Catalyst Development Expert

Aramco occupies a unique position in the global energy industry. We are the world's largest producer of hydrocarbons (oil and gas), with the lowest upstream carbon intensity of any major producer.

With our significant investment in technology and infrastructure, we strive to maximize the value of the energy we produce for the world along with a commitment to enhance Aramco’s value to society.

Headquartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and with offices around the world, we combine market discipline with a generations’ spanning view of the future, born of our nine decades experience as responsible stewards of the Kingdom’s vast hydrocarbon resources.

This responsibility has driven us to deliver significant societal and economic benefits to not just the Kingdom, but also to a vast number of communities, economies, and countries that rely on the vital and reliable energy that we supply.

We are one of the most profitable companies in the world, as well as amongst the top five global companies by market capitalization.

Overview

We are seeking a catalyst development scientist to join the Catalyst Center of Excellence (CCoE) at Aramco’s Research & Development Center (R&DC). The CCoE is responsible for developing innovative catalysts to convert oil and natural gas into higher value fuels and chemicals, in addition to sustainability catalysts which enable CO2 utilization, low-carbon fuels production, and a hydrogen economy.

The candidate will conduct R&D research to develop novel catalysts for refining/petrochemical processes and sustainability technologies, by working closely with team members, internal business proponents, and external collaborators.

Key Responsibilities

• Candidate will assess technical and business opportunities, and identify potential areas for research and development, establish strategy and tactics to achieve technical and business goals. The candidate will lead technology development projects and/or tasks including idea generation, general planning of project/task, catalyst design, synthesis and evaluation; data interpretation and results and presentation; interacting with project scientists and technicians as well as management, project gate keepers, Project Management, Engineering Services, and other business proponents. Candidate will carry out the following jobs.
• Carry out original investigative short term applied industrial research studies to resolve urgent, complex and unique technical problems for which relevant published literature is lacking.
• Maintain an active portfolio of catalyst development projects in the field of refining, petrochemicals, or sustainability applications.
• Develop a technology from concept to a catalyst design freeze within a short time span.
• Develop and implement experimental plans to conduct in-house catalyst synthesis, characterization and testing.
• Utilize advanced and routine catalyst characterization tools/instruments to gain insights about structure-activity relationships and feed into superior catalyst design and optimization
• Improve the center’s catalyst synthesis, testing and characterization capabilities to maintain the center as a world class catalysis research hub.
• Build knowledge base for R&DC’s catalyst development efforts. Present research results in internal seminars, technical presentations, technical reports or external publications.
• Liaise with academic section of the Kingdom in matters relating to applied research.
• Generate patent applications to protect Aramco’s intellectual properties.
• Provide technical advice to other catalyst development projects when necessary.
• Provides consulting interaction with other departments and with external companies’ representatives on matters relating to his area of expertise.
• Interface with molecular modeling scientists and data scientists to leverage computational catalysis and artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery of new catalysts.
• Mentor junior scientists and technicians to improve their technical background and skills
• Stay current on latest catalyst technologies or discoveries related to the research projects and identify potential areas or opportunities to investigate.
• Participate in required safety activities and comply with all safety standards
• Represents the company in industrial or technical society joint efforts as a Company technical advisor in his discipline.
• Acts as liaison with the academic section of the Kingdom in matters relating to applied research and other cooperative technical exchanges.

Minimum Requirements

• A PhD degree with minimum 16 years of professional experience including at least 5 years as a specialist with full responsibility for major technical contribution in heterogeneous catalysis or related fields. Deep understanding of reaction mechanism and experience with experimental catalyst development. Proven track record of catalyst development and deployment with publications in significant journals and active participation in technical society activities, in addition to patents. Candidate have achieved substantial industry recognition in his area of expertise. Strong communication skills to lead cross-function teams. Normally he will have published in significant technical journals and will have a history of active participation in technical society activities

Working environment

Our high-performing employees are drawn by the challenging and rewarding professional, technical and industrial opportunities we offer, and are remunerated accordingly.

At Aramco, our people work on truly world-scale projects, supported by investment in capital and technology that is second to none. And because, as a global energy company, we are faced with addressing some of the world’s biggest technical, logistical and environmental challenges, we invest heavily in talent development.