Vice President of Engineering

Brightsmith; Utah; On-site; USD 250,000 - 360,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Brightsmith is conducting a confidential search for a VP of Engineering, Power Plant Design to lead technical direction across a portfolio of baseload power plant developments in the western United States. Relocation assistance is provided as part of this leadership opportunity.

You will own the technical direction from surface-plant design to grid integration, shaping project economics, reliability, and long-term strategy.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in power plant engineering and development
• Background in geothermal, biogas, CCGT, waste-to-energy or other thermal/renewable power
• Strong mechanical and electrical systems expertise with commissioning experience
• Track record building and leading multidisciplinary teams and managing subcontractors
• Ability to manage multi-workstream schedules and communicate to execs

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering strategy and execution across multiple power plant developments
• Build and lead an Owner's Engineering team (5–10 engineers) across disciplines
• Shape technology selection and vendor strategy with internal teams
• Own tender packages, EPC bid evaluation, and technical clarifications
• Hold EPC partners to high standards on schedule, quality, safety
• Partner with permitting and regulatory teams to bake compliance into design
• Collaborate with other VPs across infrastructure, interconnection, site ops
• Act as a trusted technical voice to senior leadership and flag risk early

Skills

Power plant design

Engineering leadership

Vendor management

EPC coordination

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

VP of Engineering, Power Plant Design | Relocation Provided

Help build the next generation of baseload power — from the ground up.

Brightsmith is proud to be partnered on a confidential search for a mission-driven clean energy developer that's quietly doing something remarkable: engineering a portfolio of next-generation power plants designed to deliver clean, reliable baseload power across the western United States. This is a business built on technical excellence, environmental stewardship and genuinely collaborative leadership — not just words on a careers page.

Why This Role Matters

This isn't a role where you inherit someone else's system and optimize around the edges. As VP of Power Plant Design Engineering, you'll own the technical direction of an entire portfolio — shaping how surface-plant engineering, power conversion systems and grid integration come together to turn an emerging clean power technology into a bankable, scalable source of baseload energy. Your fingerprints will be on project economics, operational reliability and the long-term trajectory of the business itself. Few engineering leadership roles offer this much genuine ownership this early in a company's growth.

What You'll Be Doing

• Leading engineering strategy and execution across multiple power plant developments simultaneously
• Building and leading an Owner's Engineering team (5–10 engineers) spanning process, mechanical, electrical, and civil/structural disciplines, plus construction and commissioning oversight
• Shaping technology selection and vendor strategy alongside internal resource and advanced technology teams
• Owning tender packages, EPC bid evaluation, and technical clarifications from the ground up
• Holding EPC partners to the highest bar on technical compliance, schedule, quality and safety
• Partnering with permitting and regulatory teams to bake compliance into engineering design from day one
• Working shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow VPs across infrastructure, interconnection, resource development and site operations — this is a genuinely collaborative leadership team, not a siloed one
• Acting as a trusted technical voice to senior leadership, flagging risk early and providing clear-eyed guidance

What You'll Bring

• 15+ years in power plant engineering and development, ideally in process-intensive or power generation environments
• A background in geothermal, biogas, CCGT, waste-to-energy or another thermal/renewable power discipline
• Strong mechanical and electrical systems expertise, with hands-on commissioning experience
• A track record of building and leading multidisciplinary teams and managing subcontractors
• The organizational chops to keep complex, multi-workstream schedules on track
• The communication skills to move seamlessly between technical, regulatory and executive audiences

Ready to Lead Something Real?

This search is being handled on a confidential basis by Brightsmith.