Chukwuma E

Chief Technical Officer

Feb 2026 - Present • 6 mos

Chief Technical Officer of Equatorial Tide Limited an international EPCIC and marine logistics company operating across upstream, downstream, marine, dredging, asset integrity, and operations support services. Responsible for establishing the company's technical direction, engineering governance, bid strategy, and organisational capability from inception. • Established the company's engineering governance architecture from inception, including Technical Authority, Stage Gate, and Management of Change frameworks, positioning ETL for technical credibility and sustainable growth with international operators. • Led development of ETL's corporate HSE Management System Manual into a mature, contract-neutral governance standard aligned with ISO 45001:2018 (Occupational Health & Safety) and ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management), applicable across projects and client engagements. • Directed technical bid governance for EPCI contract opportunities with international and indigenous operators including gap analysis against client capability assessment frameworks, compliance documentation, and coordination across BD, Technical, and HSE functions strengthening ETL's competitive and compliance position. • Led the strategic integration of AI-enabled operations and maintenance capabilities, creating a differentiated market offering that contributed to securing opportunities with three major oil and gas operators. • Developed a five-year US$20 million capital investment strategy across seven strategic growth pillars, creating a structured roadmap for capability expansion, vendor qualification, and long-term operator engagement. • Designed and implemented a company-wide Engineering Management System encompassing governance, technical assurance, competency development, project delivery, and quality management across eight engineering pillars.

Principal Process and Production Engineer

Dec 2018 - Dec 2025 • 7 yrs

Progressed through increasingly senior engineering and operational leadership roles during the development, commissioning, and start-up of the world's largest single-train refinery (650,000 bpd), supporting its transition from construction through operational readiness and production. Principal Process / Production Engineer | January 2024 – December 2025 Promoted to Principal Process and Production Engineer and appointed Senior Commissioning Team Lead for the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) Unit, the refinery's most technically complex conversion unit. Provided technical leadership across commissioning, process safety, operational readiness, and refinery-wide engineering assurance. • Led commissioning and start-up of the RFCC Unit, achieving safe start-up, licensor-compliant performance, and a 15% reduction in start-up duration while maintaining zero recordable safety incidents. • Provided commissioning leadership for the refinery's most technically complex processing unit, coordinating 20 multidisciplinary teams, contractor interfaces, and operational readiness activities to achieve successful transition from construction to production. • Served as technical authority for process safety and operational risk management, governing engineering decisions, safe operating limits, design envelopes, plant modification reviews, and change control across major refinery process systems. • Chaired multidisciplinary process safety reviews and risk assessments, including facilitation of 4 Pre-Startup Safety Reviews (PSSR) across commissioning activities, and directed technical review of Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) spanning 3 process units (100+ drawings), strengthening operational resilience and ensuring compliance with international engineering standards and licensor requirements. • Served as the refinery's senior technical escalation point for complex operational and process safety challenges, enabling rapid decision-making, risk mitigation, an

Senior Process and Production Engineering

Dec 2020 - Dec 2023 • 3 yrs

Held responsibility for refinery utilities commissioning, operational performance improvement, process optimisation, and production support, contributing to the successful transition of refinery systems from project execution to stable operations. • Led commissioning and operational handover of the Reverse Osmosis Demineralisation and Condensate Polishing Unit, securing reliable production of high-purity water essential to refinery processing, utilities, and steam generation systems. • Improved operational efficiency by 8% and contributed to a reduction in equipment downtime of more than 20% through structured production support, process optimisation, and engineering troubleshooting initiatives. • Led operational excellence initiatives focused on energy efficiency, utility optimisation, production reliability, and process performance across refinery operations. • Supported process safety governance through participation in HAZOP reviews, Management of Change assessments, and technical assurance of engineering deliverables. • Established 15 operating procedures (SOPs), technical standards, and process documentation that strengthened operational consistency, workforce readiness, and safe plant operation.