The early-career engineer showcasing women in the chemical industry

‘I ended up deciding that chemical [engineering] sounds the most cool to me,’ says Jordan Riddle, who pursued engineering not knowing which discipline she wanted to follow. Since that decision, she has successfully carved a dynamic and successful career in chemical engineering. Still early in her career, her ambitions don’t stop there as she pursues passions in gender equality and business education.

Riddle knew from an early age that problem solving was what she wanted to do. As well as a love of maths and science, ‘I come from a lot of do-it-yourself-ers, so I got to do a lot of troubleshooting, building and things like that with my family,’ she says. After graduating from Auburn University in Alabama, US, with a BSc in chemical engineering in 2020, the uncertainties in the job market resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic led her to accept a job as an environmental health and safety engineer. But while she enjoyed her job in supporting sustainability, she really wanted to work in the chemical industry and directly use her degree.

Her continued job search led her to BASF, a global chemical producer where she started as a production engineer in Alabama. But she wasn’t too keen on the location, so after two years she changed again to become an operations engineer for BASF in South Carolina, a position she has held since September 2023. In both these roles, she worked directly as chemicals engineer – a job that she loves.

‘Being an operations engineer [in the production manufacturing space], you’re solving problems – new problems that you’ve never seen before,’ explains Riddle. The job is very non-routine, fast-paced and energetic – ‘that is really what’s amazing about manufacturing, you really can never get bored,’ she says. One day she can be working on the production, the next she could be helping support supply chain, which involves projecting campaign end dates and working with customers to understand what they want compared to the production schedule. Other days she could be working on a spreadsheet tracking yields and quality.

Balance and imbalance

While there is nothing she doesn’t like about her job she cautions of working hours that may be challenging to some. ‘Production is 24/7 365 [days a year], so the downfall is I might be getting called on the weekends or at night and working extra hours.’ But this is balanced out when things don’t need much attention. ‘If I work extra one day and the next day things are going well (or the next week), then I can get my hours back.’ For Riddle, this is part of the job, and she doesn’t view it as a drawback. However, one thing that she thinks is holding people back is that the chemical industry, especially in manufacturing, has a gender imbalance.

‘It is very male dominated,’ says Riddle. ‘There have been many times that I’ve been the only woman in my department.’ Her desire to change this led to her becoming a programme coordinator for the non-profit organisation Women in Chemicals. ‘I plan the Woman of the Week – our biweekly podcast where we showcase amazing woman in the chemical industry.’ She also helps support the Woman of the Year programme by scheduling and preparing interviews and assisting with speaker ideas and technical support. She is passionate about making Women in Chemicals a bigger, more supported organisation: ‘I just continue to work to try to make the manufacturing realm, the chemical industry more supportive of women.’

You will be surprised by how many people are willing to help

Riddle has been fortunate to work with strong female leaders. This includes her very supportive boss, who has been crucial as Riddle is also pursuing an MBA (funded by BASF) to better understand how the business works, from logistics to product management. ‘I do all these things because I’m still early in my career. I also don’t have kids. So, I knew that I could take on these extracurriculars,’ she explains. Her boss provides mentorship and is open if any issues arise with time management or work-life balance – ‘I can come to her and have these conversations.’

The MBA will provide Riddle with a competitive edge, and currently she is combining the things she is learning with real-life applications: ‘I want to be well rounded in the work that I am doing in my career’. While she is unsure of the exact direction her future career will take, she knows she wants to continue learning and wants to stay connected to chemical manufacturing. ‘I would love to see myself become more of a people leader … and giving back to the environment and figuring out what we can do better,’ she says. Her advice for others navigating a career in the chemical industry is to not be afraid to ask for help: ‘you will be surprised by how many people are willing to help if they see that you care and that you’re passionate.’