Project Engineering Manager

Stanford Climate Ventures; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid holidays

PTO 18 days

Medical, Dental & Vision

Life, STD & LTD

Equity packages

401k

Parental leave

Job summary

Zanskar is seeking a Project Engineering Manager in Salt Lake City to own the design basis, engineering specifications, and lessons learned for a geothermal plant template. You will lead design reviews, set the project design scope, and coordinate with EPC contractors to ensure timely, high-quality delivery.

This role requires deep engineering experience, leadership in reviews, and a track record of building standardized designs and technical standards across projects.

Qualifications

• BS in mechanical, civil, electrical, chemical, or construction engineering.
• 10+ years of engineering in heavy infrastructure projects.
• Experience in geothermal, binary ORC, power plants, or related sectors.
• Leadership in design reviews, constructability reviews, and HAZOP.
• Ability to develop and enforce company-wide technical standards.

Responsibilities

• Own the design basis and engineering scope for the plant, substation, and gen-tie.
• Lead design reviews, manage change processes, and schedule constructability/operability reviews.
• Coordinate technical interfaces with EPC contractors and independent engineers.
• Serve as technical lead at stage gates and with procurement and construction teams.

Skills

Engineering depth

Review leadership

Standards builder

Owner-side contractor management

Leader and communicator

Education

BS in mechanical, civil, electrical, chemical, or construction engineering

Job description

Role Overview

Title: Project Engineering Manager

Hours: Full-time; Salaried

Location: Salt Lake City, UT (on-site)

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Manager: VP of Project Delivery

Mission – Why we exist and why we need you

Geothermal energy is the most abundant renewable energy source in the world. There is 2,300 times more energy in geothermal heat in the ground than in oil, gas, coal, and methane combined. However, historically it’s been hard to find and expensive to develop. At Zanskar, we’re using better technology to find and develop new geothermal resources in order to make geothermal a cheap and vital contributor to a carbon-free electrical grid.

Zanskar's first geothermal plants will become the template for every plant we build after them. As Project Engineering Manager, you will own the technical backbone of that template, from the design basis and company-wide technical specifications to the lessons learned that make each new plant cheaper and faster to build, so every plant after it gets built better.

Outcomes – Problems you’ll solve

Success in this role in 6 months means the design basis and engineering scope for the power plant, substation, and gen-tie are clear, owned by you, and understood by the EPC contractor and the rest of Project Delivery. You will have put the engineering and design management plan in place, including the design deliverable schedule and review process, and scheduled the constructability, operability/maintainability, design model, and HAZOP reviews so that actions are closed before the project advances through each stage gate.

You will have the management of change process running, so technical and scope changes are evaluated, approved, and documented, with their cost and schedule impact understood. You will also have started capturing technical lessons learned and developing company-wide technical specifications and the standard design basis, so what we learn on the first project feeds directly into our standardized plant design.

Along the way, you will be the technical voice of Project Delivery: representing engineering at stage gates and with the independent engineer, coordinating technical interfaces with our interconnection group, approving technical submittals and procurement packages with the procurement team, and building strong working relationships with the engineers and contractors who will carry the design through construction and commissioning.

Competencies – What we’re looking for

• Engineering depth: A BS in mechanical, civil, electrical, chemical, or construction engineering and 10+ years of engineering in heavy infrastructure, including at least one project taken from design through commissioning. Experience in geothermal, binary ORC, power plants, oil and gas, or chemicals is helpful, as is working knowledge of substation and high-voltage gen-tie design.
• Review leadership: You have led design, constructability, and HAZOP reviews, and you know how to make sure every action is closed before a project moves forward.
• Standards builder: You like turning hard-won project lessons into repeatable standards. You will own our company-wide technical specifications and the process for approving deviations from them, so experience developing standardized designs or technical specifications across multiple projects is helpful.
• Owner-side contractor management: You have managed outside engineers and contractors, including engineering-of-record and EPC teams, through design reviews, RFIs, and change orders. Owner-side experience on EPC-contracted projects and experience working with an independent engineer or lender's technical advisor are helpful.
• Leader and communicator: You have managed people and can hire and mentor engineers. You can explain technical tradeoffs clearly to articulate optimal design solutions and achieve buy in from stakeholders.

Location, Salary, and Benefits

• The position is located in Salt Lake City, UT, on-site, with periodic travel to project locations, the EPC contractor's office, and key equipment suppliers.
• Full-time; Salaried
• Paid holidays
• 18 days PTO + PTO accrual increase based on tenure
• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• Group Life, STD & LTD
• Equity Packages
• 401k
• Paid Parental Leave
• A direct impact in displacing carbon emissions, and growth opportunities in a growing startup environment

Equal Opportunity Employer

Zanskar is an equal-opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practice laws.