Principal Combustion Engineer

About the Role

The Principal Combustion Engineer serves as the company’s senior technical authority on Waste-to-Energy combustion performance, furnace operation, and boiler thermal behavior. This role provides expert-level technical support to operating facilities, with a focus on identifying true performance drivers, stabilizing combustion, improving throughput and availability, and supporting investigations related to environmental exceedances. The position requires strong technical judgment, systems-level thinking, and the ability to distinguish signal from noise. Success in this role depends as much on credibility, discretion, and influence as it does on combustion expertise. The Principal Combustion Engineer acts as a trusted conduit between plant operations, plant leadership, and corporate engineering.

Responsibilities

• Senior Technical Leadership – Combustion & Boiler Performance
  • Serve as the subject-matter expert for combustion systems, furnace operation, and boiler performance across all Reworld Waste-to-Energy facilities.
  • Evaluate operating data, trends, and transient events to identify underlying cause-and-effect relationships impacting performance, reliability, and emissions.
  • Apply fundamental combustion principles, including air/fuel balance, residence time, and temperature, to guide troubleshooting and performance improvement efforts.
  • Provide expert guidance on control strategy adjustments, operating targets, and system interactions affecting combustion stability and throughput.
• Performance Triage & Problem Selection
  • Review operating and exceptions data to identify issues that merit deeper investigation versus those that are expected or non-actionable.
  • Exercise sound technical judgment in prioritizing effort, focusing on issues where combustion engineering can materially improve outcomes.
  • Avoid unnecessary intervention in well-performing facilities while proactively engaging where emerging risks or degradation are identified.
  • Help plants and leadership understand what matters, why it matters, and what does not within the expected skillset.
• Environmental Exceedance & RCA Support
  • Support root cause analyses related to environmental exceedances, abnormal emissions events, and combustion-related operating deviations.
  • Analyze event timelines, operating data, and control system trends to determine causal mechanisms rather than symptoms.
  • Partner with Environmental, Operations, and Maintenance teams to define corrective and preventive actions that are technically sound and operationally sustainable.
  • Provide expert input on whether events warrant deeper investigation or represent known, understood failure modes.
• Cross-Functional Influence & Relationship Management
  • Build trusted relationships with plant personnel by listening, demonstrating technical credibility, and valuing operational insight.
  • Act as a conduit between facilities, plant leadership, and corporate engineering, ensuring critical information flows appropriately.
  • Support alignment between facility operations and facility management when technical perspectives differ.
• Knowledge Stewardship & Capability Building
  • Leverage historical operating data, prior analyses, and plant-specific documentation to inform recommendations and share relevant insights.
  • Contribute to the development and dissemination of combustion-related best practices, guidance documents, and institutional knowledge.
  • Coach and mentor other engineers and plant personnel on combustion fundamentals, performance drivers, and systems thinking.
  • Reinforce consistent application of combustion basics across the fleet.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline. Candidates who do not have a 4-year degree may be considered with equivalent job experience.
• Travel Requirement: Ability and willingness to travel up to 20% to support facility needs, investigations, performance improvement efforts, and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience: Minimum of 8–10 years of experience in combustion systems, boiler performance, thermal processes, or industrial power generation.
• Demonstrated experience supporting operating facilities in a senior technical or advisory capacity.
• Proven ability to compile and analyze complex operating data and translate findings into practical, high-impact recommendations.

Skills

• Ability to operate with minimal direction and set technical direction within their domain.
• Recognized internally as a trusted expert whose judgment is relied upon during high-impact events.
• Ability to balance technical rigor with practical operational realities.
• Strong organizational, communication, and reporting skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Waste-to-Energy or solid-fuel combustion experience strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting environmental compliance investigations or emissions-related RCAs.
• Deep familiarity with combustion control systems and distributed control systems (DCS).
• Track record of influencing outcomes without direct authority.

Benefits

• Medical, prescription drug, vision, and dental plans.
• 401(k) plan with up to 7% company match.
• Paid parental leave.
• Paid time off and paid holidays.
• Company-paid life and AD&D insurance.
• Short- and long-term disability benefits.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Educational assistance.

Additional details are available at https://www.reworldwaste.com/careers/benefits.

Pay

The pay range for the primary location of this position is $91,200.00 - $121,400.00 USD per annum. The final salary offered will be determined based on factors including, but not limited to: experience, education, geographic location, skills and competencies, travel requirements, and/or union contracts (if applicable).