Chief Engineer (IWMF / Mechanical Maintenance Department)

National Environment Agency; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

National Environment Agency in Singapore is seeking a Chief Engineer (Mechanical Maintenance) to lead the mechanical maintenance for the Integrated Waste Management Facility, including a Waste-to-Energy Facility, a Sludge Incineration Facility, and a Food Waste Treatment Facility.

You will set maintenance strategies, manage outages, and supervise engineers and contractors to ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective operation.

Qualifications

• The candidate must hold a degree in Mechanical Engineering with Chartered Engineer or PE preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of relevant experience in power generation, waste-to-energy or heavy industry.
• At least 10 years in senior leadership or equivalent role.
• Proven ability to lead maintenance strategy, outages, and asset lifecycle initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of large-scale mechanical systems and safety compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead maintenance and reliability management of process and mechanical systems across multiple facilities.
• Develop long-term asset management strategies and replacement plans.
• Lead root cause analyses of major equipment failures and implement corrective actions.
• Oversee planning and execution of outages and major overhauls.
• Manage maintenance contractors and vendors to ensure quality delivery.
• Ensure compliance with safety, health and environmental requirements.

Skills

Asset management

Maintenance planning

Root cause analysis

Reliability engineering

Leadership

Contractor management

Safety management

Education

Mechanical Engineering degree

Chartered Engineer or Professional Engineer preferred

Job description

What the role is:

The Chief Engineer (Mechanical Maintenance) leads the mechanical maintenance function of the Integrated Waste Management Facility, comprising of a Waste-to-Energy Facility, a Sludge Incineration Facility, and a Food Waste Treatment Facility, to ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective operation of all mechanical assets. The role is responsible for developing maintenance strategies, managing outages, overseeing asset integrity, and leading a team of engineers and contractors to achieve optimal plant performance.

The incumbent serves as the technical authority for the process and mechanical systems and provides strategic guidance on asset lifecycle management, maintenance optimisation, and continuous improvement initiatives.

What you will be working on:

Your main responsibilities are as follows:

Asset Management & Reliability

• Lead the maintenance and reliability management of process and mechanical systems and equipment, including crane and grab systems, waste incineration systems, boilers and pressure vessels, turbines and auxiliary systems, flue gas treatment systems, ash handling systems, fuel, air and water systems, pumps, valves, piping, rotating equipment, and conveyor systems.
• Develop and establish long-term asset management and replacement strategies, equipment criticality assessments, and reliability programmes.
• Lead root cause analysis of major equipment failures and develop corrective actions to improve equipment reliability.
• Introduce reliability-centred maintenance and best industry practices and analyse equipment performance trends to identify optimisation opportunities.

Maintenance Planning & Execution

• Develop preventive, predictive and condition-based maintenance programmes.
• Lead the planning and execution of annual shutdowns, major overhauls, and outages.
• Review and approve maintenance work scopes, procedures, and technical specifications.
• Monitor key maintenance performance indicators and plant availability targets.

Engineering & Technical Leadership

• Act as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for process and mechanical engineering matters.
• Provide technical evaluation of plant modifications and upgrades and lead design reviews and engineering studies.
• Ensure compliance with statutory and engineering standards.

Contractor & Vendor Management

• Manage maintenance contractors and service providers and evaluate contractor performance to ensure quality delivery.
• Review technical proposals and procurement specifications.
• Support contract management and budgeting activities.

Safety, Health & Environment

• Ensure maintenance activities comply with Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) and environmental requirements.
• Lead risk assessments and safe work procedures and investigate incidents and near misses.
• Promote a strong safety culture within the maintenance team.

Leadership & People Development

• Lead and develop a team of mechanical engineers, supervisors, and technicians.
• Establish competency development programmes, mentor engineers, and support succession planning.

What we are looking for:

• A degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline. Registration as a Chartered Engineer or Professional Engineer is preferred.
• A minimum of 15 years of relevant experience in power generation, waste-to-energy, petrochemical, utilities, or heavy industrial plants, including at least 10 years in a senior leadership role.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team in performing routine maintenance, troubleshooting root causes of critical system failures, and executing plant-wide turnarounds.
• Deep expertise in condition-based and/or predictive maintenance technologies is preferred.
• Mastery in the maintenance of high-pressure piping networks and valves handling highly abrasive flue gas dust, lime slurries, and chemical reagents.
• Advanced understanding of the selective non-catalytic reduction process, and mass transfer, gas-solid reactions and thermodynamics within acid gas scrubbers, fabric filters, and electrostatic precipitators.

As part of the shortlisting process for this role, you may be required to complete a medical declaration and/or undergo further assessment.

About National Environment Agency

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is the leading public organisation responsible for ensuring a clean and sustainable environment for Singapore. Its key roles are to improve and sustain a clean environment, promote sustainability and resource efficiency, maintain high public health standards, provide timely and reliable meteorological information, and encourage a vibrant hawker culture. NEA works closely with its partners and the community to develop and spearhead environmental and public health initiatives and programmes. It is committed to motivating every individual to care for the environment as a way of life, in order to build a liveable and sustainable Singapore for present and future generations.For more information, visit www.nea.gov.sg