About Hertha Metals, Inc.
At Hertha Metals, our unwavering commitment is to revolutionize the heavy industry by embracing technologies that significantly decrease carbon emissions and uplift humanity. While the global steel sector plays a crucial role in providing secure and resilient infrastructure for society, it is also responsible for 10% of worldwide CO2 emissions. Hertha Metals envisions a future that breaks away from the traditional coal-based iron and steelmaking practices of the past three centuries. Our innovative steel manufacturing process utilizes well-established chemistry to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of steel production, all while offering economic advantages to the industry.
If you aspire to be at the forefront of pioneering efforts at Hertha, this is the perfect moment to join us. While we are still in the early stages (albeit well-funded), you have the unique opportunity to play a vital role in transforming the steel sector and actively contribute to the establishment of Hertha.
Control Room Operator
Hertha Metals is scaling up its revolutionary iron smelting technology. We are looking for a process control and automation technician to support iron and steelmaking operations during pilot plant trials and participate in the industrial production of green steel. You must enjoy working in a fast-paced startup environment where creativity, speed, initiative and cross-functional teamwork are required to succeed.
Key Responsibilities
The process automation technician will be involved in the project at the phases of pilot plant construction; commissioning; start-up; ramp-up and the operation of the industrial plant to produce metal by means of iron ore smelting and thermal refining of impure iron to product steel final product. The process automation technician must be able to use commercial software packages of process control and monitoring such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition” SCADA” for capturing data from sensors and Programmable Logic Controller” PLC” to automate routine functions of the plant such as feeding batch, starting, and shutting down systems of pumps; burners; heat exchangers; cyclones; fans; bag-houses; scrubber; boilers; turbines; etc. Additional responsibilities for this role include:
Set furnace control input set points (power, voltage, current, and resistance) according to plant design criteria.
Monitor plant operations using computer controls to ensure proper functioning.
Maintain and monitor plant equipment and indicators for proper operation, informing instrumentation electrical technician of any malfunctions for maintenance or software modification.
Perform inspections of plant equipment through the screen and provide instructions to operators and maintenance technicians for fixing faults.
Operate and supervise the operation of heavy machinery such as cranes, front end loaders, skid loaders, and forklifts, including off-gas system and plant utilities.
Prepare LOTO's and other safety forms, assist maintenance when required, and order equipment and supplies.
Support plant engineers by performing and evaluating plant tests and putting together outage packages.
Operate, control, and maintain power generating equipment (transformer, rectifier, reactor), burners, cyclones, heat exchangers, bag-house, scrubber, and supporting equipment using DCS (Distributed Control System).
Operate the plant and monitor PLC programming, furnace pressures, and temperatures to ensure successful smelting times and quality product.
Monitor furnace cooling system to ensure temperatures are within safe limits and adjust controls as needed.
Requirements:
Minimum of 4 years of experience in a smelting environment or a production metallurgical, chemical, or petrochemical plants.
Hold a national diploma in electronic, process automation, or equivalent fields. An engineering bachelor's degree is preferred.
Possess essential backgrounds in electricity and electronics, with the ability to perform electrical calculations, interpret P&IDs and PFDs, and handle process control and monitoring.
Proficient in writing daily reports of furnace operation and compiling technical smelting reports of process control and automation.
Must be a dynamic leader, result-oriented, problem-solving, lateral thinker, loyal, respectful, and a team player, with the ability to handle stress.
Capable of managing furnace daily operation and coordinating work for plant mechanical and electrical maintenances.
Knowledge of MS Word, MS Project, MS Access, MS PowerPoint, and MS Excel to create tables and plot curves of reactors' operational trends.
Knowledge of SCL programming highly preferred.
Location: on-site at facility in Conroe, Texas just outside of Houston
Hertha Culture:
Inspired by the work and character of the late Hertha Ayrton, we are pioneers, innovators, and risk-takers who are mission driven towards changing the world. We are:
Committed- having a level of enthusiasm to do what it takes to get the job done; we are decisive and aggressively focused on our tasks, all while maintaining professional and social ethics.
Efficient – we don’t have purposeless meetings that drag on
Ambitious- Proving that what others say is impossible, is in fact possible
Inclusive - Valuing each team member’s own perspectives and set of unique experiences that they bring to the table – everyone's voices are heard.
Curious - Being curious, productive and innovative.
Passionate - Working hard not because we have to, but because we are committed to our mission and enjoy our work.
What we offer:
Competitive compensation package based on expertise. Compensation is increased on yearly basis in proportion to the amount of effort put into Hertha and the results you obtained
Stock: ownership in a funded company that is innovating in a trillion-dollar industry
Paid + unpaid parental leave after 1 year at the company (12 weeks paid, with flexible working style to transition after parental leave such as part-time remote working)
Flexible working style: as long as you get the job done, we are flexible with remote working on days that you don’t need to be in the lab or at the pilot facilities
Growth: our team is comprised of people with a growth mindset and we want to help you achieve your future career goals accordingly
Time off: we have mandatory time off. This is a fast-paced startup company working in one of the most exciting sectors and the last thing we want is our valuable team members to burn out.
Hertha Metals is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We firmly prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. In fact, we uniquely hold our shareholders and board members to higher standards than a majority of companies. All employment decisions at Hertha Metals are based on the expertise that the position calls for, without regard to race, religion, sex, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or age.