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Lead Planning & Optimization Engineer

Marathon Petroleum Corporation
San Antonio, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 21 Apr 2026

About the role

An exciting career awaits you


At MPC, we’re committed to being a great place to work – one that welcomes new ideas, encourages diverse perspectives, develops our people, and fosters a collaborative team environment.

Position Summary

The Value Chain Optimization (VCO) team has an opening for a West Region Planning & Optimization Engineer. This role reports through the VCO organization to the West Region Planning Director and will be positioned in San Antonio, TX. The successful candidate will work closely with the Value Chain members to optimize the profitability of the West Coast value chain.

This individual will gain a more holistic perspective of Marathon profitability and engage in cross-functional interaction with the Clean Products team, Crude and Feedstocks team, Marketing, Refining, and MPLX. The candidate will also broaden their knowledge base concerning West Coast market dynamics and total value chain optimization. The key characteristics to be successful in this role are communication, critical thinking, driving for results, and adaptability. 

Key Responsibilities

  • Manages the commercial aspects of regional refinery operations, including feedstock selection, product and intermediate placement, supply chain optimization, and market analysis.

  • Demonstrates an advanced understanding of refinery operations, economics, and market dynamics across the value chain. Able to mentor intermediate engineers in planning and optimization strategies.

  • Leads collaboration meetings with the value chain to discuss both local and regional economic drivers.

  • Develops optimized and executable regional production plans using linear programming simulation models. Modifies production plans as needed to adjust to demand/margin changes. Questions refinery constraints and proactively works with refinery resources to accurately model. Independently curious about model results, proactively seeks different economic cases to develop optimal refinery planning solutions.

  • Leads end-to-end evaluation of buy-or-make cases, from data gathering to final recommendation. Develops sophisticated economic models and sensitivity analyses to assess risk and uncertainty. Collaborates with trading to align strategies and optimize outcomes. Interfaces with refinery leadership to communicate recommendations and gain alignment.

  • Supports others in the development and execution of backcast models, considering factors such as production efficiency, cost drivers, and market conditions. Collaborates with operational teams to implement corrective actions and continuous improvement initiatives.

  • Manages project support cases independently. Possesses a deep understanding of refinery processes and commercial implications. Capable of analyzing complex data, identifying trends, and proposing solutions autonomously.

  • Understands local refinery deliverables and can effectively manage independently. Actively identifies optimization strategies to ensure compliance with monthly operating plans and changing economics.

Education and Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering required.

  • Eight (8) years of relevant experience. Technical Services or Economics & Planning experience preferred.

  • Aspen PIMS linear programming user background preferred.

Skills

  • Action Planning

  • Adaptability

  • Business Acumen

  • Communication

  • Continuous Learning

  • Critical Thinking

  • Decision Making

  • Innovation

  • Leadership & Mentoring

  • Problem Solving

  • Results Driven

  • Strategic Planning

  • Teamwork

As an energy industry leader, our career opportunities fuel personal and professional growth.

Location:

San Antonio, Texas

Additional locations:

Job Requisition ID:

00021613

Location Address:

19100 Ridgewood Pkwy

Education:

Bachelors: Engineering (Required)

Employee Group:

Full time

Employee Subgroup:

Regular

Marathon Petroleum Company LP is an Equal Opportunity Employer and gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, reproductive health decision-making, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition or AIDS/HIV status, ancestry, national origin, genetic information, military, veteran status, marital status, citizenship  or any

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Company

Marathon Petroleum Corporation

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