Our client, a leading global supplier of wind turbines, is establishing a centralized operations center in Chicago, Illinois to track, manage, and improve their fleet of wind turbines. Our client’s local organization provides support for the sales, service and construction, but the focus of this position will be on service, engineering trend analysis, and process improvement to optimize power production for the wind turbine fleet and return on investment for turbine owners. Today, every one is familiar with amazing growth in the wind energy industry, and the importance of this industry to the future of our country and the world. Clean, renewable, efficient wind energy will power our future for decades and the development of these projects will continue for at least another decade.
Challenges:
The successful candidate will join a company that has doubled in size five times in the past three years. With the non-stop demand for wind turbines, the company needs to optimize its service efforts, and this role is critical to meeting this challenge. This operations center will help coordinate the problem solving effort for the entire North American operation and possibly beyond that. To do this, the successful candidate will stand-up and run this operations center, which is the nerve center of the service operation. This person will need to be skilled at technological implementation, hiring, leading, analyzing data streams, summarizing and reporting problems or trends, team work, and organizing efforts.
Opportunity:
This individual will establish and run the nerve center of the service effort. As the turbine manufacturer our client remains engaged in operations for years, and they have a vested interest in understanding the critical details of how these machines perform over time. Performance and availability are key indicators of quality and value. Customers are very interested in continuous improvement of the machines this will be vital to our client for some time to come. Monitoring and maintaining these machines is a 24/7 responsibility, and they are looking for an Operations Manager who is very organized and process oriented to oversee a team that will help to ensure optimal turbine performance. The operations team in Chicago will help integrate the required technology (SCADA), the procedures, and the processes necessary for an effective operation. This individual should be a technical leader in the area of data collection and trend analysis and will help coordinate remedial efforts with the site and regional managers. All of this is to serve the principal goal of ensuring the machines are capable of running as often, as efficiently, and as cost effectively as possible.
Job Scope:
- Manage teams of shift operators.
- Monitor and evaluate system conditions, anticipate problems, and implement strategies to avoid turbine downtime and increase availability.
- Ensure prompt and professional notification to appropriate entities upon system disturbances, emergency conditions, and other events affecting wind turbines.
- Direct wind turbine activities which may range from initial energizing to periodic and demand maintenance.
- Provide operational plans for the restoration of wind turbines.
- Manage operational activities to ensure proper application of all safety protocols.
- Review and maintain accurate records of fleet-wide wind turbine operations.
- Continue to develop and maintain state of the art operational monitoring facilities.
Experience / Education Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical field.
- Operational experience in the electrical power industry.
- Previous managerial experience in 24 hour shift operations.
- Demonstrated knowledge of control room technology.
- Excellent analytical skills in the application of new technologies as well as problem solving of existing technologies.
- Strong interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary international team.
- Must be able to travel throughout the U.S. and internationally.
