What Does a Chemical Engineer Do in Industrial Environments?

The Role of a Chemical Engineer in Today’s Industry

In a previous article titled Essential Chemical Engineering Topics Guide, I presented a simple yet concrete real-world example to illustrate what chemical engineering is.

In this new piece, I revisit the same visual framework, but from a different perspective—focusing instead on the actual responsibilities and day-to-day role of a chemical engineer.

The goal is to provide a clear and practical understanding of what a chemical engineer truly does, effectively answering the question: What does a chemical engineer do?

A Simple Snapshot of a Chemical Plant

Let’s consider a section of a chemical plant where purified water and anhydrous methanol are stored in separate tanks. Through a system of pumps and valves, small and precise amounts of each liquid are transferred into a third vessel, where they are mixed to create a 95% methanol–5% water solution. This mixture is then pumped to a reactor where it takes part in a larger chemical process.

Although this setup involves just a few pieces of equipment—tanks, pumps, level indicators, and pipes—it already requires engineering decisions related to:

• Process design (What concentrations do we need?)
• Safety (How do we vent excess vapors safely?)
• Instrumentation (How do we monitor the levels?)
• Operation and maintenance (How do we keep it running smoothly?)

This small slice of a plant reflects the real complexity chemical engineers manage daily, even in seemingly “simple” systems.

Responsibilities within Chemical Engineering

This simple methanol-water mixing process can be used to illustrate several key roles within chemical engineering. While the process looks straightforward, different chemical engineers would approach it from different perspectives:

• Process Engineer: Designs and optimizes the mixing operation to ensure the right MeOH/H₂O ratio reaches the reactor under stable conditions, minimizing losses and ensuring product quality.
• Project Engineer: Plans the installation of the tanks, pumps, and piping system, managing budget, schedule, and equipment specifications.
• EHS Engineer (Environment, Health & Safety): Assesses risks such as methanol exposure, proper venting, overfilling, and defines safety systems, PPE requirements, and emergency procedures.
• Maintenance Engineer: Ensures pumps and level indicators are reliable and easy to maintain, defines preventive maintenance routines, and troubleshoots any operational issues.

Each of these professionals sees the same system, but from a unique and essential viewpoint.

The methanol-water mixing process shown earlier may appear straightforward, but even this basic system calls for multiple layers of engineering expertise. Designing the tanks and specifying the pumps is just one part of the equation. Ensuring proper venting, maintaining the right concentration, keeping the process safe, and meeting compliance requirements all demand specialized skills.

Process Industry

What Does a Chemical Engineer Do in the Process Industry? Chemical engineers play a central role in designing, optimizing, and managing a wide range of industrial processes. Their skills are applied in both operational and regulatory contexts, across diverse sectors.

Here are some examples of what a chemical engineer can do in real-world environments:

• Designing distillation columns to turn crude oil into products like gasoline and diesel
• Optimizing heat exchangers to save energy and cut operational costs
• Scaling up cosmetic products from lab formulation to factory production
• Running polymerization processes to produce plastics like polyethylene
• Managing safety systems in refineries to prevent incidents and ensure compliance
• Developing water treatment solutions to ensure safe and clean water
• Creating biofuels from algae and agricultural waste to support sustainable energy
• Performing HAZOP studies to identify potential process hazards and improve safety systems
• Contributing to the creation and verification of technical standards and regulatory frameworks
• Ensuring quality assurance by validating process integrity and product consistency
• Supporting audits and certification processes through technical documentation
• Collaborating with institutions to align operations with global regulations

Whether working in manufacturing, compliance, safety, or sustainability, chemical engineers have the tools to solve real-world problems with science, logic, and creativity.

Career Opportunities in Chemical Engineering

In addition to their technical responsibilities, chemical engineers have access to a wide array of career paths. Depending on their interests, experience, and industry, they may choose to specialize in operations, research, compliance, safety, or move into managerial positions that combine technical insight with strategic leadership.

Below are some of the most common career paths in chemical engineering:

Technical Roles

• Process & Operations
  Roles in plant operations, production optimization, and troubleshooting—ideal for those who enjoy being close to the action and solving real-time technical challenges. (Typical roles: Process Engineer, Project Engineer, Safety Engineerprocess engineer, Safety engineers)
• R&D Engineer
  Develops new materials, formulations, or technologies through laboratory research and pilot-scale testing.
• Quality Engineer
  Ensures product consistency, process reliability, and regulatory compliance through testing, validation, and audits.
• Sustainability Engineer
  Focuses on improving energy efficiency, waste reduction, and the development of greener processes or alternative feedstocks.
• Wastewater or Environmental Engineer
  Designs and optimizes treatment processes to meet environmental regulations and corporate sustainability goals.

Interface and Support Roles

• Technical Sales Engineer
  Serves as a bridge between product knowledge and customer needs, often requiring strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• Regulatory Affairs Specialist
  Manages compliance with environmental, health, and safety regulations; prepares technical documentation and interfaces with authorities.
• Project Engineer
  Oversees engineering projects from conception to implementation, coordinating teams, suppliers, schedules, and budgets.

Managerial and Leadership Roles

With experience, chemical engineers often transition into leadership positions that require strategic thinking and cross-functional coordination. These include:

• Operations Manager
  Oversees daily plant operations, resource allocation, and performance optimization across units.
• Technical or Plant Director
  Leads multidisciplinary engineering teams, aligning process performance with broader business goals.
• Process Safety Manager
  Defines company-wide safety strategies and oversees their implementation across sites.
• Engineering Manager
  Coordinates engineering teams and project portfolios, ensuring integration between design, production, and compliance.

Who Hires Chemical Engineers?

Chemical engineers are hired by a wide range of industries that rely on large-scale production, transformation, or treatment of materials. Employers include:

• Chemical and Petrochemical Companies
  (e.g., BASF, Dow)
• Pharmaceutical and Biotech Firms
  (e.g., Pfizer, Novartis)
• Food and Beverage Manufacturers
  (e.g., Nestlé, Coca-Cola)
• Energy and Renewable Fuel Companies
  (e.g., Shell, BP, Neste)
• Water Treatment and Environmental Services
  (e.g., Veolia, SUEZ)
• Cosmetic and Consumer Goods Companies
  (e.g., Unilever, L’Oréal)
• Engineering Design and Consulting Firms
  (e.g., Technip Energies, Jacobs, Worley)
• Government Agencies and Regulatory Bodies
  (e.g., OSHA, EPA, EMA)
• Academic and Research Institutions
  (e.g., MIT, ETH Zurich, Imperial College London)

These employers seek chemical engineers for roles in process design, safety, R&D, operations,sustainability, quality, and compliance.

Where Do Chemical Engineers Make the Most Money?

Chemical engineers earn the highest salaries in countries and industries where there is strong demand for process expertise, safety, and innovation. Below are some of the top-paying locations and sectors.

Top-paying countries for chemical engineers:

• United States – Particularly in Texas, California, and Louisiana. Average salaries range from $90,000 to over $130,000 per year.
  Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Chemical Engineers
• Canada – Especially in Alberta and Ontario. Salaries typically range from CAD 80,000 to CAD 120,000 per year.
  Source: PayScale – Chemical Engineer Salary in Canada
• Australia – High-paying roles in mining and energy sectors, with average salaries exceeding AUD 100,000 per year.
  Source: PayScale – Chemical Engineer Salary in Australia
• Norway – Due to the strong oil and gas sector, chemical engineers in Norway receive some of the highest salaries in Europe.
  Source: Salary Explorer – Chemical Engineer Salaries in Norway
• Switzerland – Competitive salaries in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, often exceeding CHF 120,000 per year.
  Source: PayScale – Chemical Engineer Salary in Switzerland

Top-paying industries:

• Oil and gas
• Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology
• Chemical manufacturing
• Energy and renewables
• Engineering and technical consulting

Skills for Chemical Engineer