Are you an early-career Chemical Engineer looking for an opportunity to move beyond theory and make a real impact in a manufacturing environment?

• Ideal for a Chemical Engineering graduate with 2–4 years’ industry experience
• Solve real manufacturing problems and drive process improvement
• Build your career toward future technical and manufacturing leadership

Madison Recruitment is proud to partner with Hexion, a global leader in specialty chemicals, to find a high-potential Manufacturing Process Chemist to join its manufacturing team.
Don’t let the title fool you — this isn’t a traditional laboratory chemist role.
While laboratory and chemistry knowledge form part of the position, the real focus is on manufacturing processes, troubleshooting, process optimisation, continuous improvement and solving practical production challenges.
We’re particularly interested in hearing from Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Industrial Chemistry graduates who have built around 2–4 years of industry experience and are ready for a role with greater ownership, visibility and opportunity to make an impact.
 
The Opportunity
You’ll work at the heart of Hexion’s manufacturing operation, partnering with Operations, Engineering, Quality and technical teams to understand what’s happening in the process, identify opportunities and solve problems that directly impact plant performance.
This is an opportunity to get close to the manufacturing process and use your technical knowledge to make things better.
 
You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Investigate manufacturing and process issues and identify root causes
• Troubleshoot production and quality issues and develop practical solutions
• Analyse process and manufacturing data to identify trends and improvement opportunities
• Support and increasingly lead process optimisation and continuous improvement initiatives
• Plan and support plant trials and implementation of process changes
• Identify opportunities to improve safety, quality, efficiency and process capability
• Work closely with plant operators to understand operational challenges and turn technical knowledge into practical solutions
• Collaborate across Operations, Engineering and Quality to improve manufacturing performance
• Support relevant laboratory testing and analysis where required to understand product and process performance
• Build the technical, operational and leadership capability to take increasing ownership of projects and improvement initiatives

Who We’re Looking For
We’re looking for someone who has strong technical foundations but, just as importantly, the curiosity and drive to put them to work.
You won’t be satisfied simply identifying that something isn’t working. You’ll want to understand why it’s happening, what the data is telling you, what could be done differently and how to make the improvement happen.
 
You’ll likely be someone who:

• Is naturally curious, analytical and solution-focused
• Takes ownership and follows problems through to resolution
• Enjoys being hands-on and close to manufacturing operations
• Asks good questions and constructively challenges the status quo
• Can balance technical thinking with practical solutions
• Builds credibility with operators, engineers and leaders
• Communicates confidently and can bring others along with your ideas
• Shows initiative without needing every next step mapped out
• Demonstrates emerging leadership qualities
• Is ambitious and motivated to continue developing both technically and professionally

What You’ll Bring
Ideally, you’ll have:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Industrial Chemistry, Chemistry or a closely related discipline
• Approximately 2–4 years of relevant industry experience in manufacturing, process engineering, production, quality or another industrial environment
• Exposure to manufacturing processes, process optimisation, troubleshooting, root-cause analysis or continuous improvement
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability
• Confidence interpreting technical and manufacturing data
• Strong communication and stakeholder skills
• A practical understanding of process safety and safe work practices

Experience in specialty chemicals, resins, polymers, coatings or adhesives would be advantageous, but isn’t essential.
We’re also interested in high-potential candidates from other process manufacturing environments who can demonstrate strong problem-solving capability and an understanding of how manufacturing processes work.
 
Why Hexion?
This is an opportunity to join a global specialty chemicals organisation while having the visibility and impact that comes from working closely with a local manufacturing operation.
You’ll be given the opportunity to contribute, not just observe.
For the right person, this role offers:

• Real ownership – work on problems and improvement opportunities that matter to the operation
• Visible impact – see your ideas translate into improvements on the plant
• Broad exposure – work across Manufacturing, Operations, Engineering, Quality and laboratory functions
• Strong technical development – learn alongside experienced manufacturing and technical specialists
• Leadership exposure – develop your ability to influence, lead initiatives and make decisions
• Career growth – build the capability for future opportunities across technical, engineering, operations and manufacturing leadership

Ready to Make an Impact?
If you’re a Chemical Engineer or technically minded manufacturing professional who has built a couple of years of industry experience and is ready for more ownership, more exposure and bigger problems to solve, we’d like to hear from you.
You don’t need to be a career laboratory chemist. If your strengths are manufacturing, process improvement and solving technical problems, we want to hear from you.

Please email any queries to hannah.williams@madison.co.nz

Reference: 145312