What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Plant Performance Engineer position at Cogs?
COGS is partnering with a leading power generation company operating critical energy assets in key urban markets. The organization is focused on performance excellence, reliability, and continuous improvement across its fleet.
Role Overview:
We’re looking for a Senior Plant Performance Engineer with deep experience in operational performance analysis, continuous improvement, and technical troubleshooting within power generation - ideally from fast-start, peaking or distributed energy assets. The successful candidate will lead efforts to monitor plant health, assess operational data, and drive performance optimization. This is a hands-on engineering role with high visibility and impact across operations, maintenance, and strategy teams.
Key Responsibilities Include:
- Analyze operational and performance data from fast-start generation units to identify trends, inefficiencies, and performance gaps.
- Lead root cause analyses on underperformance or anomalies, working closely with plant operations and controls engineers.
- Recommend and implement strategies to improve plant reliability, availability, and efficiency.
- Track and report on key performance indicators (fuel consumption, run hours, start times, etc.).
- Provide real-time performance support during dispatch events and operational excursions.
- Collaborate with OEMs and internal teams on performance testing and data calibration.
- Support outage planning and post-event evaluations with a performance lens.
- Identify opportunities for cost savings or emissions reductions through smarter operations or equipment upgrades.
- Contribute to the development of digital tools and dashboards for continuous monitoring.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Energy Systems, or a related engineering discipline.
- 5 years of experience in power plant operations or performance engineering, preferably with peaking assets, reciprocating engines, or aero-derivative turbines.
- Strong understanding of plant thermodynamics, controls systems, and generation dispatch dynamics.
- Demonstrated experience with performance monitoring platforms and data visualization tools.
- Skilled in conducting detailed root cause analyses and implementing performance improvements.
- Prior experience with utilities and power generation plants or similar highly preferred.
- Strong analytical mindset with solid communication and presentation skills.
