Study Manager

About Worley

Worley is a global leader in energy, chemicals, and resources consultancy headquartered in Australia. We collaborate with clients to deliver and sustain value throughout asset lifecycles, offering expertise in consulting, engineering, procurement, construction, operations, and decommissioning. Utilizing deep industry experience alongside AI-enhanced delivery, we help clients navigate complexities and transition towards sustainable solutions.

Role Purpose

The Study Manager leads Worley's studies and smaller engineering projects from conceptual phases through detailed design as needed. This process-focused chemical engineering role centers on defining development options, evaluating their feasibility technically and financially, recommending preferred plans, and ensuring designs meet project gate requirements.

Emphasis is placed on brownfield projects and existing facility improvements such as debottlenecking, capacity and operability enhancement, safeguard reviews, tie-in definition, and practical implementation planning. The role demands direct engagement with senior client leadership, asset stakeholders, operations teams, technical authorities, and internal management, defending recommendations under rigorous technical, commercial, and governance scrutiny.

This is an active leadership position requiring sound process engineering judgement, experience in early project development phases, commercial insight, stakeholder confidence, adept presentation skills, and effective conflict resolution to maintain study direction.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan, lead, and deliver studies, small Front End Engineering Design (FEED) packages, plant modifications, and projects from Conceptual Engineering through to relevant Detailed Design stages, overseeing execution plans, deliverable tracking, risk registers, and stakeholder engagement strategies.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary inputs—including process, safety, mechanical, piping, electrical, instrumentation, civil, structural, estimating, planning, procurement, construction, commissioning, and start-up—to produce mature outputs aligned with project phases, estimates, investment gates, procurement, and operational planning.
• Lead conceptual engineering tasks such as defining constraints, operating scenarios, bottlenecks, and interfaces; identify and short-list viable development and debottlenecking options using engineering judgment and site data, eliminating non-viable solutions early.
• Conduct comprehensive technical and economic evaluations of options assessing safety, operability, constructability, costs, schedules, risks, carbon and energy impacts, procurement issues, commissioning, start-up risks, and implementation complexity.
• Develop clear, persuasive presentations and reports for senior stakeholders, maintaining control in meetings especially under conflicting views or scrutiny.
• Ensure rigorous governance by maintaining traceability of assumptions, standards, and reviews, driving interdisciplinary technical checks and value reviews to confirm decision integrity before client and execution phases.
• Manage project scope, budgets, schedules, progress reporting, resource forecasts, and change control per company procedures, preventing scope creep and facilitating proposal development for new projects.
• Collaborate with procurement, construction, commissioning, and start-up teams to ensure practical implementation of plant modifications and consider shutdown and turnaround constraints during option selection.
• Lead and mentor multidisciplinary teams, resolving conflicts diplomatically and fostering a technical environment that encourages respectful challenge and timely decision-making.
• Support business growth by identifying follow-on opportunities, contributing to credible proposals, and representing Worley professionally to clients and in industry forums.
• Champion health, safety, and environmental leadership by embedding safety and environmental considerations throughout study phases and supporting continuous improvement efforts.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with a robust process engineering background emphasizing practical front-end project judgement.
• Extensive experience in Conceptual Engineering, Pre-FEED, FEED, small FEED packages, plant modifications, and minor Detailed Design for brownfield and greenfield projects.
• Demonstrated proficiency in debottlenecking processes, including operational analysis, process modeling, equipment evaluation, utility review, tie-in planning, constructability assessments, and shutdown/turnaround planning.
• Skill in leading option identification, screening, definition, technical and economic evaluation, and selecting preferred development schemes.
• Ability to advance selected options for further FEED or Detailed Design phases.
• Experience producing or managing process documentation such as design bases, heat and material balances, simulations, PFDs, P&IDs, equipment and line sizing, datasheets, utility summaries, safeguarding inputs, and technical reports.
• Strong understanding of engineering estimating, scheduling, value drivers, operating costs, and business case formulation at early project stages.

Additional Information

This role involves close commercial and schedule responsibilities shared with project and engineering managers, and requires high-level stakeholder management including conflict resolution within complex interdisciplinary teams. The incumbent must maintain technical governance and assist in client relationship management while promoting safety and environmental compliance throughout all project activities.