Staff Electrical Commissioning Project Manager - Power

About the role

As a Staff Electrical Commissioning Project Manager focused on Power, you will bring commissioning leadership to power generation and electrical systems, taking generation units, substations, and electrical distribution equipment safely from mechanical completion through energization, synchronization, performance testing, and turnover to Operations.

Responsibilities

• Assists and works closely with the team by providing on-site leadership to Operations, contractors, engineering, and support staff throughout the commissioning efforts
• Directs the implementation of the Asset Commissioning Process with team members and coordinates commissioning activities
• Develops the electrical commissioning strategy, system/subsystem boundaries, and integrated commissioning schedule for power projects, including energization milestones, outage windows, utility witness tests, and OEM startup activities
• Works with the project team and leader to schedule pre-commissioning meetings, staff commissioning teams, and help mobilize teams to site
• Confirms that the staffing requirements within the commissioning process (ACP) are adequate to meet the proposed in-service date
• Continuously monitors the commissioning process against the site plan in order to make any resource adjustments as necessary
• Reviews electrical design deliverables (one-lines, protection and control drawings, relay settings, and arc flash/coordination studies) for commissioning readiness
• Assists with development and execution of FAT testing, software testing, commissioning work plans (ACP), gas handling plans, and vendor checklists
• Assists with the scheduling and coordination of all vendor representatives required for commissioning effort
• Verifies mechanical completion and construction turnover packages for electrical systems before energization
• Leads electrical commissioning and startup of power generation assets, including gas turbine generators, reciprocating engine-generator sets, generator step-up (GSU) transformers, and associated balance-of-plant electrical systems
• Directs pre-functional and functional testing of electrical equipment, including medium- and high-voltage switchgear, power and distribution transformers, motor control centers (MCCs), breakers, cables, bus duct, grounding systems, battery/DC systems, and UPS
• Oversees protective relay testing and verification, including relay settings validation, CT/PT testing, trip checks, and protection and coordination scheme verification against approved studies
• Develops and executes energization and switching plans, including first-energization procedures, switching orders, lockout/tagout (LOTO), and backfeed sequences, in compliance with NFPA 70E and company electrical safety standards
• Coordinates generator synchronization, load testing, and performance testing, including load bank testing, governor and excitation system tuning, black start capability (where applicable), and capacity/heat rate verification with OEMs
• Manages integration and testing of power control systems, including PLC/DCS, generator control panels, SCADA, power management systems, and communications with utility and plant control systems
• Coordinates work with Operations and other functional groups within the company to schedule all activities, outages and approvals necessary for the team to perform commissioning tasks
• Coordinates with utilities, transmission owners, and ISOs/RTOs on interconnection commissioning, witness testing, metering verification, and in-service/commercial operation date requirements
• Identifies electrical commissioning risks (equipment delivery, testing delays, utility coordination, and safety) early and develops mitigation plans
• Communicates status of all commissioning activities to Project Leaders and other partners
• Ensures electrical acceptance testing aligns with NETA ATS standards and manufacturer