Vice President Operations

Clean Energy; Newport Beach (CA); On-site; USD 230,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Clean Energy is seeking a VP of Operations & Reliability to lead enterprise operations, drive reliability, planning, scheduling, and field execution. You will shape maintenance strategy, asset management, and continuous improvement across multi-site operations, fostering a culture of accountability and operational excellence.

The role calls for a strategic leader with deep experience in asset-intensive environments, governance, and data-driven decision making, reporting to the COO and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Operations/related field; advanced degree or certs preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive operational leadership experience.
• 5+ years leading maintenance, reliability, or operations teams.
• Experience managing multi-site operations.
• Proven impact on reliability, maintenance and KPI improvement.
• Experience implementing enterprise operational systems and governance.
• Exposure to IoT, predictive maintenance, or AI-enabled ops.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise-wide operations strategy aligned with corporate priorities.
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and operational discipline.
• Mentor directors, managers, and frontline teams across functions.
• Build cross-functional relationships among Operations, Supply Chain, Reliability, Engineering, Finance and Safety.
• Drive governance, standard work, and KPI ownership across regions.
• Lead field operations, maintenance, reliability engineering, and scheduling.
• Oversee asset management systems and ERP/CMMS optimization.
• Lead planning, scheduling, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Data-driven decisions

Executive communication

Change management

Governance & KPIs

People development

Education

Bachelor's degree in operations/related field

Advanced degree or certs preferred

Tools

CMMS

ERP systems

SCADA

IoT & AI-enabled ops

Job description

Summary

The Vice President of Operations & Reliability (VP) is responsible for leading enterprise operations, maintenance excellence, reliability engineering, planning & scheduling, field execution, and continuous improvement initiatives to maximize asset performance, operational efficiency, safety, and financial outcomes.

This executive role owns the full operational lifecycle across planning, execution, reliability, maintenance strategy, asset management, supply chain coordination, and operational governance. The VP drives standardization, KPI accountability, reliability fundamentals, and operational discipline to improve uptime, reduce reactive work, optimize maintenance cost, and build scalable operational systems.

The ideal candidate brings strong leadership in asset-intensive operations and has extensive experience building reliability cultures, maintenance operating systems, planning & scheduling excellence, and cross-functional execution models.

About Clean Energy

Clean Energy is North America's largest provider of renewable natural gas (RNG) and alternative fueling solutions for the transportation industry. We operate a nationwide network of fueling infrastructure that supports fleets across transit, trucking, municipal services, airports, waste management, and other critical industries.

We offer competitive benefits and compensation of $230,000-$260,000 for well qualified candidates.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Culture

• Develop and execute an enterprise-wide operations strategy aligned with Clean Energy's corporate strategy and leadership priorities.
• Develop a culture of ownership, accountability, and operational discipline.
• Mentor directors, managers, supervisors, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technical teams.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships between Operations, Supply Chain, Reliability, Engineering, Finance, and Safety.
• Foster continuous learning and leadership development.
• Drive enterprise alignment through governance and communication.
• Enforce enterprise standards over regional exceptions.
• Serve as a key advisor to the COO on operational health, capital improvements, and opportunities to improve costs, revenue, and operational efficiency.

Operational Leadership & Discipline

• Provide executive leadership over field operations, maintenance, reliability engineering, planning & scheduling, and execution teams.
• Develop and execute operational strategies aligned with company growth objectives.
• Drive safety, operational excellence, and performance consistency across all regions and sites.
• Establish governance frameworks ensuring standardized work execution.
• Lead organizational capability development and succession planning.
• Build high-performing operational teams focused on accountability and continuous improvement.

Reliability & Maintenance Excellence

• Own enterprise reliability strategy and maintenance operating model.
• Lead reliability engineering functions, including:
  • Failure elimination programs
  • Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA)
  • Preventive Maintenance optimization
  • Predictive Maintenance initiatives
  • Condition monitoring programs
  • Critical asset management
• Improve asset uptime, MTBF, MTTR, and equipment availability.
• Reduce reactive maintenance and drive planned work execution discipline.
• Establish reliability governance, standard work, and KPI ownership.

Planning, Scheduling & Field Execution

• Ensure disciplined work management processes: Planning, Scheduling, Continuous improvement.
• Drive planning readiness standards ensuring labor availability, material readiness, BOM accuracy, safety requirements.
• Lead weekly scheduling governance and schedule compliance management.
• Improve workforce productivity, wrench time, and execution efficiency.
• Establish operational readiness gates and planning accountability.

Asset Management & Systems Ownership

• Partner with technology teams to optimize ERP, CMMS, IoT, SCADA, and related tools to track and analyze operational metrics.
• Own enterprise asset management strategy and supporting systems.
• Drive asset hierarchy accuracy, equipment master data quality, and maintenance data governance.
• Ensure system adoption supporting planning, maintenance execution, inventory, reliability analytics, and reporting.
• Improve work order quality, failure coding accuracy, and operational reporting integrity.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives utilizing operational data and analytics.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Operations Management, Business, Industrial Technology, Operations, or a related field required. Advanced degree or professional certifications preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive operational leadership experience.
• 5+ years leading maintenance, reliability, or operational organizations.
• Experience managing multi-site operations.
• Demonstrated success improving reliability, maintenance performance, and operational KPIs.
• Experience implementing enterprise operational systems and governance models.
• Exposure to IoT, predictive maintenance, or AI-enabled operations preferred.
• Experience managing customer O&M or servicebased P&L models preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong management presence with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to lead through influence, challenge established norms, and facilitate difficult conversations.
• High level of business acumen with the ability to align people strategy to operational and financial objectives.
• Datadriven mindset with demonstrated experience using Operations metrics to inform decisionmaking.
• Handson leadership style with willingness to engage directly in execution when required.
• Strong judgment, integrity, and discretion in handling sensitive matters.

Computer Skills

Advanced skills in Microsoft Office applications, specifically Word, Excel and Outlook. Experience with CMMS software, such as Microsoft Field Services, SCADA systems. Experience with IoT, AI, and Predictive Analytics a plus.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Ability to work on-site at headquarters as required. Periodic travel to operational locations and facilities as needed.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Licenses & Certifications

Valid Driver License (required)

Equal Opportunity Employer / Protected Veterans / Individuals with Disabilities

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.