Mechanical Reliability Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Join the ECI Group's Professional Technical Services Network as a onsite Mechanical Reliability Engineer .  This an 18- 24-month duration from award based in the New Orleans (Waggaman) area.    Note: You must be a US Citizen or Permanent US Resident to qualify for this position. 

About our Client
Our client is developing and operating a major chemical manufacturing facility in Waggaman, Louisiana, producing Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) and Ethyl Methyl Carbonate (EMC) for the battery supply chain.   The site is a petrochemical/chemical manufacturing operation requiring engineering support for construction, commissioning, startup, reliability, maintenance, and operations activities

Job Summary
The Mechanical Reliability Engineer is responsible for improving the reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety of fixed and rotating equipment within a petrochemical manufacturing facility. This role provides technical leadership for reliability programs, identifies and eliminates repetitive equipment failures, develops maintenance strategies, and supports plant operations to achieve production, safety, environmental, and business objectives.
The Mechanical Reliability Engineer works closely with Operations, Maintenance, Inspection, Engineering, Turnaround, and Capital Project teams to optimize equipment performance throughout the asset lifecycle. Key Responsibilities
Reliability & Asset Management

• Develop, implement, and continuously improve equipment reliability programs for plant assets.
• Analyze equipment performance data and identify opportunities to improve reliability, availability, and maintainability.
• Lead root cause failure analyses (RCFA) for significant equipment failures and chronic reliability issues.
• Identify failure trends and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Establish and monitor key reliability metrics including Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), and equipment availability.
• Support reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and risk-based maintenance (RBM) initiatives.

Rotating Equipment Reliability

• Provide technical expertise for pumps, compressors, turbines, blowers, fans, gearboxes, and other rotating equipment.
• Evaluate vibration, lubrication, thermography, and other predictive maintenance data.
• Investigate recurring mechanical failures and recommend corrective actions.
• Develop equipment standards and best practices for installation, operation, and maintenance.
• Support commissioning, startup, and performance testing of new rotating equipment.

Fixed Equipment Reliability

• Support reliability improvements for pressure vessels, heat exchangers, piping systems, storage tanks, reactors, and related fixed assets.
• Collaborate with inspection personnel to evaluate equipment condition and integrity.
• Review inspection findings and recommend repair, replacement, or mitigation strategies.
• Participate in corrosion control and mechanical integrity programs.

Maintenance Strategy Development

• Develop preventive and predictive maintenance plans based on equipment criticality and failure modes.
• Optimize maintenance tasks to improve equipment performance and reduce lifecycle costs.
• Review and update maintenance procedures, job plans, and equipment strategies.
• Support spare parts optimization and critical spare identification programs.

Project & Turnaround Support

• Provide reliability input during design, procurement, installation, and commissioning phases of projects.
• Participate in plant turnarounds, shutdowns, and major maintenance activities.
• Review engineering designs to ensure reliability and maintainability requirements are met.
• Support equipment upgrades, modifications, and replacement projects.

Safety, Environmental & Compliance

• Ensure all activities comply with applicable safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Support Process Safety Management (PSM) and Mechanical Integrity programs.
• Participate in hazard reviews, management of change (MOC), and risk assessments.
• Promote a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement.

Qualifications
Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from an accredited institution.
• Professional Engineering (PE) registration preferred.

Experience

• Typically 5–10+ years of reliability, maintenance, or mechanical engineering experience in the petrochemical, refining, chemical manufacturing, oil and gas, or related process industries.
• Experience with fixed and rotating equipment systems.
• Demonstrated experience in troubleshooting and failure analysis.

Technical Knowledge

• Reliability engineering principles and methodologies.
• Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA).
• Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM).
• Risk-Based Inspection (RBI).
• Predictive and condition monitoring technologies.
• Mechanical integrity programs.
• Petrochemical process equipment and systems.
• Applicable industry codes and standards (API, ASME, ISO, ANSI, etc.).

Key Skills & Competencies
Technical Skills

• Equipment reliability analysis
• Mechanical troubleshooting
• Vibration analysis interpretation
• Lubrication and condition monitoring
• Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA)
• Data analysis and reliability statistics
• Maintenance optimization
• Asset management systems (CMMS)

Behavioral Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and technical writing abilities
• Project management and organizational skills
• Ability to influence cross-functional teams
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Leadership and mentoring capabilities

Working Conditions

• Primarily based in an operating petrochemical facility.
• Regular field visits to process units and equipment locations.
• Participation in incident investigations and equipment failure response activities.
• Occasional after-hours support during critical equipment outages, plant turnarounds, and emergency situations.
• May require climbing, confined space awareness, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Performance Measures

• Reduction in equipment failures and unplanned downtime.
• Improved equipment availability and reliability metrics.
• Successful completion of RCFA corrective actions.
• Maintenance cost optimization.
• Improved safety and mechanical integrity performance.
• Achievement of plant production and operational reliability targets.

Reports To: Maintenance & Engineering Manager
FLSA Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Please Note: The ECI Group uses AI-assisted tools in the early stages of application review, with all decisions guided by human oversight and fully compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ECI Group's applicable data protection policies and Privacy Notice.

 

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