Staff Operations Engineer

Strategy

First Article Project Commissioning: Provide technical leadership for the commissioning of FuelCell Energy’s emerging distributed power generation, hydrogen production, and carbon capture technologies. This role is responsible for leading cross-functional planning and field execution for supporting balance of plant, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and controls systems; establishing commissioning strategies and validation approaches; and driving closure of technical issues required for safe startup, project turnover, and commercial readiness.

Commercial Project Commissioning: Lead and influence commissioning activities for mature technology projects, including directing key elements of startup planning, execution readiness, performance validation, punch list closure, and acceptance testing. The Staff Operations Engineer will act as a senior technical resource in aligning engineering, field service, project management, and customer expectations to achieve successful project closure.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Process, Mechanical, Electrical, or Instrumentation and Control Engineering or a related discipline with 10+ years of relevant experience in commissioning, plant operations, field engineering, or complex industrial project execution; or a Master’s degree or PhD in a related discipline with 6+ years of relevant experience.
• Performs work with a high degree of latitude and independent judgment, handles the most complex technical and execution issues, possesses expert knowledge of the subject matter, and provides leadership, coaching, and mentoring to less experienced engineers and field personnel.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and lead commissioning plans, procedures, and execution strategies while adhering to corporate business processes, quality requirements, and safety standards.
• Strong safety-based operating perspective with the judgment to lead technical decision-making in dynamic field and startup environments.
• Deep technical expertise in plant performance, integrated system commissioning, troubleshooting, and issue resolution across multidisciplinary engineering environments.
• Strong experience with root cause analysis and corrective action tools, with the ability to lead investigations, identify underlying causes, and drive effective resolution of technical and operational issues.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead across a range of root cause analysis and corrective action processes, providing structured technical leadership for investigations, identifying underlying causes, developing corrective actions, and driving effective resolution of complex operational and project-related issues.
• Lead development, update, and execution of commissioning plans, procedures, checklists, and field validation activities for mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and control systems during initial plant startup, first article deployment, and commercial project closure.
• Provide senior technical leadership during project meetings, commissioning readiness reviews, client site meetings, and customer technical discussions, clearly communicating technical status, risks, action plans, and path to resolution.
• Lead or significantly influence technical reviews of design packages, commissioning readiness, startup issues, and field changes, providing practical recommendations that balance safety, operability, schedule, cost, and customer commitments.
• Own completion of performance testing, acceptance test execution, and reporting required for customer acceptance, commercial operation declaration, and project closeout.
• Drive design verification, corrective action, and lessons learned activities associated with first article deployment and integration into commercial project execution.
• Initiate, lead, and support root cause investigations and continuous improvement efforts across the commercial fleet and development projects, ensuring effective follow-through and organizational learning.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to less experienced engineers and field personnel, helping raise organizational capability in commissioning execution, troubleshooting, and operational readiness.
• Support on-call responsibilities during critical commissioning and startup activities, with clear ownership for issue escalation and resolution during high-consequence project phases.