Senior Technical Manager

SOLS Energy; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

SOLS Energy is seeking a senior engineering leader to head the Technical Department, coordinating design, site surveys, and commissioning for solar projects in Malaysia. You will act as deputy to the Technical Director in complex engagements and ensure safe, compliant delivery from design to handover.

You will drive standardisation of processes, oversee drone-based assessments, monitor system performance, and lead root-cause analyses to reduce rework across multiple sites.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Electronic/Mechanical engineering or related discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive solar PV experience covering design, EPC, and O&M.
• At least 3 years in a managerial role with direct reports.
• Strong knowledge of Malaysian regulatory framework (NEM 3.0, ST licensing, TNB interconnection, CIDB).
• Experience managing inverter monitoring platforms (Huawei FusionSolar, GoodWe SEMS, Solis Cloud).
• Familiarity with IEC standards such as IEC 62109 and IEC 62446.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of the Technical Department.
• Oversee design, site surveys, T&C, and asset performance management.
• Coordinate external engagements with TNB, ST, OEMs, and major customers.
• Ensure compliance with ST, TNB, CIDB, OSH Act, IEC/MS standards.

Skills

Project management

Electrical design

O&M experience

Regulatory knowledge

Inverter monitoring

Stakeholder management

Drone operations

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

PVGIS

PVsyst

AutoCAD

Job description

• Lead the day-to-day operations of the Technical Department, acting as second-in-command to the Technical Director.
• Manage and develop the Section Leads of all five technical sections; set performance targets, conduct reviews, coach for growth.
• Standardise SOPs, design templates, checklists, and engineering practices across all sections.
• Own the technical department's monthly performance pack — KPIs, exception reports, escalations — for the Technical Director and senior leadership.
• Deputy for the Technical Director in external engagements (TNB, ST, vendors, OEMs, major customers) when required.
• Oversee the design team in producing accurate, code-compliant system designs, layout drawings, single-line diagrams (SLDs), and PE-endorsed drawings for regulatory submissions.
• Validate technical accuracy of designs before they are released to procurement, installation, or the customer.
• Maintain the design standards library — panel/inverter compatibility matrix, string sizing rules, mounting selection logic.
• Coordinate with the appointed Professional Engineer (PE) for endorsement timelines and ensure all submissions meet ST, TNB, and CIDB requirements.
• Drive design rework reduction through root-cause analysis on rejected or revised drawings.

Site Visit & Assessment (Including Drone Operations)

• Lead the site assessment team in conducting pre-installation surveys, structural assessments, shade analysis, and feasibility checks.
• Oversee drone-based roof survey operations — pilot scheduling, flight safety, data capture quality, integration with design workflow.
• Ensure feasibility assessments are realistic and protect the company from technically marginal projects committed by sales.
• Build a tight survey-to-design handover loop — survey outputs must directly feed the design team with no rework.
• Own the T&C function — including pre-energisation testing, IEC 62446 / TNB / ST compliance verification, and final system handover documentation.
• Maintain and enforce commissioning checklists; ensure no system is energised without complete sign-off.
• Resolve commissioning failures through structured root cause analysis; feed lessons back into design and installation standards.
• Lead snag list closure across all sites; ensure no system enters O&M with unresolved defects.

System Activation

• Manage the system activation pipeline — ATAP application, TNB interconnection coordination, monitoring portal setup, customer onboarding, and billing activation.
• Track activation backlog by month cohort; identify and clear oldest pending customers.
• Liaise with TNB and ST on application escalations and quota matters.

Monitoring & Maintenance — Proactive and Reactive

• Own the operational performance of the entire installed fleet (~4,000 systems), with explicit prioritisation of the ~500-system subscription fleet where billing is performance-linked.
• Proactive: Drive daily performance monitoring across all inverter platforms in use (Huawei FusionSolar, GoodWe SEMS, Solis Cloud, and others). Detect underperformance, degradation, and early fault signatures before customers report them.
• Reactive: Manage the fault response workflow — alert triage, technician dispatch, customer communication, and closure SLA enforcement. Subscription-tier customers are first-priority.
• Develop and maintain alert tier definitions, escalation logic, and SLA targets by customer segment.
• Lead warranty claims, OEM escalations, and root cause investigations on systemic equipment failures (e.g., inverter fault rates >5% per quarter).
• Oversee preventive maintenance scheduling based on performance data, not just calendar cycles.
• Manage spare parts planning and field team readiness to minimise mean-time-to-repair (MTTR).

Quality, Compliance & Safety

• Enforce compliance with Suruhanjaya Tenaga (ST), TNB technical requirements, CIDB, OSH Act, and applicable IEC / MS standards across all sections.
• Lead internal quality audits and site inspections; sign off on subcontractor quality performance.
• Investigate and resolve any incident with safety, liability, or warranty implications; escalates immediately to the Technical Director and Deputy CEO where required.

Cross-Functional & Commercial Interface

• Work closely with Sales, Customer Experience, Operations, and Finance to ensure smooth end-to-end delivery.
• Flag any commercial risk arising from technical decisions — billing disputes, liability exposure, warranty cost overruns — to the Technical Director and Deputy CEO.
• Support technical due diligence for new product lines (e.g., battery storage, EV chargers, larger C&I systems).

Qualifications & Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in solar PV — covering design, EPC delivery, and O&M. At least 3 years in a managerial role with direct reports.
• Hands-on experience across the full solar lifecycle: system design, site survey, installation oversight, T&C, and asset performance management.
• Strong working knowledge of Malaysian regulatory framework: NEM 3.0, ST licensing, TNB interconnection process, CIDB requirements.
• Demonstrated experience managing inverter monitoring platforms (Huawei FusionSolar, GoodWe SEMS, Solis Cloud, or equivalent) and interpreting performance data.
• Strong knowledge of IEC standards (IEC 62109, IEC 62446), MS 1837, and electrical safety codes.
• Proven ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and manage subcontractor performance.
• Excellent stakeholder management — comfortable engaging TNB, ST, OEMs, customers, and senior internal stakeholders.

Preferred

• BEM (Board of Engineers Malaysia) registration — Graduate Engineer or Professional Engineer.
• Experience operating a residential or commercial subscription fleet where billing is performance-linked.
• Familiarity with PVsyst, PVGIS, AutoCAD or similar design tools.
• Drone operator certification (DCA Malaysia) or experience managing drone-based survey operations.