Utility Engineer

APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS INC; Sugar Land (TX); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible health plans

401(k) employer matching

Generous PTO policy

Relocation package

Immigration sponsorships

Job summary

APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS INC is seeking a Utility Engineer based in Sugar Land, Texas, to manage plant-wide utility systems including chillers and boilers. The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent and have at least 2 years of relevant experience in industrial utility management.

This role involves overseeing energy consumption control and technical management of utility systems, ensuring smooth operations in a high-tech manufacturing environment. AOI offers competitive salary, health plans, and a relocation package.

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 years relevant experience in industrial utility or high-tech manufacturing.
• Capable of troubleshooting utility system failures independently.
• Familiar with DI water, CDA, vacuum, and PCW operations.

Responsibilities

• Conduct full-process technical management of plant-wide utility systems.
• Compile standard operating procedures and preventive maintenance plans.
• Lead root cause analysis on shutdown failures of utility systems.

Skills

Chillers knowledge

Boilers knowledge

Water treatment units

Troubleshooting skills

Facility capital project support

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical/ Chemical/ Facilities Engineering

Tools

BAS

PLC systems

Job description

AOI is committed to providing equal opportunity in all of our employment practices, including hiring, placement, promotion, training, transfer and compensation, to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, sex, veteran status, age, disability, marital status, or any other category protected by State or U.S. Federal law. Moreover, we endeavor to treat our employees fairly.

Utility Engineer will conduct full-process technical management of plant-wide process utility systems covering chillers, boilers, pure water, compressed air, vacuum and cooling water supply systems. Support new fab construction, stable equipment operation, energy consumption control and production capacity expansion.

Job Duties

• New project technical coordination: Take charge of scheme review, construction coordination, on-site construction supervision, system commissioning & acceptance, asset handover and closed-loop rectification of pending issues for all utility systems of new cleanrooms.
• Technical management of utility systems: Manage all plant-wide utility infrastructure, including chillers, boilers, DI water systems, Clean Dry Air (CDA), vacuum systems, Process Cooling Water (PCW), circulating water and factory water supply & drainage systems.
• Operation and energy consumption control: Compile standard operating procedures, graded preventive maintenance plans and energy optimization schemes for all utility equipment. Continuously monitor the load, medium pressure, flow rate and energy consumption indicators of core equipment such as chillers, boilers, water pumps and air compressors to ensure uninterrupted and stable supply of process utilities.
• Fault handling & technical upgrading: Lead root cause analysis on shutdown failures of chillers, boilers, water and air utility systems, hidden danger investigation and rectification. Take charge of capital renovation projects including utility system capacity expansion, pipeline reconstruction, chiller and boiler replacement & upgrading.
• Technical guidance for operation teams: Provide comprehensive technical support to workshop utility maintenance teams, standardize inspection and maintenance workflows for chillers, boilers, pure water and air compression equipment. Reduce production shutdown risks caused by water shortage, air cut-off, abnormal water temperature or insufficient steam supply through technical control measures.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering or Facilities Engineering.
• Minimum 2 years relevant experience in industrial utility, semiconductor factory or high-tech manufacturing facility.
• Profound knowledge of chillers, boilers, water treatment units, compressors, vacuum pumps, heat exchangers and industrial piping systems.
• Capable of troubleshooting utility system failures and supporting facility capital projects independently.
• Working experience in semiconductor wafer fab utility department.
• Familiar with DI water, CDA, vacuum, PCW and central boiler/chiller station operation logic.
• Basic operation knowledge of BAS, PLC and facility real-time monitoring systems.

Rich experience in equipment commissioning, utility system performance validation and energy-saving transformation projects.

• Respond to off-hour emergency calls
• Available to work overtime or weekend when necessary
• Cover 24/7 continuous production; available for overtime, weekend duty and emergency call-out for chiller, boiler, water & gas system breakdowns.
• Daily work in mechanical utility rooms, boiler houses, chiller plants, pump rooms and cleanroom production areas.
• Wear designated PPE (safety shoes, goggles, gloves) when inspecting rotating, high-temperature and pressure-bearing equipment.
• Strictly abide by EHS operation specifications for high-temperature, pressure and fluid medium equipment.

Location

This position will be on-site based in Sugar Land, Texas.

WHY AOI?

In addition to competitive salary, AOI offers

Flexible and competitive health (medical, dental, vision) plans offer the employee with the right options to meet individual and family needs

Employer matching on 401(k) deferrals

Generous PTO policy, with unused PTO payout at end of the year

Relocation package available within US

Immigration sponsorships (Must be currently authorized to work in the US)

We do not accept unsolicited proposals from third-party recruiters or agencies. Contacting hiring managers directly may result in disqualification of submissions.