Marathon Petroleum Corp: IT Professionals Day- Damon Davis’s journey from Infrastructure to Leadership

The IT professionals at Marathon Petroleum play an important role in the daily operations of our business, making an impact by providing technical innovation, security, reliability, and assistance. In honor of IT Professionals Day, we are spotlighting one IT leader who has built a successful career at Marathon Petroleum and continues to work toward innovative solutions for the business. From refinery operation systems to the service desk for the entire company, he’s journeyed across the country in multiple IT positions.

“I’ve had the opportunity to touch all phases of the business,” said Damon Davis, who was recently named the new IT leader at the Galveston Bay refinery in Texas. “There are so many places to grow your IT career at this company. There’s such variety in the opportunities for anyone interested in IT. Getting the opportunity to continue to grow keeps me interested and engaged.”

Damon Davis will lead IT at the Galveston Bay refinery, which is the second largest refinery in the U.S. He’ll oversee information technology (IT) and operation technology (OT).

“Within the refinery you have the business network – accounting, email, file sharing, etc.,” said Davis. “Then there’s the operation technology – the separated IT systems that manage and support the units in the refinery that process the crude, renewable feedstocks and products that we produce. They are all leveraged by information technology. You need stable systems to manage those processes and optimize operations. Our IT teams work to make it a safe and reliable place to work.”

Quick Facts about Damon Davis

Childhood: Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan

Education: Cass Technical High School Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program; University of Phoenix Bachelor of Information Technology and Masters in Information Systems

Certifications: Microsoft MCSA, Comptia A+, Comptia Network +, TOGAF 9.2

Family: Married to Nancy Davis for 26 years, and they have five children

Professional Activities: Member of the Marathon Petroleum Black Employee Network

Leadership style: I always lead with respect for everyone’s point of view whether I understand or agree with it. Then I am direct and sincere in my engagement while providing leadership.

“Congratulations to Damon Davis on his return to GBR,” said Dave Leaver, Vice President, Refining at the Galveston Bay Refinery. “IT leaders and experts like Damon are vital to our refining operations. As a strategic part of our business, IT’s work extends from protecting us from cybersecurity threats to enabling us to optimize and become more competitive in our industry.”

Davis’s career started at Marathon Petroleum in 2008 when he was a contractor at the Detroit refinery, and he accepted a full-time position in 2011 in IT infrastructure supporting the Business and Process Control environments. From there, he completed a temporary assignment at the Garyville, Louisiana, refinery before transferring to the Galveston Bay refinery in 2013. After a year in Galveston Bay, Damon began his move into IT leadership as the Texas City Refinery Supervisor delegate during an acquisition. In 2016, Damon returned to the Detroit refinery as the IT Supervisor. In 2019 he transitioned into a Midstream Critical Infrastructure Operations Technology Architect position and supported another major merger project as an IT Business Partner. He next served as the SCADA supervisor for Marathon Pipe Line in 2020 on a temporary assignment. In 2021, Davis moved into the Digital Workplace organization as the Service Desk and Asset Management IT Supervisor.

“There’s such great opportunity for those willing to jump in and embrace that opportunity,” said Davis. “You can certainly manage to achieve a level of IT success within many different business organizations. As I get the opportunity to mentor others now, including our interns, I’ve seen some of them move into leadership and critical technical roles. That’s really rewarding to see others grow.”

As Davis transitions into his new role in Galveston Bay, he’s looking to the future of technology with the goal of further improving support for the complex refining process, helping operations teams do their jobs better and more efficiently, and to continue to evolve and maintain the extraordinary safety and reliability programs at the plant.