Job Description:

Principal Materials & Corrosion SME
Location: Houston, TX (Onsite) | Reports To: VP, Projects & Asset Management | Contract-to-Hire

Position Summary

The Principal Materials & Corrosion SME is the company's technical authority for materials selection, corrosion, refractory/lining systems, and materials integrity across its high-temperature, corrosive, and chemically aggressive process facilities.

The role is particularly focused on equipment and piping operating at temperatures above 750°C, as well as environments involving extreme acids and bases/alkalis, corrosive gases, chlorides, fluorides, molten or reactive materials, leaching chemistry, thermal cycling, erosion, abrasion, and other severe-service conditions.

The SME works closely with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that materials of construction are technically appropriate, commercially practical, and capable of achieving the required operating life.

The role is an owner-side technical authority, not primarily a materials laboratory or inspection position.

Core Responsibilities

• Materials Selection: Define and approve materials of construction for process equipment and systems based on temperature, chemistry, pressure, mechanical loads, erosion/abrasion, thermal cycling, and required service life.
• High-Temperature Service: Provide technical authority for >750°C environments, including high-temperature corrosion, oxidation, sulfidation, carburization, chlorination/fluorination, thermal fatigue, creep, and phase stability.
• Severe Chemical Environments: Evaluate and manage materials performance in extreme acidic and alkaline/caustic environments, including concentrated acids, high-pH liquors, and aggressive leach systems.
• Refractories & Linings: Select and qualify refractory, ceramic, metallic, polymer, and other lining systems for high-temperature and chemically aggressive service.
• Corrosion Engineering: Identify degradation mechanisms and establish corrosion-control strategies, materials limits, corrosion allowances, monitoring, and inspection requirements.
• FEED & Procurement: Serve as the company's materials/corrosion authority during FEED and EPC, reviewing specifications, vendor selections, material substitutions, fabrication, testing, and quality requirements.
• Technology & Scale-Up: Work with Materials & Technology and Process Engineering to identify materials constraints, support compatibility testing, and translate laboratory/pilot results into commercial materials requirements.
• Asset Integrity: Support reliability, inspection, failure analysis, remaining-life assessments, and repair/replacement decisions for materials-related degradation.
• Technical Leadership: Direct EPC/EPCM firms, specialist consultants, laboratories, refractory suppliers, inspection organizations, and equipment vendors on materials and corrosion matters.
• Standards & Knowledge: Establish company-wide materials, corrosion, refractory, and severe-service standards and capture operating experience to improve future designs.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Materials Science & Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Corrosion Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related discipline.
• 15+ years of relevant industrial experience in materials engineering, corrosion, metallurgy, or materials integrity.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience with materials and corrosion in high-temperature service above 750°C is required.

Desired Experience

• Extreme alkaline/caustic environments and high-pH process systems.
• Extreme acidic environments, including concentrated-acid and high-temperature acid service.
• Failure analysis, remaining-life assessment, and materials qualification.
• Laboratory/pilot materials-compatibility and corrosion testing.

Pay rate: $95-115/hr. This is a contract-to-hire position (3 months to permanent), onsite in Houston, TX. Candidates must be US Citizens or Green Card holders.

About Us

Peterson Technology Partners (PTP) is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to creating a transparent, inclusive, and human-centered hiring experience.

For more than 28 years, PTP has operated as one of the top IT staffing and recruiting firms in the USA—built on trust, long-term partnerships, and technical excellence.

Based in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, IL, our team of more than 500 employees and consultants is dedicated to:

• Helping every client make the best hiring decisions possible
• Matching professionals with the right IT jobs and career opportunities

As part of that commitment, we believe in providing clear information about how our hiring technologies work and how your data is used. The following section outlines our AI-assisted interview process and your rights as a candidate.

AI-Assisted Interview Experience (Pete & Gabi – Rebecca):

To provide a consistent, fair, and flexible experience for all candidates, we use AI-assisted tools to support parts of the interview process. This includes our proprietary AI platform Pete & Gabi, which includes AI recruiter Rebecca.

These AI hiring tools help us:

• Conduct recorded video interviews
• Transcribe interviews
• Summarize candidate responses
• Generate job-related insights
• Streamline communication and scheduling

Please note that:

• The AI does NOT make hiring decisions; all decisions are made by our human recruiters, hiring managers, or client partners.
• The AI does not evaluate facial expressions, emotions, or physical traits; it is used only to support fairness, consistency, and efficiency.

If you prefer a non-AI interview format, we will gladly provide an alternative.