Commissioning Manager North America

Gruppo AB - Energy Sustainability; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Values-driven and inclusive workplace

Structured onboarding and mentorship

Professional development and growth

Job rotation and knowledge sharing

International environment and mobility

Job summary

Gruppo AB - Energy Sustainability is seeking a Commissioning Manager for AB Energy USA to lead end-to-end commissioning across CHP and industrial energy projects. The role drives strategic planning, execution, and continuous improvement of commissioning operations, ensuring safe startups, testing, optimization, and handover to customers.

The successful candidate will establish scalable processes, governance, and metrics while mentoring a diverse team of engineers and technicians across multiple

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Energy Engineering, or related technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in commissioning, start-up, operations, or project execution in industrial/energy sectors.
• Proven leadership of multidisciplinary field teams across multiple locations and EPC projects.

Responsibilities

• Build commissioning department within AB Energy USA in collaboration with Construction Manager.
• Recruit, develop, mentor, and manage commissioning engineers and field specialists.
• Define roles, competencies, and career paths for the commissioning organization.
• Develop commissioning strategies aligned with growth and EPC needs.
• Implement standardized processes, checklists, and governance models.
• Cultivate a culture of safety, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Lead commissioning activities from mechanical completion to handover with project PM coordination.
• Coordinate pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up, testing, and handover phases.
• Ensure alignment with engineering, procurement, and construction schedules.
• Drive readiness reviews, risk assessments, and issue resolution.

Skills

Leadership

Commissioning

Start-up

Operations

Project execution

Cross-functional coordination

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Energy Engineering, or related technical discipline

Job description

In AB we work in amulticulturalcontext with over 1,500 employees in offices in 22 countries around the world between Europe, North America and South America. Our commitment is to continue to look for a better way to write ourfuturein an even moresustainableway, involving all our partners and starting from the desire to establish a relationship with the candidate that respectsdiversity, equity, through a recruiting process free from prejudice and discrimination.

Sustainability is not only our core businessbut also ourway of working. We have technologies and software that allow us to optimize the time and effort of the selection process by allowing the constant updating of applications and that improve the \"candidate experience\", a process ofmutual knowledgein which the candidate expresses his or her professional and personal ambitions that the Talent Acquisition experts match with the company's professional opportunities, to immediately establish atransparent relationshipof comparison and orientation.

YOUR CHALLENGES

Location

Project Sites (US) + local office support

Employment Type

Full-time | Site-based (≥50% on sites) + the other up to 50% in our office in The Woodlands

Reports To

ROLE PURPOSE

The Commissioning Manager is a senior leadership position responsible for the end-to-end management of commissioning activities across AB Energy USA's portfolio of CHP and industrial energy projects.

The role encompasses the strategic planning, organization, execution, and continuous improvement of all commissioning operations, ensuring projects are safely started, fully tested, optimized, and successfully handed over to customers.

Beyond project execution, the Commissioning Manager will play a key role in building and developing a scalable commissioning organization, establishing procedures, methodologies, resource planning models, technical standards, and performance metrics to support the company's long-term growth.

This position requires a unique combination of technical expertise, operational leadership, organizational development, and customer-facing capabilities.

Key responsibilities:

• Support the Construction Manager to establish, structure, and lead the Commissioning Department within AB Energy USA.
• Recruit, develop, mentor, and manage commissioning engineers, technicians, and field specialists.
• Define organizational roles, responsibilities, competency frameworks, and career development paths.
• Develop commissioning strategies aligned with business growth objectives and EPC execution needs.
• Implement standardized processes, procedures, checklists, reporting systems, and commissioning governance models.
• Build a culture of technical excellence, accountability, safety, and continuous improvement.

• Develop short-, medium, and long-term commissioning resource plans, to be validated with the Construction Manager.
• Forecast manpower requirements, technical competencies, vehicle fleets, tools, instrumentation, and training needs.
• Manage department budgets, operational expenditures, and investments.
• Ensure efficient allocation of resources across multiple simultaneous projects.
• Monitor departmental KPIs, productivity, utilization, and performance metrics, reporting to the Construction Manager.

• Lead commissioning activities from mechanical completion through final customer acceptance, in coordination and reporting to the PM of the project.
• Coordinate pre-commissioning, commissioning, start-up, performance testing, and handover phases.
• Ensure commissioning execution is aligned with engineering, procurement, construction, and project schedules defined by the PM.
• Drive commissioning readiness reviews and project risk assessments.
• Lead troubleshooting and resolution of technical issues during start-up and testing phases.
• Ensure successful achievement of contractual performance guarantees and project acceptance criteria.

CHP & Industrial Energy Systems Commissioning

-Oversee commissioning of:

• CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plants
• Natural gas and biogas power generation systems
• Heat recovery systems
• Electrical generation and synchronization systems
• Biomethane upgrading units (RNG)
• Gas treatment and conditioning systems
• Industrial utility systems
• Process and energy efficiency applications
• Control and automation systems

• Validate mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and control installations.
• Coordinate system integration activities and performance optimization.

• Serve as the primary commissioning representative during start-up and handover phases, in coordination with the PM of the project.
• Manage relationships with project teams, vendors, OEMs, subcontractors, and consultants.
• Lead escalation management and critical issue resolution.
• Support commercial, contract, and warranty-related discussions when required.
• Build customer confidence through professional and proactive project execution.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Champion a strong safety culture across all commissioning activities.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, HSE requirements, regulatory standards, and industry best practices.
• Implement and monitor commissioning quality plans and inspection protocols.
• Lead lessons learned initiatives and continuous improvement programs.

WHY WE WOULD CHOOSE YOU

• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Energy Engineering, or related technical discipline
• 10+ years of experience in commissioning, start-up, operations, or project execution within industrial or energy sectors
• Proven experience leading commissioning activities for complex industrial plants and power generation projects
• Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary field teams across multiple project locations
• Experience in CHP, distributed generation, power plants, biogas, or industrial energy applications strongly preferred
• Experience within EPC project environments highly desirable
• Strong leadership, coordination, and project execution skills
• Ability to work effectively in dynamic, site-driven environments

WHAT WE OFFER

• Values-drivenand inclusiveenvironment:Aworkplacebuilton clearvalues,transparency,respect, andinclusion,fosteringcollaborationand opendialogue
• Structured onboarding and mentorship:Adedicatedinductionprogramcombinedwith support fromexperiencedprofessionalstoensureaneffectiveandwell-supportedintegration
• Professional development and growth:Clearlydefinedcareerpathssupportedbyannualperformance reviews,continuousfeedback, and trainingopportunitiesin acontextthatvaluesindividualpotentialandcontinuouslearning
• Job rotation and knowledge sharing:Theopportunityover time toexploredifferentrolesor projects,fosteringthedevelopmentof cross-functionalskills, abroadbusinessperspective, anddynamiccareerpaths
• International environment and mobility:An international organization offering opportunities for multicultural collaboration and, for those interested, international mobility paths over time
• Focus on employee well-being:A company that actively invests in employee well being through Workplace Health Promotion initiatives aimed at promoting balance, health, and quality of working life

Thanks for your application

You will be contacted by our Talent Acquisition/ HR Team for further details if your application is aligned to the desired position