Director Technical Operations Jobs in Tennessee (NOW HIRING)

Senior Director, Technical Excellence, located in Brentwood, TN, corporate office. This position provides leadership, direction, and accountability for technical excellence across Delek’s refining network. The successful candidate will be responsible for driving measurable improvements in safety, reliability, margin, and operational performance through strong technical discipline, rigorous performance management, and effective execution.

We offer fantastic benefits that include up to a 10% match on 401K on your hire start, with a vesting timeline of only one year, along with medical benefits that start on day one with a 30% premium rebate annually! We value your well‑being and all employees now have access to the Calm app for FREE, which is used for meditation, stress management, and better sleep. Through our performance management program, you can earn additional annual incentives as you set and achieve goals.

• 4 year / Bachelor's Degree (Required)
• Eight (8) or more years Management experience managing technical or engineering teams (Required)
• Fifteen (15) or more years Process engineering experience in refining, petrochemical or related industry, including significant experience in an operating environment (Required)
• Experience leading multi‑disciplinary teams including process engineering, process control, and digital/analytics resources
• Strong technical foundation in refinery or petrochemical operations with the ability to diagnose complex issues and develop practical, field‑executable solutions
• Direct experience in operations, technical services, or process support roles within an operating facility
• Demonstrated ability to influence site leadership and communicate effectively with executive stakeholders
• Proven ability to identify performance gaps, develop structured action plans, and drive issues to resolution with measurable results
• Ability to synthesize information from benchmarking, external consultants, and internal analyses into actionable plans
• Strong understanding of plant economics, performance drivers, and process safety principles

• Sets priorities and establishes strategic direction for technical excellence across the refining organization, aligned with enterprise objectives and performance goals
• Provides leadership and oversight for a distributed corporate team of process subject matter experts, process control engineers, and digital/analytics resources
• Leads and aligns multi‑disciplinary technical teams to deliver measurable improvements in safety, reliability, margin, and operational performance
• Collaborates with and influences refinery leadership teams to drive alignment, decision‑making, and sustained results
• Communicates complex technical and operational concepts to executive leadership with clarity and credibility
• Operates effectively across all organizational levels, ensuring strategies translate into practical, field‑executable solutions
• Establishes and stewards technical standards, ensuring consistent application of sound engineering, process control, and operating practices
• Provides high‑level technical oversight and support for refinery process performance, troubleshooting, and improvement
• Identifies and advances opportunities to improve unit reliability, efficiency, throughput, and margin
• Synthesizes insights from benchmarking, external consultants, and internal analyses into actionable resolution pathways
• Develops structured, executable plans with defined ownership, milestones, and deliverables
• Drives initiatives using disciplined project management to ensure accountability and execution against committed schedules
• Monitors performance against goals and KPIs, ensuring timely course correction and delivery of results
• Leads cross‑functional efforts with operations, maintenance, EHS, planning, and optimization teams
• Fosters a culture of technical rigor, continuous improvement, and practical problem‑solving
• Ability to travel up to 30% to refinery sites and corporate locations

• CHANGE AGILITY (LEVEL 5 SHAPING): Identifies, initiates, and adapts to organizational changes that foster enhanced effectiveness, efficiency, safety, and ultimately business results.
• COLLABORATION (LEVEL 5 SHAPING): Sees connection points across the organization and partners effectively with others to achieve common goals.
• DECISION MAKING (LEVEL 5 SHAPING): Selects a course of action to reduce risk and uncertainty and create optimal outcomes.
• DRIVE FOR RESULTS (LEVEL 5 SHAPING): Drives to achieve challenging performance objectives.
• TEAM BUILDING (LEVEL 5 SHAPING): Builds trust, fosters openness, and provides support. As the manager of a team, selects and motivates a strong team.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Equal Opportunity Employer/Disabled/Veterans.