scenarios including MMA overheating or polymerization, loss of inhibition/cooling, flammable vapor release, static ignition, solvent fire, tank over pressure, dust collector fire, oven/autoclave upset, coating booth fire, utility loss, incompatible chemical mixing, and emergency shutdown failure.
• Ensure risk reviews include operators, maintenance, engineering, EH&S, quality, and area leadership to capture practical operating knowledge.

3. Chemical Engineering and Safeguard Design

• Define engineering controls for tanks, mixers, transfer systems, vents, relief devices, alarms, interlocks, emergency shutdowns, ventilation, grounding/bonding, secondary containment, temperature control, cooling/refrigeration, inhibitor management, and vapor control.
• Support design and troubleshooting of chemical storage, transfer, reaction/curing, coating, cleaning, filtration, dust collection, wastewater/waste interfaces, and emissions-control systems.
• Apply recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP), vendor requirements, insurer guidance,…