Plant Operations Lead - Safety, Reliability & Efficiency

American Electric Power; Oologah (OK); On-site; USD 137,000 - 178,000; Full time

Job summary

American Electric Power seeks an Assistant Plant Manager to assist the Plant Manager in directing plant operations—safety, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. You will oversee engineering, maintenance, and administrative functions, driving continuous improvement and strong stakeholder communications.

The role requires a Bachelor’s degree or technical associate, 6+ years in plant operations and leadership experience, and a track record in process improvement and safety management.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, business management; or associate degree in a technical field with equivalent applied experience.
• Experience: Minimum of 6 years of experience in plant operations, maintenance, engineering, or performance-related roles; exposure to business/financial processes and HR practices.
• Prior supervisory or leadership experience preferred.
• Training in leadership, supervision, management, team development, problem solving, and decision making.
• Knowledge of process improvement methodologies and safety management practices.

Responsibilities

• Assist in planning, organizing, coordinating, and controlling plant activities including operation, maintenance, engineering, and construction to ensure safe, efficient, and cost-effective performance.
• Support the System Safety Process and promote a strong safety culture throughout the plant.
• Help develop, maintain, and enforce safe work practices, ensuring availability and proper use of safety equipment, tools, and training.
• Reinforce safe work behaviors and contribute to achieving safety goals for an accident-free workplace.
• Communicate safety expectations and best practices regularly to employees.
• Participate in incident investigations, including root cause analysis, tracking corrective actions, and communicating findings.
• Assist in developing long-range plans for maintenance, operational excellence, capital improvements, equipment reliability, and organizational development.
• Support planning processes for maintenance management, materials management, QA/QC, HR, accounting, and preventive/predictive maintenance programs.
• Contribute to short-range (three-year) planning, budgeting, and forecasting; monitor performance and assist with variance reporting and cost control.
• Ensure plant operations comply with all applicable local, state, federal regulations and company policies.
• Support implementation and communication of company policies and operational procedures.
• Develop and maintain relationships with local officials, community stakeholders, and internal partners.
• Act on behalf of the Plant Manager as needed to support daily operations and business needs

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Organizational skills

Interpersonal skills

Problem solving

Decision making

Team leadership

Change initiatives

Performance improvement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or business

Associate degree in technical field

Job description

American Electric Power seeks an Assistant Plant Manager to assist the Plant Manager in directing plant operations—safety, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. You will oversee engineering, maintenance, and administrative functions, driving continuous improvement and strong stakeholder communications.

The role requires a Bachelor’s degree or technical associate, 6+ years in plant operations and leadership experience, and a track record in process improvement and safety management.