Senior Principal Hook Up Engineer - Commissioning

Mc Dermott; Dubai; On-site; AED 300,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

McDermott in Dubai, UAE seeks a Senior Principal Hook Up Engineer - Commissioning to lead offshore hook up and commissioning activities, drive strategy, and ensure safe, on-time project delivery.

The role requires 15+ years of EPCI experience, offshore facilities expertise, and strong leadership across multidisciplinary teams; it is an on-site, full-time position with focus on safety, compliance, and execution readiness.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or electrical engineering; master's preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of EPCI experience with focus on Hook Up and Commissioning.
• Experience delivering offshore hook up projects and shutdown interfaces.
• Proven leadership and ability to coordinate multidisciplinary teams.
• Knowledge of industry standards, codes, and regulations governing Hook Up and Commissioning.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute Hook Up and Commissioning strategies for safe, timely delivery.
• Coordinate with clients, contractors, and internal teams to set requirements and objectives.
• Provide specialist technical guidance throughout Hook Up and Commissioning activities.
• Review critical engineering deliverables and provide constructability feedback.
• Lead offshore planning and readiness; ensure offshore schedule alignment.
• Manage safety and risk, ensuring compliance with standards and procedures.
• Drive project closeout and capture lessons learned.

Skills

Leadership

Project Management

Offshore/Coordination

HSE Awareness

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering

Master's Degree preferred

Job description

Senior Principal Hook Up Engineer - Commissioning Role: Senior Principal Hook Up Engineer - Commissioning Location: Dubai, UAE Industry: Oil and Energy Function: Engineering Experience: 15 years of relevant EPCI experience with a focus on hook-up and commissioning Job Type: Full Time

Country: UAE City: Dubai Industry: Oil and Energy Function: Engineering Salary: Not disclosed Gender: No Preference Candidate Nationality: Not specified Job Type: Full Time Work Arrangement: On-site

Hook Up and Commissioning Strategy

• Develop and execute Hook Up and Commissioning strategies to support safe, timely, and cost-effective project delivery.
• Coordinate with clients, contractors, internal disciplines, and other stakeholders to establish project requirements and execution objectives.
• Provide specialist technical guidance to project teams throughout Hook Up and Commissioning activities.
• Ensure execution complies with applicable industry standards, codes, regulations, and project requirements.
• Conduct inspections and audits to assess the progress and quality of hook-up activities.
• Identify technical, operational, or execution bottlenecks and develop timely solutions.
• Ensure the hook-up team participates in relevant project engineering and construction surveys.
• Review critical engineering deliverables and provide technical and constructability feedback.

Brownfield and Shutdown Planning

• The Senior Principal Hook Up Engineer will provide specialist direction for shutdown, turnaround, and brownfield activities where applicable to the project.
• Define shutdown and turnaround execution strategies.
• Validate shutdown requirements and identify critical project interfaces.
• Maintain alignment with the client on shutdown and interface requirements.
• Conduct constructability reviews and recommend safe and cost-effective execution solutions based on industry practices.
• Conduct project reviews and endorse readiness from the Hook Up brownfield perspective.
• Coordinate complex interfaces that could affect offshore construction, hook-up, commissioning, or shutdown activities.

Project and Commercial Control

• Act as the key project point of contact and decision-making authority for development of the Hook Up execution strategy.
• Control the assigned overall budget and support delivery against project objectives.
• Review the budget transferred by the bidding team following project award.
• Identify budget discrepancies and report them to the Project Management Team.
• Develop feasible mitigation measures or address identified cost impacts through the Estimate at Completion process.
• Ensure business risks are identified and appropriately managed while project opportunities are recognized and maximized.
• Apply the Management of Change process to internal and external changes as required.

Client and Stakeholder Management

• Develop and maintain effective client relationships throughout project execution.
• Conduct project update meetings with client representatives.
• Establish client alignment on execution strategies, deliverables, interfaces, and project requirements.
• Coordinate effectively across multidisciplinary project teams.
• Provide clear technical and operational direction when complex issues require senior-level decisions.
• Maintain effective communication with internal teams, contractors, subcontractors, vendors, and other project stakeholders.

Offshore Planning and Readiness

• Ensure the HDMS database is prepared and appropriate inputs are provided to the planner for development of the offshore schedule.
• Conduct offshore mobilization readiness reviews in accordance with applicable procedures.
• Ensure overall offshore readiness status is accurately reported.
• Define critical subcontractor and vendor requirements before offshore mobilization.
• Confirm subcontractors and vendors are aligned with offshore execution requirements.
• Maintain focus on project schedule and ensure execution activities support planned delivery milestones.

Offshore Execution Leadership

• Manage and supervise daily offshore activities within the assigned scope.
• Conduct offshore conference calls and coordinate execution priorities.
• Ensure offshore spreads operating in the field receive appropriate management attention.
• Support safe and timely execution across concurrent offshore activities.
• Visit offshore locations as required to maintain management presence and support team motivation.
• Resolve complex technical and execution challenges affecting Hook Up and Commissioning activities.
• Maintain close coordination with project teams to address emerging schedule, resource, safety, or operational issues.

Safety and Risk Management

• Conduct HAZID and SIMOPS workshops at appropriate stages of the project.
• Ensure operational and business risks are identified, assessed, and managed.
• Incorporate safe working practices into constructability and execution decisions.
• Support compliance with applicable industry standards, project procedures, codes, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain strong attention to safe execution throughout offshore Hook Up and Commissioning campaigns.

Project Closeout and Continuous Improvement

• Participate in the project closeout process.
• Capture lessons learned from Hook Up and Commissioning execution.
• Document project best practices for application on future projects.
• Support implementation of lessons learned during subsequent project execution and bidding activities.
• Contribute specialist knowledge to improve Hook Up and Commissioning practices across future projects.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor 's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• Master 's Degree is preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of relevant EPCI industry experience with a focus on Hook Up and Commissioning.
• Proven experience successfully delivering complex Hook Up and Commissioning projects, preferably involving offshore facilities.
• In-depth knowledge of applicable industry standards, codes, and regulations governing Hook Up and Commissioning activities.
• Proficiency with industry-specific software and tools used for planning, execution, and documentation.
• Strong leadership and project management capability.
• Ability to coordinate effectively across multidisciplinary engineering and project teams.
• Excellent technical problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to develop solutions to complex and unusual Hook Up and Commissioning challenges.
• Proactive and results-focused approach to project execution.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to perform effectively under pressure and demanding project deadlines.

About McDermott International, Ltd

McDermott is a provider of engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry, supporting projects from concept through commissioning. Its capabilities include subsea infrastructure, offshore platforms, offshore wind infrastructure, fabrication, construction, and complex offshore project execution. With more than 100 years of industry experience, McDermott operates across 54 countries with more than 30,000 employees, combining engineering, fabrication, construction, and offshore capabilities to support energy infrastructure and the global energy transition.