AUTOMATION ENGINEER

Our Story: Crude oil is an essential element of our nation’s energy supply—fueling our cars, trucks, airplanes, and factories, and heating and cooling our homes. As part of the energy mix, the United States relies on a steady supply of crude oil to produce products we use daily. LOOP plays a key role in meeting those energy needs as the single largest point of entry for waterborne crude oil coming into the U.S. LOOP is a joint venture of Marathon Petroleum Company, Shell Oil Company, and Valero, and is the only Deepwater Port in the U.S. capable of offloading and loading a wide range of vessels from Ultra Large Crude Carriers down to Medium Range Tankers. LOOP stores crude oil in eight underground caverns in a naturally occurring salt dome capable of storing approximately 60 million barrels. Additionally, LOOP has a modern above-ground tank facility consisting of twenty-two tanks with a total storage capacity of 12 million barrels. LOOP has called Louisiana home for over forty years, with headquarters in Covington and operating facilities in Galliano and St. James, LA, as well as a facility 20 miles in the Gulf of Mexico.

About the Role

Motivated individual looking for growth opportunities, future advancement, and expansion into evolving technologies. The Automation Specialist is responsible for the development, design, programming, integration, testing, troubleshooting, and commissioning of instrumentation and control system devices, including but not limited to:

• Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs)
• Transmitters
• Flow Computers
• PID Control Loops
• Wiring and Switches
• Densitometers
• Data Communications (internal and/or external customers)
• Human Machine Interface (HMI) systems

This role supports Operations, Maintenance, SCADA administrators, Oil Movement Controllers (OMCs), Engineering, Loss Controls (Measurements), Cybersecurity, and internal/external customers by providing technical expertise and high-level troubleshooting of control systems and instrumentation equipment. The Automation Specialist also supports Project Management for both Capital and Expense projects, coordinates with contractors and consultants, and ensures projects are within budget and meet scheduling requirements. Additionally, this role supports the Management of Change (MOC) process and ensures all aspects of the MOC are complete.

Responsibilities

• Provide input into LOOP’s Technology strategy and support equipment lifecycle replacement.
• Support Engineering on projects with Instrumentation and Control system requirements.
• Manage projects within the Instrumentation and Controls group.
• Provide high-level technical support for Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, SCADA, OMCs, and Loss Controls.
• Troubleshoot Instrumentation and Control systems, develop logic/configuration, communications for internal and external customers, and system implementation (Factory Acceptance Testing, Site Acceptance Testing, and Point-to-Point testing).
• Redline field drawings and Instrumentation and Control system documentation.
• Develop secure data interfacing configuration/programming via specialized communication modules for internal and external customers (e.g., Customer Data, Peer-to-Peer data links).
• Interface with Network Engineers on Operational Technology (OT) network connections, providing a secure interface. Knowledge of OT Cybersecurity is a plus.
• Calibrate and/or program Instrumentation and Control System devices (e.g., level transmitters, pressure and temperature transmitters, densitometers).
• Develop and/or edit documentation associated with Instrumentation and Control system devices (e.g., IO List, Functionality Documents, Safe Charts, P&IDs, Instrumentation wiring and loop diagrams, Cause and Effect Charts).
• Support Management of Change (MOC) for Instrumentation and Control system devices.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in Engineering, Engineering Technology (Electrical, Automation, Control Systems, etc.), Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in automation, instrumentation, and project management.
• Demonstrated proficiency in troubleshooting and failure analysis, with emphasis on PLC, HMI, Flow Computer, and PID Control loops.
• Up to 50% required field presence.

Physical Requirements

This position routinely requires eight-hour (8) days on a 5/2 schedule. Employee must meet the physical standards expressed in the LOOP Occupational Health Assessment to be physically qualified to carry out the duties and responsibilities of this position. The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of an Instrumentation & Communication Technician at the LOOP Marine Terminal.

Benefits

• Competitive healthcare package providing comprehensive medical care for employees and their families.
• Traditional pension plan and a 401k savings plan with a 7% company matching contribution.
• Competitive pay package, including base pay and an annual incentive cash bonus for qualifying employees.
• Paid time-off benefits, including sick leave, vacation, holiday, and disability pay.

Schedule

LOOP provides energy to its customers on a continuous 24/7 basis. Individuals in this position must be available to report for duty during both regular shifts and call-outs to maintain operations, including weather events, weekends, holidays, and other irregularly scheduled or unscheduled periods.