Senior Engineering Manager

Patterson-UTI; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Patterson-UTI is seeking a Sr. Engineering Manager to lead Current Power's engineering function, overseeing senior engineers and project teams.

You will ensure safe, accurate, and profitable delivery of electrical power, control, and electro-mechanical systems from contract review through commissioning and closeout. You will shape engineering priorities across multiple projects, manage budgets and schedules, and drive continuous improvement while partnering with operations, supply chain, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive engineering experience in industrial electrical power and control systems, engineered-to-order manufacturing, system integration, or related energy/manufacturing.
• At least four (4) years of direct people leadership experience—managing engineers or designers, including coaching and performance management.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi-disciplinary engineering execution across multiple concurrent projects from contract review through manufacturing, testing, commissioning, and closeout.
• Strong knowledge of low- and medium-voltage power distribution, switchgear, MCCs, AC/DC drives, control systems, and electro-mechanical equipment integration.
• Proven ability to review and approve complex electrical and mechanical engineering deliverables and make sound technical decisions under changing information.
• Ownership of engineering budgets, labor hours, schedules, resource plans, technical risk, and project financial performance.
• Working knowledge of NEC, NFPA, IEEE, NEMA, and UL requirements.
• Leadership, business judgment, customer-facing communication, conflict resolution, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Preferred: PE license, PMP, MS in Engineering or MBA; experience with engineered-to-order equipment; familiarity with AutoCAD Electrical, 3D CAD, PDM/PLM, and SAP.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop the engineering team, including goal setting, performance management, and career development.
• Translate business priorities into engineering resource and capacity plans; balance workloads across projects.
• Own engineering execution across the full project lifecycle from proposal support to closeout.
• Establish and monitor engineering plans, budgets, labor forecasts, schedules, deliverables, and milestones.
• Ensure compliance with contractual requirements, codes, standards, and safety expectations.
• Review and approve critical engineering deliverables (diagrams, schematics, BOMs, models, etc.).
• Serve as technical authority for electrical/mechanical systems integration and risk management.
• Lead design reviews, risk assessments, change management, and lessons-learned activities.
• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality to improve manufacturability and field readiness.
• Support sales with technical estimates, scope clarifications, and solution presentations.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Project management

Budgeting

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Communication

Risk assessment

Customer focus

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

AutoCAD Electrical

3D CAD

PDM/PLM systems

SAP / ERP systems

Job description

The Sr. Engineering Manager leads Current Power's engineering function and is accountable for the people, technical quality, capacity, and execution of project engineering and mechanical design. Reporting to the Vice President - Operations, this role directs the Sr. Mechanical Design Engineer and the Project Engineering team and ensures complex engineered-to-order electrical power, control, and electro-mechanical systems are delivered safely, accurately, and profitably from contract review through commissioning and closeout. The Engineering Manager combines functional leadership, portfolio oversight, and hands-on technical judgment while partnering with Operations, Supply Chain, Sales, Quality, customers, and suppliers to achieve scope, schedule, cost, quality, and performance commitments.

The Sr. Engineering Manager is a senior department leader responsible for engineering performance across multiple concurrent projects and disciplines. Employees in this position set departmental priorities, allocate resources, develop engineering talent, establish standards, approve critical technical decisions and releases, and serve as the escalation point for customer, project, and execution risks. Success requires balancing immediate delivery needs with long-term capability building, standardization, and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop the Sr. Mechanical Design Engineer and Project Engineering team, including work assignments, goal setting, feedback, performance management, succession planning, and career development.
• Translate business and project priorities into an engineering resource and capacity plan; balance workloads across active projects and identify hiring, training, or outside support needs.
• Own engineering execution across the full project lifecycle, including proposal support, contract review, design, procurement coordination, fabrication support, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), commissioning, and closeout.
• Establish and monitor engineering plans, budgets, labor-hour forecasts, schedules, deliverables, and review milestones; take corrective action when cost, quality, scope, or schedule performance is at risk.
• Ensure engineering work complies with contractual requirements, customer specifications, applicable codes and standards, safety expectations, and company procedures.
• Review and approve critical engineering deliverables, including one-line diagrams, schematics, calculations, equipment selections, 3D models, fabrication drawings, bills of material, test plans, and release packages.
• Serve as the technical authority and escalation point for low- and medium-voltage power distribution, switchgear, motor control centers, AC/DC drives, control systems, enclosures, skids, and integrated electro-mechanical equipment.
• Lead formal design reviews, technical risk assessments, engineering change management, management of change (MOC), root-cause investigations, and lessons-learned activities.
• Partner with Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality to improve manufacturability, material readiness, supplier alignment, assembly efficiency, test quality, and field serviceability.
• Support Sales and customer-facing activities through scope definition, technical estimates, proposal reviews, contract clarifications, change-order support, and presentation of technical solutions.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards and systems, including CAD/PDM practices, document and revision control, part-numbering and bill-of-material governance, templates, calculations, and workflow controls.
• Establish and report engineering performance indicators for schedule adherence, labor-hour performance, quality, rework, capacity, and project outcomes; communicate status, decisions, and risks to leadership and stakeholders.
• Recruit, onboard, train, and cross-train engineering personnel while promoting a safe, inclusive, accountable, and collaborative team culture.
• Support FATs, commissioning, field investigations, warranty issues, and customer problem resolution as required.

Perform other related duties as assigned.

Demonstrated ability in the following leadership competencies:

• Builds and Maintains Effective Relationships
• Develops Self and Others
• Builds Effective Teams
• Managing Vision and Purpose
• Business Acumen
• Drive for Results
• Customer Focus

Decision Quality

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or another related engineering discipline from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive engineering experience in industrial electrical power and control systems, engineered-to-order manufacturing, system integration, or a related energy or manufacturing environment.
• At least four (4) years of direct people leadership experience managing engineers or designers, including assigning work, coaching employees, developing talent, and managing performance.
• Demonstrated experience leading multi-disciplinary engineering execution across multiple concurrent projects from contract review through manufacturing, testing, commissioning, and closeout.
• Strong working knowledge of low- and medium-voltage power distribution, switchgear, motor control centers, AC/DC drives, control systems, and electro-mechanical equipment integration.
• Proven ability to review and approve complex electrical and mechanical engineering deliverables and make sound technical decisions with incomplete or changing information.
• Demonstrated ownership of engineering budgets, labor hours, schedules, resource plans, technical risk, and project financial performance.
• Working knowledge of applicable industrial codes and standards, including NEC, NFPA, IEEE, NEMA, and UL requirements.
• Strong leadership, business judgment, customer-facing communication, conflict-resolution, and stakeholder-management skills.

Proficiency with engineering document-control systems, ERP and project-management tools, and Microsoft Office applications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Twelve (12) or more years of engineering and project-execution experience, including five (5) or more years in an engineering management role.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license, Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, master's degree in engineering, or Master of Business Administration (MBA).
• Experience with engineered-to-order switchgear, drives, motor control centers, power-conversion systems, control packages, or related equipment for industrial, drilling, marine, data-center, or energy applications.
• Experience building or scaling engineering teams, standardizing engineering processes, and improving execution within a manufacturing or fabrication environment.
• Working experience with AutoCAD Electrical, 3D CAD, PDM/PLM systems, and SAP or a similar ERP platform.
• Experience supporting proposals, contract reviews, customer negotiations, supplier technical evaluations, and change-order management.

Physical & Working Conditions

• Work primarily in an office environment with regular interaction in engineering, shop, fabrication, and testing areas.
• Ability to walk, stand, climb stairs, and inspect equipment while wearing required personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Occasional exposure to shop or field conditions, including noise, dust, weather, moving equipment, and energized-system hazards controlled through established procedures.
• Occasional travel, extended work hours, weekends, or off-hours support may be required to meet project and customer needs.

Reporting Structure

This position reports directly to the Vice President - Operations. The Sr. Mechanical Design Engineer and the Project Engineering team, including the Senior Electrical Project Engineer and Project Engineers, report directly to this position. The Mechanical Design team reports through the Sr. Mechanical Design Engineer.

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