Project Engineer - Refinery
Job Description
Shift: 1st Shift
Hire Type: Long Term Open-Ended Contract (Multi-Year, No End Date)
Pay Rate: $50-80 per hour
- Three Medical Plan Options
- Dental & Vision Coverage
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
- Paid Time Off & Paid Holidays
- Plan, organize, and execute assigned capital projects from scope development through commissioning and startup
- Develop and maintain project scope, budgets, schedules, cost forecasts, and performance objectives
- Coordinate multidisciplinary project teams including Process Engineering, Electrical/Instrumentation, Reliability, Operations, Construction, and other technical groups
- Monitor project costs, cash flow, schedules, and overall project performance
- Manage project change orders and maintain effective scope and cost control
- Oversee outside engineering resources, contractors, and material quality requirements
- Execute detailed engineering design activities and support major equipment and material purchases
- Develop and maintain project documentation in accordance with established stage-gate processes
- Lead the Management of Change (MOC) process for assigned projects
- Lead Pre-Start-up Safety Reviews (PSSRs) to ensure projects are safely prepared for startup
- Support construction, commissioning, and startup activities to verify proper installation and project requirements
- Ensure projects meet safety, quality, environmental, regulatory, cost, schedule, and performance objectives
- Must have a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, or related engineering discipline
- Must have 5+ years of Project Engineering experience in a petroleum or chemical refinery
- Experience managing engineering or capital projects from concept through execution
- Strong understanding of project scope, cost, scheduling, and change management
- Ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary engineering and operations teams
- Familiarity with PV Elite and/or CAESAR II
- Familiarity with industry codes such as ASME Section XIII and ASME B31.3
- Any responsibility for directly reviewing or actually doing pipe stress or pressure vessel analysis
Meet Your Recruiter
Senior Technical Recruiter
Galen is a Senior Technical Recruiter at Sterling Engineering with nearly 14 years of recruiting and talent acquisition experience, spanning agency leadership, high-volume technical recruiting, and executive-level client partnership. Since joining Sterling in February 2026, he has brought a strategic, relationship-driven approach to supporting candidates and clients across manufacturing, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and more.
Galen is dedicated to solving complex hiring challenges and building trusted, long-term partnerships with candidates, hiring managers, and executives. He takes the time to understand each person’s experience, goals, and career ambitions so he can help connect them with opportunities that align with both their skills and long-term direction.
For Galen, recruiting is about being an advocate and facilitator during important moments of transition and opportunity. He genuinely enjoys learning what motivates people and helping them take meaningful next steps in their careers while supporting companies in building strong, high-performing teams.