Plant Engineering Manager

Position Summary

The Plant Engineer oversees engineering support for plant operations and maintenance, ensuring safety, environmental compliance, and operational efficiency. This role manages technical support, capital projects, vendor oversight, and IT systems, including Distributed Control Systems (DCS). The Plant Engineer drives plant improvements, conducts root cause analysis, and supports budgeting and compliance with contracts and regulations.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Department Leadership

Lead the engineering team, setting goals and organizing functions:

Engineering

Plant Performance

Operations & Maintenance Support

Safety & Environmental Compliance

IT Support (including DCS)

Motivate and manage technical, supervisory, and administrative staff.

Performance Monitoring

Develop and evaluate metrics for availability improvements and thermal efficiency.

Track plant issues impacting safety, compliance, equipment, budget, or generation.

Plant Improvements & Capital Projects

Manage capital and major maintenance projects, evaluating equipment/procedure modifications.

Conduct economic analyses to improve safety, availability, and efficiency.

Lead the plant’s configuration (management of change) process.

Technical Support & Analysis

Investigate plant issues, accidents, or equipment failures using root cause analysis.

Provide recommendations, reports, and follow-up plans to prevent recurrence.

Use predictive/preventive maintenance tools to identify equipment risks.

Documentation & Records

Maintain plant drawings, equipment files, testing records, and performance statistics.

Update DCS configuration, water chemistry, and downtime data.

Budget & Vendor Management

Control engineering expenditures within budget guidelines.

Prepare bid specifications, evaluate vendor proposals, and monitor contractor performance.

IT & DCS Administration

Oversee IT systems, ensuring safe repairs, modifications, and DCS updates.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Support Operations, Maintenance, and Environmental Health & Safety teams.

Coordinate with corporate engineering, vendors, and external firms for technical solutions.

Safety & Compliance

Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and regulatory standards (e.g., EH&S, NERC, Sarbanes-Oxley).

Promote a strong safety culture and participate in training.

Additional Duties

Perform other tasks as assigned.

Job Qualifications

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or equivalent.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years of power plant-related experience.

At least 5 years supervising technical, supervisory, and administrative personnel.

Knowledge & Skills:

Strong understanding of power plant operations, maintenance, and control systems.

Proficiency in budgets, bid proposals, contract evaluation, and basic accounting.

Knowledge of chemistry, physics, and water treatment programs.

Ability to analyze data, make sound judgments, and manage complex programs.

Strong leadership, motivational, and communication skills.

Licenses: Professional Engineering license (Connecticut) encouraged but not required.

Language: Must read, write, speak, and understand English.