Field Power Plant Engineer - Commissioning & Performance

United States Digital Space LLC; Starbase (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is building and operating advanced power generation assets to support ambitious space-related programs. The Power Plant Engineer owns the full plant design, commissioning in the control room, and field troubleshooting to keep gas turbines and balance‑of‑plant equipment online at rated output.

This role requires hands‑on construction, startup oversight, interface with OEMs, and ongoing performance optimization across inspections, maintenance, and outages.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering.
• 2+ years hands-on experience with utility-scale gas turbines in commissioning, operations, or maintenance roles.

Responsibilities

• Support the full lifecycle of gas turbine power generation assets — installation, commissioning, startup, operations, and long-term maintenance.
• Lead or support commissioning activities including combustion tuning, control system checkout, protective relay testing, and performance/reliability run verification.
• Own root-cause analysis and corrective action for turbine trips, outages, and performance degradation; drive fixes to prevent recurrence.
• Develop and refine operating procedures, startup/shutdown sequences, and abnormal operating condition playbooks.
• Interface with OEMs on warranty issues, LTSA scope, outage planning, and technical issues.
• Plan and execute inspections, hot gas path outages, and combustion inspections per OEM maintenance intervals.
• Analyze turbine performance data to identify efficiency losses and recommend corrective action.
• Coordinate with balance-of-plant teams to ensure integrated performance.
• Build and maintain relationships with EPC contractors during construction handoff.
• Develop spare parts strategy, critical spares inventory, and maintenance budgets.

Skills

Gas turbines

Commissioning

Operations

Maintenance

Root-cause analysis

Control systems

Troubleshooting

Field leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering

Tools

SOLIDWORKS

Siemens NX

Mark VIe

SPPA-T3000

Job description

United States Digital Space LLC is building and operating advanced power generation assets to support ambitious space-related programs. The Power Plant Engineer owns the full plant design, commissioning in the control room, and field troubleshooting to keep gas turbines and balance‑of‑plant equipment online at rated output.

This role requires hands‑on construction, startup oversight, interface with OEMs, and ongoing performance optimization across inspections, maintenance, and outages.