Superintendent-Production

About the role

Westlake makes chemical and plastic products that improve daily life. The company’s mission is to serve clients by enhancing everyday life through its products and services. The Superintendent – Production (VCM) provides day‑to‑day production leadership and executes the operating plan for the assigned VCM operating area. This role oversees Area Supervisors, Shift Supervisors, OMC’s, and Production Operators, and works closely with the Unit Manager, Production Engineers, Maintenance, Technical, Safety, Environmental, Laboratory, and Engineering teams to meet safety, environmental, quality, production, reliability, yield, and cost objectives. The Superintendent ensures operating discipline, supports troubleshooting and incident investigation, coordinates planned and unplanned outages, and develops production personnel to maintain safe, reliable, and compliant operations.

Responsibilities

• Performs duties in a manner that protects personal safety and the safety of all personnel on site.
• Promotes safe work practices, operating discipline, and compliance with company policies, site procedures, and regulatory requirements.
• Promptly reports Safety, Health, Environmental, Quality, or operating incidents or concerns so corrective action can be taken.
• Responsible for completion and follow‑up of production‑related Safety and Environmental action items, including recommendations from process hazard analyses, audits, and incident investigations.
• Supports operator certification and training requirements associated with OSHA PSM and site operating procedures.
• Responsible and accountable for day‑to‑day operations of the assigned operating area through direct oversight of Production Supervisor, OMC’s, and Production Operators.
• Directs production teams with appropriate operating targets to maintain safe and reliable plant performance.
• Monitors daily yields, quality, energy, production, and cost performance against agreed targets.
• Assists in establishing the monthly operating plan and provides production input for monthly operating reports.
• Ensures standard operating procedures and production schedules are followed and that deviations are escalated and addressed appropriately.
• Coordinates with Production Supervisors on scheduled and unscheduled turnarounds, plant outages, non‑routine activities, process changes, project implementation, and operating or technical training needs.
• Coordinates with Production Engineers and Maintenance to align production priorities, equipment availability, and maintenance execution.
• Represents production and technical interests in maintenance scheduling and planning meetings.
• Reviews work‑order backlog, solicits operating input, prioritizes work, and follows up until completion.
• Initiates and follows up on necessary work orders to support safe, reliable, and efficient operations.
• Directs training of new operators and ensures production personnel receive the training necessary to achieve safe, compliant, and improved production performance.
• Assists in reviewing, rewriting, and generating operating procedures to ensure procedures remain current and effective.
• Coaches Production Supervisors, OMC’s and Production Operators on operating discipline, troubleshooting expectations, and escalation practices.
• Supports development of production personnel by reinforcing expectations for safety, reliability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
• Participates in the investigation of mechanical, process, Safety, Environmental, Quality, and operational incidents or shortcomings in a timely manner.
• Helps determine root cause and recommends procedures, corrective actions, or modifications to prevent recurrence.
• Ensures solutions are actively pursued for permanent plant improvements.
• Recommends appropriate personnel actions when warranted and in coordination with leadership and Human Resources.
• Fully supports company goals of continuous improvement and operational excellence at strategic and tactical levels.
• Reviews assigned areas for improvement opportunities and initiates projects or communicates ideas to management.
• Actively participates on project teams and supports implementation of approved improvements.
• Com