Fire Protection Engineer - Petrochemical & Energy Projects

Jensen Hughes•Columbia, MD

About The Position

JENSEN HUGHES is expanding our industrial process safety practice with a dedicated focus on solving complex challenges for industrial clients—particularly those with significant chemical processing, storage, and high-hazard operations. We are currently seeking a Fire Protection Engineer or Process Safety Consultant with a specialization in Oil & Gas to lead and support a growing portfolio of risk assessment and safety compliance projects. This is a strategic, client-facing opportunity for experienced professionals who are passionate about applying performance-based fire protection engineering principles to identify and mitigate operational risks, improve facility safety, and ensure regulatory and code compliance. The ideal candidate will have experience conducting fire protection evaluations for both new and existing facilities.

Requirements

Strong familiarity with industry standards and best practices such as: NFPA 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 25, 30, 55, 58, 59/A, 68, 69, 70, 72, 850 API RP 752/753, 2001, 2030, 2218, 2510A FM Global Data Sheets
High competency in the use of one or more hydraulic calculation software tools.
Experience conducting site surveys
Bachelor’s degree in Fire Protection, Chemical, Mechanical, or Process Engineering (or related field)
3-5+ years of experience in process safety role with direct involvement supporting the Oil & Gas industry.
Professional credentials (e.g., Professional Engineer, Functional safety competence such as FS Eng, FSP or CFSE is highly regarded)
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with ability to clearly convey complex technical concepts.
Willing to travel approximately 25% for client engagements and on-site projects.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of safety instrumented systems and controls (a plus)
Experience with fire and gas mapping (a plus)
Experience performing consequence and frequency analysis for accidental toxic or flammable material releases.
Design and analysis of pressure relief systems and the various governing codes and standards used in industry.
Knowledge of and experience with modeling practices for the Oil & Gas industry. Ideal candidate will have experience in modeling tools such as Phast, FLACS, FDS, and/or Detect3D
Experience with client management and proposal development is a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead comprehensive fire protection evaluations, primarily for hydrocarbon processing and storage facilities
Develop and execute upon site-specific fire protection philosophies, including but not limited to: fire and gas detection, active fire protection (e.g., fire water), passive fire protection (e.g., fireproofing), emergency management and response, etc.
Identify opportunities to employ performance-based design over traditional prescriptive methods to optimize fire protection equipment counts
Conduct advanced consequence modeling to characterize potential hazard areas at hydrocarbon processing and storage facilities
Guide clients through all stages of the fire protection life cycle, from feasibility, to design, installation, commissioning, and ongoing site support
Support Process Hazard Analyses (PHA) using methodologies such as HAZOP, What-If, LOPA and FMEA
Analyze process safety information (P&IDs, PFDs, material data, operating procedures) to support thorough and accurate hazard analysis.
Prepare and peer-review high-quality, technically sound reports for clients and regulatory authorities.
Conduct site visits to evaluate risk and compliance with NFPA, API, and insurer standards.
Support proposal development and participate in client-facing engagements to scope new fire protection and process safety work.