Director, Commissioning & Startup

Koch; Scottsdale (AZ); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

DEPCOM Power, a Koch Engineered Solutions company, seeks a Director, Commissioning & Startup to lead commissioning, energization, startup, and operational readiness across the project portfolio. You will shape enterprise strategy, standards, and capabilities to transition projects from construction through to commercial operation.

This role requires building scalable systems, driving safety, quality, schedule performance, and continuous improvement, with extensive cross-functional leadership and

Qualifications

• Experience in commissioning, startup, construction, operations, project execution in large industrial settings.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams in energy, utility, renewable energy, EPC, or infrastructure environments.
• Experience developing commissioning plans, startup procedures, and enterprise standards.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute enterprise commissioning and startup strategy aligned with objectives.
• Provide oversight of cold/hot commissioning, energization, turnover and handover activities.
• Ensure safe, predictable project transitions from construction to operations.
• Develop SOPs, ITPs, startup protocols, and operational readiness requirements.
• Recruit, coach, and develop leaders; establish succession plans and talent pipelines.
• Partner with engineering, procurement, operations, QA, and other functions to align requirements.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Commissioning & startup

Operational readiness

Cross-functional collaboration

Talent development

Education

Bachelor's Degree or higher

Professional Engineer (PE) license

PMP / PMI-SP / Lean / Six Sigma or equivalent

Job description

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)

• 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
• Bachelor's Degree or higher
• 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. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

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. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

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. Please click here for additional information. (For Illinois E-Verify information click here, aquí, or tu).