Principal Reliability & Rotating Equipment Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Description:

Job Description Summary: The Principal Reliability & Rotating Equipment Engineer serves as the site's senior technical authority for rotating equipment and as the principal architect of the site reliability strategy determining how the refinery prioritizes its reliability investment, which equipment strategies are applied to which assets, and where the organization directs its improvement effort.

The position is accountable for the reliability and mechanical availability of the refinery's rotating assets pumps, compressors, steam and gas turbines, blowers, fans, gearboxes, and their associated drivers, seals, couplings, and lubrication systems — and for the site-wide reliability program surrounding them. The successful candidate will develop the reliability strategy and supporting tactics, own the asset condition management program, lead significant failure investigations, and build reliability competency across engineering, maintenance, and operations.

This role is currently structured as a senior individual contributor position with substantial cross-organizational influence and no direct reports. As the reliability program matures and the department is formalized, this position is the intended home for that leadership responsibility.

Key Responsibilities:

Reliability Strategy & Program Development

• Own & lead the refinery in the Uptime Elements® Reliability Framework and Asset Management System Domains: Reliability Engineering for Maintenance, Asset Condition Management, Work Execution Management, Leadership for Reliability, Asset Management.
• Develop, document, and maintain the site Reliability Strategy: a funded, measurable multi-year plan addressing identified gaps in equipment availability, organizational capability, and technical competence.
• Produce the annual Reliability Improvement Plan, including supporting tactics, resource requirements, cost, and expected return.
• Define, maintain, and report the site reliability performance indicator set — availability, mean time between failure, mean time to repair, preventive maintenance compliance, schedule compliance, bad actor reduction, and asset condition management coverage and detection rate — through the monthly performance review.
• Establish and maintain the criticality-ranked asset register and the equipment criticality methodology that supports it, ensuring the site can demonstrate which assets carry the greatest consequence of failure and why.
• Influence operating and capital expenditure allocation through the business planning cycle, including non-routine maintenance, infrastructure renewal, and reliability-driven capital projects.
• Develop equipment strategies for critical and semi-critical rotating assets, apply reliability-centered maintenance principles, and adjust strategies based on demonstrated performance.

Rotating Equipment Technical Authority

• Serve as the site's senior technical resource for rotating machinery, including chronic failure resolution, repair-versus-replace evaluation, upgrade and re-rate specification, and technical review of vendor and OEM recommendations.
• Apply the governing industry standards — API 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 617, 618, 670, and 682, together with applicable ASME, ANSI, and AGMA practices — and exercise sound engineering judgment where those standards do not fully address site conditions.
• Lead machinery-related Management of Change activity: develop scope, schedule, and budget, and deliver safe, reliable, fit-for-purpose rotating equipment designs. Mentor other performers through the MOC process and maintain technical quality standards for machinery sign-off.
• Establish and audit precision maintenance standards, including laser alignment, balancing, bolting, fits and clearances, seal and bearing installation, and contamination control, with verification performed in the shop and in the field.
• Provide machinery engineering support to turnaround planning and execution, including scope development and challenge, critical-path machinery work, quality plans, and start-up support.

Asset Condition Management

• Own the condition monitoring program in full.
• Manage route design and coverage, alarm and alert limits, technology selection, and analyst competency requirements, and ensure that condition findings translate reliably into planned and executed corrective work.
• Manage the machinery lubrication program to a defined standard, addressing lubricant selection, contamination control, storage and handling practices, and condition-based re-lubrication intervals.
• Advance operator driven reliability by incorporating basic care, inspection, and early-fault detection into operator routes, and by ensuring findings from those routes are acted upon.

Defect Elimination & Causal Learning

• Lead or sponsor structured causal investigations across all severity levels, from focused analysis of a repeat component failure through full multi-discipline investigation of significant loss events, using recognized methodologies such as cause mapping, fault tree analysis, or equivalent structured techniques.
• Administer the bad actor process, including identification, ranking, assignment of ownership, and verification of closure for chronic equipment offenders.
• Apply quantitative reliability methods where they add value, including Pareto analysis, failure modes and effects analysis, reliability-centered maintenance, reliability block diagrams, fault tree analysis, Weibull analysis, and Crow-AMSAA reliability growth analysis.
• Extend defect elimination upstream into design, procurement, storeroom practice, installation, and commissioning, recognizing that a significant proportion of machinery defects are introduced rather than developed in service.
• Develop causal analysis capability in others, building the site's ability to investigate effectively without external support.

Work Execution Interface

• Partner with maintenance planning and scheduling to ensure reliability decisions are translated into executable, well-specified, and correctly resourced work.
• Maintain CMMS data quality for rotating equipment, including asset hierarchy, failure coding, job plan content, preventive maintenance task content and frequency, and the history feedback loop that supports meaningful analysis.
• Develop critical spares strategy in conjunction with materials management, based on criticality, lead time, and consequence of stockout.
• Support the daily production and threat review process, contributing to the identification, prioritization, and mitigation of near-term threats to run length.

Leadership, Competency Development, & Safety

• Provide visible personal and process safety leadership. This is a PSM-covered facility, and machinery decisions carry process safety consequences.
• Develop reliability and machinery competency across engineering, maintenance, and operations through a structured competency-based learning approach supplemented by day-to-day coaching at the equipment.
• Field presence: walking down equipment before making a recommendation, participating in critical machinery work, being available during upsets and turnarounds, and maintaining working relationships with operators and craft personnel. 
• Mentor reliability performers and technicians and build the technical bench that a formalized reliability department will require.
• Represent the site with vendors, OEMs, contractors, and industry peers, and bring external practice and lessons learned back into the organization.

Skills, Knowledge, Qualifications:

Required

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
• 12 years of progressive experience in refining, petrochemical, or comparable heavy process industry, with a substantial portion of that experience in rotating equipment and reliability engineering.
• Demonstrated and verifiable reliability improvement results at the equipment, unit, or site level.
• Comprehensive working knowledge of rotating machinery, including centrifugal and positive displacement pumps, centrifugal and reciprocating compressors, steam and gas turbines, mechanical seals and seal support systems, bearings, couplings, gearboxes, and lubrication systems.
• Practical command of condition monitoring technologies, including the ability to interpret source data rather than rely exclusively on summarized reporting.
• Direct experience facilitating root cause analysis and causal learning investigations.
• Working knowledge of process safety management, Management of Change, and the process safety implications of machinery decisions.
• Demonstrated CMMS proficiency (SAP PM, Maximo, or equivalent) and the analytical capability to develop independent analysis from maintenance history.
• Strong written and verbal communication and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to develop and defend a plan before site leadership.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States on a full-time basis without employer sponsorship.

Preferred

• Certified Reliability Leader (CRL) through the Uptime Elements body of knowledge, or CMRP or CMRT certification.
• Vibration Analysis Category II or higher (ISO 18436-2), Certified Lubrication Specialist, or Level II infrared thermography certification.
• Experience establishing or rebuilding a reliability program rather than sustaining a mature one.
• Turnaround machinery experience as a scope owner or field engineer.
• Experience leading, mentoring, or supervising engineers and technicians, with demonstrated interest in progressing into formal leadership.
• Professional Engineer license.
• Familiarity with reliability modeling and analysis software and with API 580/581 risk-based methods applied to fixed equipment.

Basic Requirements:

• Must be authorized to work in the United States permanently on a full-time basis without requiring sponsorship.
• Must possess and maintain a current valid license to operate a motor vehicle in the United States.
• Must be able to read, speak, and write English fluently. 
• Hold or be able to qualify to receive a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card - Information may be found at -industry/twic.
• Adhere to site alcohol and drug standards including random drug screenings
• As part of the pre-employment selection process, candidates are required to submit to and receive satisfactory results from all pre-employment background checks including but not limited to drug screening (including a hair sample), medical evaluation, and reference checks.

FLSA Status: Exempt 

Work Schedule: 9/80 work schedule

Hiring Manager: Reliability, Maintenance & Projects Manager

Expected Start date: By end of 2026

About Vertex Energy: Vertex Energy is a leading energy transition company that specializes in producing high-purity refined fuels and products. Our innovative solutions are designed to enhance the performance of our customers and partners while also prioritizing sustainability, safety, and operational excellence. With a commitment to providing superior products and services, Vertex Energy is dedicated to shaping the future of the energy industry.

About the Site: The Vertex Refining Alabama Site is a 24/7 manufacturing plant in Saraland, Alabama that specializes in the production and distribution of refined products. It employs approximately 180 full-time staff, including both hourly and salaried employees. The United Steelworkers Union (USW) represents the hourly workforce.

Posting Disclaimer: We reserve the right to amend, provide exceptions to or withdraw this posting at any time.