Start Up Operations Specialist

Job description / Role

Overview

Wood is recruiting for a Start Up Operations Specialist to be based in Basra, Iraq.

Responsibilities

The Start Up Operations Specialist (SUOS) will be responsible for managing safe, compliant, and reliable start-up operations activities and providing clear direction regarding future operations and priorities for the facility. Reporting directly to the Start Up Team Leader (SUTL), the Operations Specialist role is key in ensuring safe and efficient start-up of facilities and bridging the gap between commissioning and operations. Deliverables are achieved through influence, heavily reliant upon the relationship the SUOS develops with national staff and project teams at the field locations.

The role will work closely with projects and commissioning, and also the operations readiness team to deliver safe execution of the facility plan and timely resolution of early operational issues, as well as manage any transition. As a member of the client operations team, the Start Up Operations Specialist has a key role in ensuring compliance against all areas of start-up governance, process safety, operating discipline, and product quality. The Start Up Specialist may deputize for the Start Up Team Leader as required and will have direct interaction with sub-surface, production optimization, inspection, engineering, modifications/projects, and well services.

Leadership

• Demonstrate strong safety leadership and exemplary safety behaviors at all times, ensuring that client safety expectations are communicated and reinforced.
• Ensure that O&M contractors are adhering to any written obligations and operating to a high standard.
• Carry out self-verification activities, audits, participate in incident investigations, and lead/assist teams in determining root causes and suitable preventative measures.
• Coaching and development of their direct reports to support the nationalization agenda.

Risk / Operating Discipline

• Ensure changes to plant and equipment are subject to the appropriate level of TQ / EQ and management of change before putting into service.
• Be visible on site to test and verify that operating discipline standards are being set and maintained by the site personnel in the early start-up phases.
• Responsible for ensuring full compliance with GOC criteria.
• Responsible for ensuring timely execution and accurate close-out of all start-up and early production-related maintenance as per O&M.
• Provide assurance to SUTL on compliance at site with control of work procedures. Provide strategies and transition plans to support site controllers, area authorities, isolating authorities, and performing authorities to integrate the client COW practices at all facilities.
• Significant experience in the management of risk through project delivery including project risk assessment, incorporating previous lessons learned, start-up overrides management, SORA, and management of change risk assessment. Able to identify risk and contribute to projects and operations readiness with key inputs to HAZOP and LOPA analysis.

People

• Lead by example and be accountable for their teams being fully compliant with code of conduct and ROO values and behaviors expectations.
• Responsible for ensuring direct reports have a robust development plan and are being actively managed against objectives.
• Coach and support the facility and O&M teams on their development, actively share experience, and dedicate time each week to coaching and mentoring the local national population both within BOC and local national agency.
• Ensure that direct report work patterns and commitments are fulfilled per HR contractual obligations.
• Motivate the team, celebrate their successes, and ensure their views and problems are listened to and suggestions are considered.
• Identify and intervene if a team member does not meet performance expectations, having a low tolerance for poor behaviors.
• Be a competent and active process isolation assessor and experienced in Emerson Delta V operation and transition to new control systems integration.

Production Delivery, Optimization & Excellent Performance

• Responsible for understanding the start-up philosophy and striving towards achieving production targets via KPIs and plant performance testing.
• Responsible for providing operational input to ensure operations discipline is instilled in the facilities from system handover.
• Actively monitor project quality and manage interventions when quality issues arise. Be proactive to make early interventions on indications of quality issues.
• Responsible for ensuring robust plant watch-keeping and monitoring routines are developed and ensuring the system is fit for purpose.
• Ability to write operating procedures and technical reports.
• Manage procedure development from commissioning test procedures to start-up procedures and then onto site operating procedures.
• Drive clear prioritization of project and start-up vulnerabilities so action is focused in the right areas.
• Actively lead and ensure participation in continuous improvement projects on your sites and promote the benefit of the CI philosophy to engage the site teams in this process.
• Ensure plant operations are operated within the design envelope and that any deviations are risk assessed via operational risk assessments.
• Plant is prepared and reinstated in support of start-up execution schedule, ensuring SIMOPS are identified and managed early enough in the schedule.
• Provide project team support during design, construction, commissioning, and start-up phases.

Qualifications

• Minimum 15 years' experience in hydrocarbon operations, preferably in a culturally diverse working environment.
• 5 years' experience as a start-up specialist and major project supervisory roles in culturally and linguistically diverse working environments.
• Mastery of control of work systems, preferably through previous experience as area authority.
• Interpersonal communication skills are critically important to the start-up specialist position and should be demonstrably excellent.
• Capable of working autonomously and organizing time and resources to achieve work deliverables to defined standards by involvement in planning.
• Personal behaviors and work ethic that lead by example.
• Excellent broad range of relevant HSE knowledge.
• Evidence of continued professional development (training, course certificates, or references).
• Not essential but preferable: Middle Eastern cultural awareness and basics in the Arabic language.
• Ability for technical writing.
• Previous experience of coaching skills to assist in locals' development (staff or contractors) in a similar role during major project execution and start-up operations.

About the Company

Wood is a global leader in consulting and engineering, helping to unlock solutions to critical challenges in energy and materials markets. We provide consulting, projects and operations solutions in 60 countries, employing around 35,000 people.