Area Authority

Job Family Group:

Operations Group

Job Description:

As an Area Authority, you will serve as the Operations leader responsible for managing, authorizing, and controlling all Control of Work (CoW) activities within your assigned area. You will ensure safe, compliant, and risk-based execution of work across all phases of CoW—planning through execution and learning—while acting as a subject matter expert on work control systems, permits, and isolations.

You will play a meaningful role in protecting people, assets, and the environment by applying rigorous risk management practices, aligning planning and execution activities, and driving continuous improvement across refinery operations. 

You will report to the asset's Operations Superintendent but along with other Area Authorities, will have reporting expectations to the site Control of Work Technical Authority to ensure delivery of site standards, field execution consistency, and replication of standard processes across the refinery.

Key Responsibilities:

• Safe, compliant execution of all work activities within your assigned area through effective Control of Work governance; demonstrates personal excellence in behaviors and leadership

• Accountable for Control of Work across all phases: Plan, Risk Assess, Prepare, Schedule, Authorize, Implement, Monitor, Complete, and Learn

• Owns permit approval, isolation design approval, and safe execution oversight within assigned area.

• High-quality permit, isolation, and risk assessment decisions, including approval of permits, isolations, and break-in work

• Robust risk identification, mitigation, and escalation, including leadership of task risk assessments 

• Effective integration of planning, scheduling, and execution activities with strong hazard recognition and management within the assigned and neighboring assets

• Field assurance through monitoring work execution and intervening before unsafe conditions arise 

• Consistent application of safety, environmental, and compliance standards, regulatory requirements, and safe work practices 

• Continuous improvement of work control processes through lessons learned, incident reviews, and feedback loops 

• Quality work packages including permits, risk assessments, isolation plans, and contingency planning

• Plays a key role in outages/turnarounds (TAR) and manages risk during complex work scopes

• Performs other duties as assigned to support safe, reliable, and efficient operations.

Requirements:

• Qualified Operator or Shift Team Lead (or equivalent) in the assigned asset; or demonstrated experience within refinery operations organization, including strong knowledge of Control of Work (CoW) programs and procedures

• Certification as Issuing Authority and Isolating Authority

• Demonstrated expertise in Control of Work systems (e.g., PermitVision), risk assessment, and safe work standards

• Strong working knowledge of HSE&C requirements, regulatory standards, and company policies. Strong understanding of local applicable permit to work and equipment isolations policy - holds high standards on field execution of the policies

• Consistent field presence to understand how work is being executed and ensure hazards are understood and mitigated

• Proven ability to assess, manage, and mitigate operational risk consistently 

• Strong communication, decision-making, and leadership skills in complex operational environments 

• Ability to instruct or delegate tasks to operators when applicable, verify delivery, and coach to drive improvement

• Experience coordinating across operations, maintenance, engineering, and contractors

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and respond effectively to changing conditions

• Requires ability to work in industrial environments, including outdoor conditions, confined spaces, and elevated areas

• Ownership mindset including proactive stakeholder engagement, response to weak signals, and consistent follow-up

• May require availability outside of standard business hours, including nights, weekends, holidays, and during outages or operational events

• Must be able to climb stairways and ladders and wear fresh air gear as required.

•  Essential functions of the job include, but are not limited to:  standing, walking, lifting, and carrying up to 50 pounds, bending stopping, twisting, reaching, stretching, pushing, pulling, climbing, balancing, kneeling, crawling, and use of hands and feet.  Must be able to work safely in changing weather conditions.  

Why Join bp 

At bp, safety is at the core of everything we do. This role offers the opportunity to lead skilled teams in a complex industrial environment while contributing directly to refinery reliability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence. We support our people to learn and grow in a diverse and exciting environment! We believe that our team is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to crafting an inclusive environment in which everyone is respected and treated fairly. 

We provide an excellent working environment and employee benefits such as a great work-life balance, tremendous learning and development opportunities to craft your career path, life and health insurance, medical care package and many others! 

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform crucial job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to request any accommodations. 

Travel Requirement

No travel is expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:

This role is not eligible for relocation

Remote Type:

This position is not available for remote working

Skills:

Maintenance Planning, Maintenance Scheduling, Operations readiness planning, Operations turnaround coordinating, Operations Turnaround Preparation, Site operating procedure development, Turnaround common process, Turnaround Planning, Turnaround pre-start-up assurance, Turnaround Scheduling, Turnaround scoping, Work Packaging

Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics like race, religion, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.