Senior Operations leader at Cenovus Lloydminster Upgrader

Sherritt International is an integrated mining and energy company with 80% of its business being focused in nickel and cobalt production on an EBITDA basis.- Led the metals business unit consisting of 2,700 employees and 400 contractors including mining and concentrate operations in Moa, Cuba, refining and fertilizers in Fort Saskatchewan, AB, and global supply chain & logistics; annual revenue of $1.1B USD, annual operating budget of $750M USD, and an annual capital budget of $100M… Show more Sherritt International is an integrated mining and energy company with 80% of its business being focused in nickel and cobalt production on an EBITDA basis.- Led the metals business unit consisting of 2,700 employees and 400 contractors including mining and concentrate operations in Moa, Cuba, refining and fertilizers in Fort Saskatchewan, AB, and global supply chain & logistics; annual revenue of $1.1B USD, annual operating budget of $750M USD, and an annual capital budget of $100M USD- Reported monthly and quarterly operating results to the Board of Directors on safety and sustainability metrics, cost, production, reserves, capital project progress, and enterprise risk- Held the role of Lead Director for the Joint Venture (JV) Board of Directors and played a pivotal role in shaping the strategic direction and focus of the business- Maintained strategic relationships with key personnel at Cuban state-owned companies through collaboration, effective problem solving with key decision makers, and by maintaining a local presence- Strengthened asset management and supply chain work processes that led to significant improvements in production and a cultural shift toward high performance; launched a global supply chain organization to capture $20M in estimated cost efficiencies across the company- Spearheaded numerous process improvement initiatives aligned with streamlining operations, improving efficiencies, and decreasing costs/increasing profitability Show less

- Served as a senior leader of 600 employees and 150 contractors for the Refining, Utilities, and Fertilizer Operations teams within Asset Management and Sustainability- Directed the operations for the facility, producing 37 ktpa of Class 1 nickel and cobalt, 90 ktpa of ammonia, 250 ktpa sulphuric acid, and 200 ktpa of ammonium sulphate fertilizer- Introduced a Life Safety Rules program, oversaw the Fort Site Joint Health & Safety Committee, and co-developed and implemented a Respect in… Show more - Served as a senior leader of 600 employees and 150 contractors for the Refining, Utilities, and Fertilizer Operations teams within Asset Management and Sustainability- Directed the operations for the facility, producing 37 ktpa of Class 1 nickel and cobalt, 90 ktpa of ammonia, 250 ktpa sulphuric acid, and 200 ktpa of ammonium sulphate fertilizer- Introduced a Life Safety Rules program, oversaw the Fort Site Joint Health & Safety Committee, and co-developed and implemented a Respect in the Workplace training program as foundational education within the site’s Diversity & Inclusion program- Identified gaps and areas of improvement for the pressure vessel management program from external audit and internal compliance check information, and subsequently implemented action plans to improve field execution of repairs to pressure vessels, resulting in significantly enhanced plant safety and audit results going forward - Introduced Unplanned Capacity Loss monitoring and analysis at the site to identify reliability improvement opportunities and develop action plans- Drove increased performance by implementing visual management information centers and stand-up meetings at crew level; provided defined agendas and specific KPIs including production, safety, efficiency, and productivity to realize immediate operational improvements - Championed Lean culture: provided training, promoted continuous improvement, and led 6S projects for improved efficiency in the workplace, resulting in reducing fixed operating cost by 2019 across Operations and Maintenance by eliminating low value spending, evaluating required service levels, and reducing waste- Completed full organizational re-design, leader selection, and implementation of a new structure in 2019, reducing overlap and redundancy between roles in the department- Prepared quarterly Board reports and presentations for the JV Board of Directors that included items related to cost, performance, safety, and risk Show less

- Led the operations team at the Long Lake Oilsands site consisting of 225 employees and 150 contractors, while also collaborating with the VP to strategically transition from an integrated Upgrader to a SAGD-only operation- Led the site safety council to engage field teams on safety issues and champion change, such as improvements to the work permitting process, lock out tag out process, plant lighting, and the use of plant radios in the field- Launched a continuous improvement program… Show more - Led the operations team at the Long Lake Oilsands site consisting of 225 employees and 150 contractors, while also collaborating with the VP to strategically transition from an integrated Upgrader to a SAGD-only operation- Led the site safety council to engage field teams on safety issues and champion change, such as improvements to the work permitting process, lock out tag out process, plant lighting, and the use of plant radios in the field- Launched a continuous improvement program that successfully significantly reduced fixed operating expense spending for the Long Lake site in 2017, with additional savings achieved in 2018; improvement areas centered on comparison of budget items to actual spending, service level rationalization, and the elimination of low value spending including the consolidation of buildings on site, reducing road maintenance costs, and justifying certain IT applications - Sponsored and led the Quality Circle to crowd-source small, low-complexity improvement ideas for the Long Lake asset from employees across the company; initiative successfully generated 150 unique cost-saving ideas of which over 50 were implemented and resulted in millions of dollars in annual savings- Led CNOOC Nexen’s re-entry to the Long Lake facility following the 2016 wildfire, after complete evacuation and shut down- Launched a successful leadership field engagement program for the Long Lake site in 2018 that encouraged leaders to visit the field more frequently, increasing leadership visibility and ability to identify important field issues- Executed the development and implementation of the reorganization for the Long Lake Operations team in 2015, 2016, and the entire site in 2017, benchmarking performance and identifying efficiencies in each restructuring phase- Successfully interfaced with provincial regulators and local First Nation stakeholders on behalf of the company, building strong relationships and community partnerships Show less

- Led the turnaround and outage program at Nexen Long Lake SAGD & Upgrader facility; executed $80-$150M of work each year including 15-20 unit outage events valued between $1-$4M each, small capital jobs under $15M, and major plant turnarounds upwards of $100M- Completed turnaround for Upgrader and SAGD steam production and water treatment facilities by implementing significant modifications for the integration of major capital projects including the startup of a new facility-… Show more - Led the turnaround and outage program at Nexen Long Lake SAGD & Upgrader facility; executed $80-$150M of work each year including 15-20 unit outage events valued between $1-$4M each, small capital jobs under $15M, and major plant turnarounds upwards of $100M- Completed turnaround for Upgrader and SAGD steam production and water treatment facilities by implementing significant modifications for the integration of major capital projects including the startup of a new facility- Implemented various initiatives that improved safety performance to 0 Lost Time Injuries and a recordable injury rate of 0.37 during tenure - Reduced labour requirements through a time on tools efficiency improvement initiative that resulted in millions of dollars in savings on the overall turnaround budget of $105M; the continuous improvement initiative increased planning and scheduling output, aligned leadership behaviours, and resulted in a 20% time on tools improvement for work crews- Reduced expenditures by 20% in the first year against budget by extending intervals between outage/turnaround events and reduced cost of base scope work through optimized scheduling and cost-saving execution techniques in the field- Implemented risk-based scope review work process for major turnarounds leading to a cost reduction of ~15%- Implemented external turnaround readiness reviews, initiated a turnaround steering committee, and developed a new turnaround handbook and milestone stewardship process to improve turnaround preparations Show less

- Managed the Conversion business unit in the Upgrader section of the plant, maintaining accountability for the safety, reliability, margin and cost operating this business unit- Assumed direct responsibility for the process operators (155) who work in the plant plus the day staff (30); team was responsible to provide work direction to about 150 maintenance tradespeople- Supported the business unit's one major unit turnaround each year; units under my supervision included 3 fluid… Show more - Managed the Conversion business unit in the Upgrader section of the plant, maintaining accountability for the safety, reliability, margin and cost operating this business unit- Assumed direct responsibility for the process operators (155) who work in the plant plus the day staff (30); team was responsible to provide work direction to about 150 maintenance tradespeople- Supported the business unit's one major unit turnaround each year; units under my supervision included 3 fluid cokers, 3 atmospheric pipestills, 1 vacuum pipestill, 1 LC Finer, and 1 sour water treatment plant Show less

- Maintained tactical responsibility for achieving the short term (shift) production plan for the entire Syncrude facility including two oil sand mines, two extraction plants, the upgrader, and the utilities plant- Accountable for the safety and productivity of the people and equipment at the site- Managed 7 direct report area superintendents and 500-600 production/maintenance workers on each shift; position was a rotating 12 hr shift position

- Supervised the work of a team of 15-20 process engineers in the Conversion area; team provided support to the Operations team in terms of process troubleshooting, simulations, heat and material balances, engineering documentation, root cause investigation, calculations, and operational guidance- Coordinated the interface with other engineering and technical disciplines including mechanical engineering, E&I engineering, QA/QC inspection, rotating equipment engineering and process control &… Show more - Supervised the work of a team of 15-20 process engineers in the Conversion area; team provided support to the Operations team in terms of process troubleshooting, simulations, heat and material balances, engineering documentation, root cause investigation, calculations, and operational guidance- Coordinated the interface with other engineering and technical disciplines including mechanical engineering, E&I engineering, QA/QC inspection, rotating equipment engineering and process control & automation Show less

- Managed the front-end development on ammonia purification project which included identifying root cause of FGD stack odour as part of the project development; work was subsequently patented

- Served as the Process Engineering Leader for fluid coker division in the upgrader; supervised work of 3-4 process engineers and a student- Units included 2 fluid cokers, 2 gas plants, sour water stripper

- Provided process engineering support for fluid cokers, sour water, and gas processing plant

- Completed pilot plant test studies on 1/9 scale fluid coker cold flow model at UBC research facility under direction of Dr. John R. Grace- Completed studies of gas solid mixing, jet bed penetration, fluid bed stripper internal design, and standpipe entrance design; following which new design internals were installed on all 3 fluid cokers at Syncrude facility in Fort McMurray, AB- Co-authored two papers and several conference submissions based on the test results