Senior Power Plant Operations Manager

About the Role

NRG Energy is seeking a seasoned Senior Power Plant Operations Manager to lead our technical staff and coordinate with other work groups to drive plant profitability. The ideal candidate will possess extensive experience and advanced knowledge in steam power plants, as well as strong leadership skills.

Key Responsibilities

• Technical Guidance: Provides guidance to operating and maintenance departments, including technical support, troubleshooting, testing, and inspections as needed to maintain safe and reliable operation.
• Process Performance Monitoring: Monitors plant process performance and provides feedback to station leadership to ensure optimal results.
• Engineering Department Supervision: Supervises, directs, and manages the engineering department, providing technical direction to plant engineers to support plant optimization and process improvements.
• Strategic Planning: Evaluates and establishes strategic plans and budgets to maximize equipment life and optimize station equipment and operations to meet safety, availability targets, and performance indicators.
• Performance Reporting: Develops and implements a continuous improvement program around performance monitoring accuracy and metric accuracy, and supports site operations and asset management with performance reports.
• Capital and Operating Budgets: Works with the team to provide input into the station's capital and operating budgets, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
• Regulatory Compliance: Provides technical support to plant operations and maintenance activities to ensure regulatory compliance and coordination with fleet-wide strategy.
• Leadership and Teamwork: Promotes productivity and teamwork through open communication, timely decision-making, and the use of personal leadership skills to set high standards of performance while providing direction necessary to achieve that performance.
• Employee Accountability: Assigns work and holds employees accountable for their performance, ensuring they have the necessary resources and support to succeed.
• Field Inspections: Performs field inspections of job sites and work-in-progress to ensure quality and adherence to procedures.
• Problem-Solving: Recognizes problems and is proactive in helping to resolve them, ensuring minimal disruption to plant operations.
• External Service Providers: Ensures work performed by external service providers is in support of objectives, responsibilities, and contractual agreements.
• Resource Coordination: Coordinates the application of internal and external resources to area of responsibility to support maintenance activities, operations, projects, programs, etc.
• Root Cause Analysis: Provides technical support for the plant Root Cause Analysis program in support of the reliability program.
• Equipment Condition Monitoring: Performs real-time and post-event equipment condition monitoring through available tools, ensuring optimal plant performance.
• Chemistry Program Support: Ensures the Engineering organization understands and is supporting the chemistry program, and that the Chemist leads the program.
• Resource Application: Coordinates the application of internal and external resources to area of responsibility to support maintenance activities, operations, projects, programs, etc.

Working Conditions

This role primarily involves working in an office environment but requires active involvement in plant operations for inspections, equipment assessment, investigations, and process evaluation. Some inspections may require the ability to crawl through and negotiate areas of tight access and confined spaces. The plant environment has temperature extremes with moderately high noise levels.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering and 5 years of experience in a power plant, chemical plant, or industrial plant dealing with mechanical equipment, including boilers and combustion processes, turbines, heat exchangers, condensers, compressors, fans, pumps, and electrical equipment, including generators, transformers, power distribution equipment, motors, and electrical protection systems.
• In lieu of a Bachelor's degree, the candidate may have 10 years of power plant experience in leadership roles.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree preferred.

Additonal Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to train and develop engineers and other technical personnel.
• Technical writing skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Sound knowledge of budgeting processes and project management skills.
• Strong knowledge of power plant mechanical equipment, including boilers and combustion processes, turbines, heat exchangers, condensers, coal handling equipment, compressors, fans, and pumps.
• Strong knowledge of power plant electrical equipment, including generators, transformers, power distribution equipment, motors, and electrical protection systems.
• Strong knowledge of power plant instrument and control systems, including combustion controls and interlock systems.
• Knowledge of environmental and safety requirements, regulations, and reporting requirements.