Director Of Operations

Connectly Recruiting; Victorville (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Connectly Recruiting seeks a Director of Operations to stand up and scale centralized, fleet-wide operations across multiple sites. You will design uniform standards, management systems, and cadences while integrating acquired assets and teams, ensuring safe, reliable, and cost-efficient operations capable of supporting growth.

You will drive operational excellence, partner with finance and asset management, and develop leadership talent across the fleet, while building scalable processes and

Qualifications

• 10+ years in power generation operations and maintenance.
• 3+ years as Plant Manager or equivalent leadership role.
• Bachelor of Science in engineering (or equivalent).
• Valid driver’s license.

Responsibilities

• Drive operational excellence: safety, reliability, availability, and cost competitiveness.
• Partner with Asset Management and Finance to translate operations into production economics and capital trade-offs.
• Collaborate on fleet metrics, dashboards, definitions, and root-cause problem solving.
• Lead annual and multi-year planning cycles for budgets and capital plans; ensure disciplined execution.
• Develop and execute vendor/contract strategy to optimize cost and performance.
• Identify and mitigate operational risks across safety, environment, reliability, cyber/OT resilience, and supply chain.
• Support M&A due diligence, integration planning, and stand-up of new sites.
• Enable multi-technology execution across the fleet and adapt models to new tech.
• Build a high-performance culture; coach Plant Managers and develop bench strength.
• Collaborate with HR, Engineering, IT/OT, and other functions to align goals and remove blockers.
• Communicate directives and drive change management for sustained performance.

Skills

Leadership

Analytical skills

Communication

Change management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor of Science in Engineering

Job description

Summary

Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, the Director of Operations is a builder-leader responsible for standing up and scaling centralized, fleet-wide operations functions across a multi-site, historically autonomous generation portfolio. This role will design and implement uniform operating standards, management systems, and performance cadences; integrate newly acquired assets and teams; and partner with multiple departments to deliver safe, reliable, and cost-effective operations and scalable systems that can absorb growth.

First 12–24 Months: Primary Mandate

• Assess current-state site practices, capabilities, and performance across the fleet; identify gaps, risks, and immediate improvement opportunities.
• Design and deploy a centralized operations model that enables consistent execution without undermining local accountability.
• Consolidate and standardize disparate site-level operating practices into a single fleet-wide operating model, procedures, and management system.
• Standardize core O&M processes (work management, outage planning, reliability programs, operating/maintenance procedures, KPIs, reporting) into a single fleet-wide program.
• Build a performance management cadence (daily/weekly/monthly rhythms) aligned to safety, availability, heat rate/efficiency, cost, compliance, and capital deployment.
• Develop the Plant Manager group and align leadership expectations; establish talent development plans and succession coverage for key roles.
• Create an integration playbook to onboard future acquisitions/new sites into MRP standards and systems quickly and safely.

Primary Duties

• Drive operational excellence: safety performance, regulatory compliance, reliability/availability, efficiency, and cost competitiveness.
• Partner with Asset Management and Finance to translate operational drivers into production economics and capital allocation trade-offs (availability, forced outage drivers, O&M cost drivers, lifecycle cost, and risk).
• Collaborate on the development of fleet metrics and reporting; establish uniform definitions, dashboards, and root-cause/problem-solving routines.
• Lead annual and multi-year planning cycles (O&M budgets, outage plans, capital plans); ensure disciplined execution and variance management.
• Develop and execute vendor/contract strategy (major maintenance vendors, OEM/LTSA relationships, critical spares, and service providers) to optimize cost and performance.
• Identify and mitigate operational risks, including safety, environmental, reliability, cyber/OT resilience, and supply chain vulnerabilities; ensure corrective actions are closed effectively.
• Support M&A and growth: participate in operational due diligence, integration planning, and stand-up of new sites; lead post-close integration of people, processes, systems, and standards.
• Enable multi-technology execution across the fleet; adapt operating standards and capabilities as new generation technologies and development projects are introduced.
• Build and sustain a high-performance culture: set expectations, reinforce accountability, recognize performance, and lead change across a multi-site organization.
• People development: coach and develop Plant Managers and their teams; build bench strength, succession plans, and scalable training programs; recruit and retain top talent.
• Collaborate horizontally with Environmental, H&S, HR, Engineering, Development, and Asset Management to align goals, remove blockers, and execute cross-functional initiatives.
• Communicate directives and changes effectively at all levels; lead change management efforts to ensure adoption and sustained performance improvements.
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Working Relationships

• Reports to the Vice President of Operations and leads Plant Managers across the fleet.
• Partners laterally with Asset Management, Health & Safety, Environmental, Development, HR, Engineering/Technical Services, and IT/OT to align priorities and execute fleet initiatives.
• Interfaces with OEMs, major contractors, regulators, and community stakeholders as needed.

Job Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor of Science degree in engineering or equivalent from an accredited college or university recognized by the United States Department of Education (or equivalent). Relevant work experience may be substituted for education on a year-for-year basis.
• Experience: 10+ years in power generation operations and maintenance, including multi-site leadership responsibilities.
• Plant leadership: 3+ years as a Plant Manager or equivalent leadership role with direct accountability for safety, availability, budget, and compliance outcomes.
• Licenses/Certifications: valid driver’s license.
• Other: strong analytical and business-case skills; excellent written and verbal communication; ability to influence without authority and lead across functions

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Builder/standardization experience: demonstrated track record designing and implementing standardized operating systems across multiple sites, including change management and sustained adoption.
• M&A / integration: experience supporting operational due diligence, mobilization/stand-up of new sites, and integration of incoming teams and assets into established standards and systems.
• Multi-technology exposure: experience across a diverse fleet (e.g., combined cycle, simple cycle, steam, reciprocating, renewables and/or storage) and ability to adapt operating models to new technologies and development projects.
• Financial literacy: ability to engage credibly on production economics, O&M cost drivers, availability/reliability metrics, budget-to-actual variance, and capital allocation trade-offs.
• People leadership: proven record developing Plant Managers and building bench strength; strong hiring, performance management, training, and succession planning capabilities.
• Safety leadership: strong commitment to a proactive safety culture; ability to set expectations and drive compliance with all safety and environmental requirements.

Physical Requirements & Working Conditions

• Ability to stand for extended periods, climb stairs/ladders, and lift up to 50 lbs.
• Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) required.
• May involve work with hazardous materials.
• Extended hours, weekend, and holiday work may be required based on operational needs.
• Ability to travel to plant locations as needed (including occasional overnight stays).

Safety

Safety is a core value of Company and as a condition of employment, all employees are expected to be mentally alert and work safely at all times. Additionally, employees are required to adhere to all safety warnings and posted safety signs whenever on company property. The Director of Operations is expected to model and reinforce a visible, proactive safety culture across the fleet.