Head of Engineering
Fermi LLC
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Job summary
Fermi America is seeking a Head of Engineering for Project Matador's HyperGrid campus in the Texas Panhandle. The role owns engineering standards, design basis, and technical decisions from FEED to operations, directing a multi-technology program.
You will lead a corporate engineering organization, ensure safety-by-design, manage EPC partners and OEM interfaces, and ensure compliance with NERC, IEEE/ANSI codes while coordinating with regulators and the COO and Board.
Qualifications
- 15+ years of progressive engineering experience in power generation or energy infrastructure
- At least 7 years in a senior engineering leadership role
- Deep technical expertise in CCGT, HV transmission/substations, BESS, and data center power infrastructure
- Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations on major capital projects ($500M+ CAPEX)
- Strong track record with EPC contractor deliverables, Owner's Engineer functions, and OEM interfaces
- Owner-side experience directing multiple concurrent engineering partners and EPCs in a single program
Responsibilities
- Define and own the engineering strategy for Project Matador, ensuring technical coherence across gas-fired generation, HV transmission, data center power, BESS, and future solar PV and nuclear systems.
- Establish and enforce engineering standards, codes of practice, design criteria, and design verification across all disciplines, coordinated with QA/QC.
- Lead the engineering organization structure, resource planning, and capability development for up to 17 GW of generation capacity.
- Provide technical vision and leadership to COO, executive leadership, and Board on engineering risk, innovation, and delivery strategy.
- Champion a safety-by-design culture, embedding HSSE requirements into all engineering deliverables from concept through commissioning.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Fermi America™ (Nasdaq & LSE: FRMI) is pioneering the world's largest next-generation private HyperGrid™ campus, Project Matador, located on approximately 8,400 acres in the Texas Panhandle near Amarillo. The campus is designed to deliver up to 17 gigawatts of highly redundant, behind-the-meter power to hyperscale artificial intelligence data centers, integrating the nation's largest combined-cycle natural gas generation complex, utility-scale solar PV, battery energy storage systems (BESS), utility grid interconnection, and one of the most ambitious nuclear power programs in the United States.
With first power targeted for 2027 and nearly $1 billion in committed financing secured, Fermi America is one of the most consequential energy infrastructure companies in the United States. The Head of Engineering is a critical leadership role at the heart of this mission.
The Head of Engineering is Fermi America's senior technical authority and Owner's Engineer for Project Matador's HyperGrid™ campus. This executive owns the engineering standards, design basis, and technical decisions for the program from conceptual design and front-end engineering design (FEED) through detailed engineering, construction support, commissioning, and handover to operations. Detailed engineering is executed by Fermi America's contracted engineering partners and EPC contractors; the Head of Engineering directs, reviews, approves, and holds those partners to account across a multi-technology portfolio spanning gas-fired generation, high-voltage transmission and substations, campus utilities, data center power infrastructure, and battery energy storage, with utility-scale solar PV and nuclear generation in future phases.
The role builds and leads a corporate engineering organization of Principal discipline engineers who serve as Fermi America's subject matter experts, owns the Engineering Management System, leads the technical interfaces with EPC contractors, engineering partners, OEMs, and the interconnecting utility (SPS/Xcel), and ensures all engineering deliverables meet Fermi America's safety, quality, regulatory, schedule, and performance requirements. The group is fully capable of performing design where Fermi America elects to do so; its primary function is owner-side technical leadership of the partners who execute the work.
- Define and own the engineering strategy for Project Matador, ensuring technical coherence across gas-fired generation, high-voltage transmission, data center power, BESS, and future solar PV and nuclear systems.
- Establish and enforce engineering standards, codes of practice, design criteria, and design verification requirements across all disciplines, coordinated with the Director of Quality, who owns QA/QC.
- Lead the engineering organization structure, resource planning, and capability development to support the phased delivery of up to 17 GW of generation capacity.
- Provide technical vision and leadership to the COO, executive leadership, and Board on engineering risk, innovation, and delivery strategy.
- Champion a safety-by-design culture, embedding HSSE requirements into all engineering deliverables from concept through commissioning.
- Provide owner technical direction and oversight of the combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) program engineered by Fermi America's EPC and engineering partners, including Siemens Energy and GE gas turbines, heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs), steam turbines, and associated balance-of-plant systems.
- Direct and approve battery energy storage system (BESS) sizing and integration engineering performed by Fermi America's engineering partners, including containerized battery systems, inverters, thermal management, protection and control, and grid integration.
- Review and approve FEED and detailed engineering packages, technical specifications, equipment datasheets, and vendor drawings from EPC contractors and OEMs.
- Provide engineering support to Procurement and Commissioning for factory acceptance testing (FAT) of major equipment and for resolution of technical punch list items through commissioning completion.
- Direct and approve the engineering of the campus's high-voltage transmission and distribution infrastructure, performed by Fermi America's HV engineering partner in coordination with SPS/Xcel, including substations, switching stations, overhead lines, underground cables, and protection and control systems.
- Direct grid interconnection engineering, including system impact studies, protection coordination, power flow analysis, and SPS/Xcel interconnection technical deliverables, including large load interconnection studies.
- Set the electrical design basis for the campus grid interface to data center power infrastructure (substations, switchgear, and transformers) and provide engineering review in support of Data Center Delivery, which owns the data center electrical scope including UPS systems and standby generation.
- Ensure grid and power system engineering complies with NERC reliability standards, SPS/Xcel interconnection requirements, and applicable IEEE and ANSI codes.
- Own the design basis and architecture of the campus-wide Distributed Control System (DCS), SCADA, and Energy Management System (EMS) architecture.
- Lead the development of control system philosophies, cause-and-effect matrices, alarm management strategies, and cybersecurity frameworks for operational technology (OT) in accordance with NERC CIP standards.
- Direct the digital twin strategy for generation asset monitoring, predictive maintenance, and operational optimization.
- Ensure seamless integration of all generation technologies (gas, BESS, grid interconnection, and future solar PV and nuclear) into the campus EMS/SCADA platform.
- Oversee civil and structural engineering for all generation facilities, campus utilities, substations, transmission structures, data center foundations, and site-wide infrastructure.
- Direct geotechnical, environmental, and hydrological engineering studies and ensure findings are incorporated into design standards.
- Manage the engineering interface with Site Infrastructure, Construction, HSSE and Permitting, and Data Center Delivery to ensure designs are constructable, cost-effective, and permit-compliant.
- Serve as the senior engineering interface for Fermi America's nuclear program as it advances, working with nuclear technology vendors, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and specialist nuclear engineering consultants; oversee engineering inputs to NRC license applications, safety analysis reports, and site characterization studies in accordance with applicable NRC regulations, ANSI/ANS standards, and DOE requirements.
- Plan the internal nuclear engineering capability required to support pre-licensing, design certification, and later construction and operations phases, scaled to program timing.
- Direct owner oversight of utility-scale solar PV engineering when that phase is initiated, including array design, DC/AC power conversion, substation integration, and SCADA connectivity.
- Lead the technical review and approval of EPC contractor and engineering partner deliverables, ensuring compliance with Fermi America's engineering standards and project specifications.
- Perform the Owner's Engineer function, acting as Fermi America's technical authority in disputes, claims, and technical variation assessments in support of Operations' contractor commercial management.
- Maintain technical interfaces with key OEM partners for gas generation, solar module and inverter suppliers, BESS manufacturers, and nuclear technology vendors.
- Oversee engineering sign-off as required on construction completion, pre-commissioning, commissioning, and performance testing milestones.
- Provide engineering support to Fermi America's HSSE and Permiting organization for federal, state, and local permitting, including SPS/Xcel interconnection filings, TCEQ air quality permits, NRC license applications, and Texas PUC filings.
- Ensure engineering deliverables support Fermi America's TCEQ air permit applications and amendments, environmental impact assessments, and grid code compliance documentation.
- Liaise with regulatory agencies at the technical level and represent Fermi America's engineering position in regulatory proceedings.
- Establish and maintain the Engineering Management System, including design review and verification processes, management of change (MOC), and document control.
- Own engineering risk registers and lead technical risk workshops at key project milestones.
- Define and enforce engineering standards for all disciplines, ensuring alignment with applicable US codes (ASME, IEEE, ANSI, NFPA, API, NEC) and international standards where applicable.
- Lead lessons-learned processes and drive continuous improvement in engineering performance across the program.
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Engineering.
- 15+ years of progressive engineering experience in the power generation or energy infrastructure sector, with at least 7 years in a senior engineering leadership role.
- Deep technical expertise in combined-cycle gas turbine power plants and in high-voltage transmission and substations, with working knowledge of battery energy storage systems and data center power infrastructure.
- Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations on major capital projects ($500M+ CAPEX).
- Strong track record of managing EPC contractor engineering deliverables, Owner's Engineer functions, and OEM technical interfaces.
- Owner-side experience directing multiple concurrent engineering partners and EPC contractors on a single program, including technical authority over their deliverables.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license in Texas or ability to obtain reciprocal licensure.
- Experience with transmission service provider interconnection engineering, including large load interconnection studies with a utility such as SPS/Xcel, NERC reliability standards, and US power system codes (IEEE, ANSI, NFPA, NEC).
- Experience with nuclear power engineering, NRC licensing processes, or advanced nuclear technology development (SMR, Gen IV).
- Experience with utility-scale solar PV engineering and grid integration.
- Familiarity with NERC CIP cybersecurity standards for operational technology and industrial control systems.
- Experience with behind-the-meter private grid design and multi-technology hybrid power system integration.
- MBA or major project leadership qualification (e.g., PMP, APM PMQ).
- Experience working on first-of-a-kind or gigawatt-scale energy infrastructure programs in the United States.
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