Director, Commissioning & Startup

Koch Business Solutions, LP; Scottsdale (AZ); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plan

Paid time off

Educational assistance

Job summary

DEPCOM Power, a Koch Engineered Solutions company, seeks a Director of Commissioning & Startup in Scottsdale, AZ to lead commissioning, energization, startup, and operational readiness across the project portfolio. The role focuses on developing enterprise standards, scalable systems, and leadership capability to ensure safe, predictable project transitions.

You will standardize SOPs, procedures, and governance; build talent pipelines; and drive continuous improvement using digital tools and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher required.
• Experience leading commissioning, startup, construction, operations, or related technical leadership roles.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in large-scale industrial/energy environments.
• Experience developing commissioning plans, startup procedures, and enterprise standards.
• Willing to travel up to 50% of the time.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute enterprise commissioning and startup strategy.
• Provide oversight of cold/hot commissioning, energization, turnover, and handover activities.
• Ensure safe, on-time transition from construction to operations.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Professional Engineer (PE) license

Certifications (PMP/ PMI-SP/ Lean / Six Sigma)

Tools

SCADA

Enterprise systems

Job description

Director, Commissioning & Startup

DEPCOM Power has an immediate need for a Director, Commissioning & Startup. This role provides strategic leadership for DEPCOM's commissioning, energization, startup, and operational readiness functions across the project portfolio. This leader is responsible for developing the enterprise vision, standards, talent, and operational systems required to safely and predictably transition projects from construction through energization and commercial operation.

Through Koch's Principle Based Management (PBM) business philosophy, this advanced leadership role creates long-term value by building organizational capability, standardizing best practices, improving execution predictability, and driving continuous improvement across all commissioning and startup activities. The Director serves as the enterprise authority for commissioning strategy and is accountable for developing scalable systems, technical excellence, and future leadership capability that support sustainable business growth.

This role will be physically based out of our headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ.

This role is not eligible for Visa Sponsorship.

What You Will Do

Enterprise Strategy & Operational Leadership

• Develop and execute the enterprise commissioning and startup strategy aligned with business objectives and customer commitments.
• Provide strategic oversight of cold commissioning, hot commissioning, startup, energization, turnover, and handover activities.
• Ensure successful transition of projects from construction to operations with predictable outcomes in safety, quality, schedule, and performance.

Standardization & Operating System Development

• Develop, implement, and continually improve standard operating procedures (SOPs), commissioning plans, inspection and test plans (ITPs), test forms, startup protocols, and operational readiness requirements.
• Establish governance and quality assurance processes that ensure consistent execution across all projects.
• Capture and institutionalize lessons learned to continuously improve enterprise performance.

Capability Building & Organizational Development

• Recruit, coach, mentor, and develop high-performing leaders and technical professionals
• Establish succession plans and talent pipelines to ensure organizational sustainability
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, knowledge sharing, and continuous learning

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with Engineering, Project Management, Procurement, Logistics, Construction, Operations, Quality, HSE, OEMs, utilities, and customers.
• Align commissioning requirements early in project development to improve execution outcomes and reduce risk.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Establish and monitor leading and lagging performance indicators.
• Conduct operational reviews to identify opportunities for improvement and value creation.
• Leverage digital tools, automation, analytics, and emerging technologies to improve startup effectiveness and readiness.

You Will Need (Basic Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree or higher
• Experience in commissioning, startup, construction, operations, project execution, or related technical leadership roles
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in large-scale industrial, energy, utility, renewable energy, EPC, or infrastructure environments
• Experience developing commissioning plans, startup procedures, operational readiness requirements, testing protocols, and enterprise standards
• Experience managing utility coordination, OEM integration, energization planning, and turnover processes
• Experience leading organizational transformation, standardization, and operational excellence initiatives
• Experience developing leaders and building high-performing teams
• Willing and able to travel up to 50% of the time as business needs permit

What Will Put You Ahead (Preferred Qualifications)

• Professional Engineer (PE) license
• PMP, PMI-SP, Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent certifications
• Utility-scale solar, battery energy storage, power generation, transmission, or electrical infrastructure experience
• Experience implementing enterprise operating systems and governance frameworks
• Experience with power systems commissioning, grid interconnection, SCADA, controls integration, and operational readiness programs
• Experience leading geographically dispersed teams and large project portfolios

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here.

Who We Are

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company. As a Koch Engineered Solutions company, DEPCOM Power is a leading energy solutions partner for the utility solar and broader energy industries, providing project development support, engineering, procurement and construction, energy storage, repowering and operations and maintenance services. Our highly skilled team of conventional and renewable power industry experts work to deliver the lowest cost of energy and the highest rate of return.

Our Benefits

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunities

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify.