Assistant Central Utility Plant Manager

Job Summary

Location: Dearborn, MI

This position is responsible for overseeing, managing, and directing the day-to-day operation and maintenance activities for utility and energy-related assets located within the Central Energy Plant (CEP) located at Ford’s Research and Engineering campus.  These assets are needed to supply Steam, Hot Water, Chilled Water, and Electrical Distribution to the campus, and supply electricity to the grid.  The position will also lead field service engineers who are responsible for operating and maintaining ~90 MW of Backup Generation assets including diesel generators, a combustion turbine, and site switchgear at 8 locations Metro Detroit area.

Plant equipment includes the following: (2) 15 MW Solar Titan 130 gas turbine generators with associated Rentech 185 KPPH Heat Recovery Steam Generator’s with Duct Burners and Fresh Air Firing capability (1) Siemens-Dresser Rand 5 MW steam turbine generator (3) 27,500 MBH, and (1) 10,000 MBH steam to hot water heat exchangers, economizers, deaerators, boiler feed water pumps, condensate pumps.  Also included will be (4) 3,200-ton electric cooling only centrifugal chillers, and (2) heating/cooling chillers (one 1,200 ton, one 1,800 ton) with an associated 5.3 MM gallon thermal storage tank and a 10 cell, 12,500-ton Tower Tech cooling tower. Balance of plant equipment includes, air compressors, water treatment systems, filters, instrumentation, PLC controls and 15/5 kV, 480 V and 125 Vdc electrical systems.

Key Accountabilities

*Maintains a strong safety culture. Complies with all site safety and environmental requirements and procedures. Identifies safety hazards and takes corrective actions as necessary. Assists with the development of and ensures that all site safety requirements and procedures are properly implemented, consistently observed and corrective actions are initiated when applicable
*Develops, implements, and manages consistent plant operating philosophies and best practices to maximize plant availability, efficiency, and productivity
*Ensures Contractors comply with all On-Site Business Unit and DTE Energy policies, procedures, and Safety requirements
*Constantly reviews and improves operational processes and ensures that operating personnel are properly trained and adhere to established policies, procedures, and standards
*Manages the O&M Technicians and Skilled Trades to ensure safe and efficient operation and maintenance of the plant while actively managing schedules to minimize overtime and comply with administrative guidelines
*Establishes, reviews, and modifies as required all predictive/preventive maintenance requirements programmed into the maintenance management system in alignment with maintenance strategy
*Develops performance goals and reviews in a comprehensive, open, and objective manner to align employee accountabilities and conduct with operational processes in accordance with administrative guidelines
*Investigates operating abnormalities and incidents to improve equipment availability and performance and to minimize maintenance requirements
*Prepares necessary plant operation reports in a timely manner and investigates all forced outages, reporting them in accordance with the BU practice through SharePoint
*In collaboration with Plant Manager, prepares and continually evaluates the operating department’s budgets and/or makes recommendations to the Plant Manager relative to optimization of operations and maintenance costs
*Assists with maintenance engineering evaluations and troubleshooting of equipment abnormalities
*Maintains a consistent and effective level of communication with Plant Manager, Administrative staff, O&M Technicians and Skilled Trades on shift
*Assist the Plant Manager with project management of all planned outage activities, including long term planning for capital improvements
*In collaboration with the Plant Manager, drives continuous improvement of established metrics on the plant huddle board. Continually stretching goals toward the plants True North
*Lead/support development of plant personnel in skillsets, equipment/system knowledge and solving critical operational concerns
*Support management of change process to ensure traceability and collaboration on execution
*Lead/support problem solving activities and coach and mentor the 4 CI capabilities within the team
*Assures proper staffing, scheduling, orientation, and training of the plant staff, and manages compliance with all company policies and procedures. Supports recruiting, interviews, and assigns operations and maintenance employment candidates.

Minimum Education & Experience Requirements

• A high school diploma or GED
• At least 8 years of experience in the operation, maintenance and administration of powerhouses, utility systems, or similar plant assets

Other Qualifications

Preferred:

• Additional consideration provided for technical degrees
• Experience with gas turbines, hrsgs/boilers, chillers, steam distribution, medium/high voltage switchgear, pumping systems, and ancillary equipment is highly desired

Other Requirements: 

• Thorough, demonstrated understanding of plant operations and maintenance, with strong knowledge of generating equipment, boilers, and water treatment processes
• Ability to analyze and improve operations business processes
• Proven planning and scheduling experience working with O&M, and other technical personnel involved with preventative/predictive maintenance and corrective maintenance
• Solid knowledge of plant engineering and plant maintenance functions and how they relate to operations
• Experience with accounting practices as it relates to analyzing cost impacts to budget
• Demonstrated skill in planning, coordinating, and directing varied programs and tasks directly affecting the overall plant operation
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Ability to work shifts and extra/irregular hours and to work under unusual and special conditions that can arise in a generation station
• Ability to pass respirator fit tests to use respiratory protective equipment or self-contained breathing apparatus at all times

Physical Demands & Working Conditions

The physical demands characterized here epitomize those that must be met by an employee to properly perform the integral functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

In order to properly perform the integral functions of this job, the employee is frequently required to: stand, walk, stoop, kneel or sit. It is crucial to the outcome of job tasks that the employee is able to: talk or hear; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms extensively.

Must be able to enter and work in confined space areas, including boilers, condensers, tanks, etc. to evaluate equipment condition or inspect work efforts by assigned resources.

The employee in this classification will be required to frequently lift objects of up to 10 pounds in weight and occasionally lift or move objects of up to 40 pounds in weight.

Vision requirements for this position include close, distance and peripheral vision, along with depth perception and the ability to adjust focus.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee works both in a business office setting and out in the plant. In the course of working at the plant site, the employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions, including wet and/or humid conditions, extreme heat, and may work near moving mechanical parts and/or machinery. The employee is occasionally exposed to fumes or airborne particles and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate in the office but may become loud out in the plant.

Additional Information

Incumbents may engage in all or some combination of the activities and accountabilities, and utilize a variety of the competencies cited in this description depending upon the organization and role to which they are assigned. This description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by incumbents in this job. It is not intended as an all-inclusive list of accountabilities or responsibilities, nor is it intended to limit the rights of supervisors or management representatives to assign, direct and control the work of employees under their supervision.