Michelle D. Layman

In my current role I am accountable for the safe, reliable, environmentally sound operations of the gasoline producing portion of the Whiting Refinery. We process roughly 425,000 barrels per day of crude. Our organizational construct affords me the ability to run a portion of the Refinery as a business. I am responsible for P&L performance of Ultimate Refining Area. Being in a 24/7 line role allows me to leverage my prior experience in a very hands on way.

In my prior role I had the unique opportunity of working with a broad cross section of the Whiting Refinery to deliver business improvements within the non-asset infrastructure as well as supporting business improvements delivered to the entire site through the line organization. Key to supporting those deliverables had been implementing and embedding the Operating Management System, leveraging the Strategic Implementation Plan to focus resources, and creating a team to drive Continuous Improvement techniques across the organization. We focused on engaging the workforce to bring about a cultural change.

I am the Executive sponsor for BPAAN (BP African American Network), a member of the Corporate Advisory Committee for the not for Profit Organization, Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network as well as the Corporate Sponsor for Project Lead the Way – a program to support advancing engineering in high schools in an economically disadvantaged area.

In my previous role as Manager Integrity Management for Refining and Marketing, I was responsible for supporting the businesses in the delivery of the IM Standard as well as providing verification to the Refining and Marketing Segment Leadership that the expectations of Integrity Management were being met and were fully auditable. I was the President of the BP Cantera Women’s Network with responsibilities including development of Strategy and Structure that could be replicated across the diverse business models within the area. Additionally, I served as Board Member /Treasurer for the not for Profit Organization, Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network.

Primary experience in Manufacturing and Operations:

13 years experience in Refining: Asset Operations of Hydrogen, Distillate and Reforming Plants, Maintenance Management of Assets, and Support Services (Metals Mechanics, Rotating Equipment Specialists and Equipment Handlers) Superintendent roles at BP’s Whiting Refinery. Additionally I have held various engineering roles including Project Engineer, Reliability Engineer, and Rotating Equipment Specialist.

Additional experience in commercial areas including Chemicals Product Manager Polypropylene, accountable for total value chain performance, Commercial Team Leader Chems, accountable for developing mark to market practices and trading principles into the Propylene, Olefins, and Nitriles feed stocks optimization, as well as HSSE Manager and HSSE Offer Development Manager in Strategic Accounts.

My background in Refining and Marketing is rounded out having supported the Group Vice President of US Retail, Regional President, Americas as Executive Assistant.

BS Engineering Purdue, Mechanical Engineering

Harvard Executive Education - The New Global Business Environment

MIT – Projects Academy

Dialogos – Leadership for Collective Intelligence

JMW – Leadership - Management in Action