Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) O&M Lead (Program Manager + Warranty/Compliance Engineer)

Role type: Full-time (40 hrs/week) + on-call escalation

Location: New England–based preferred, ideally within ~2 hours of the site in Northern New England (remote considered with potential travel)

Travel: As needed for site visits, outages, audits, and major corrective events

Role summary

Single-threaded owner for a Northern New England utility-scale BESS performance, maintenance, operations, compliance, and commercial outcomes—responsible for meeting the 99% availability guarantee, maintaining OEM/battery warranty compliance, and orchestrating a lean bench of local technicians and specialty vendors for scheduled and corrective work.

Core responsibilities

1) Availability & SLA ownership

• Own availability KPI performance (target ≥99%) and drive continuous improvement (downtime root-cause analysis, MTTR reduction, reliability actions).
• Lead incident response workflow: triage → dispatch → restore → verify → closeout, with clear escalation to OEM and specialty vendors.
• Ensure corrective response obligations are met through disciplined dispatch, vendor SLAs, and runbooks.

2) Warranty + compliance management

• Maintain OEM/battery warranty compliance (operating limits, required inspections/tests, data capture, claim administration).
• Track and manage warranty-impacting deviations and mitigation actions; coordinate OEM approvals when operating outside standard bounds is required.
• Maintain safety/compliance documentation and ensure site documentation is current and audit-ready.

3) Maintenance program leadership (scheduled + corrective)

• Plan and oversee scheduled maintenance program (annual/quarterly checks and multi-year tests), ensuring work is completed on time, with QA/QC and proper documentation.
• Manage corrective maintenance end-to-end, including diagnosis support, vendor mobilization, parts coordination, verification testing, and post-event reporting.
• Coordinate outage planning, pre-outage readiness, and post-outage validation.

4) Vendor/subcontractor orchestration (lean delivery model)

• Source, onboard, and manage local rapid-response technician(s) and specialty vendors (electrical, HVAC, fire systems, protection testing, metering calibration, oil testing/thermography, recycling/logistics, etc.).
• Negotiate MSAs with dispatch guarantees, rate structures, documentation requirements, safety standards, and escalation pathways.
• Enforce field quality standards: checklists, photo evidence, torque logs, test reports, and closeout packages.

5) Reporting, owner interface, and commercial administration

• Produce monthly and annual operating reports (availability, events, maintenance history, warranty status, spend summary, risks).
• Lead monthly performance review calls and communicate status, risks, and corrective/preventive actions clearly.
• Support invoicing/settlements and performance documentation where the asset requires market/utility reporting.

6) Parts program & spares stewardship

• Maintain spares strategy (critical spares list, reorder points, storage/security, replacement tracking).
• Coordinate non-battery parts replacement workflows and ensure OEM requirements are met.

Required qualifications

• 5+ years leading O&M for utility-scale energy storage assets (BESS strongly preferred) with direct responsibility for uptime/availability KPIs.
• Strong experience managing OEM warranty compliance, claims, and deviation controls.
• Proven subcontractor/vendor management: dispatch workflows, SLAs, quality control, and cost control.
• Strong documentation discipline (work orders, event logs, maintenance records) and owner-facing reporting capability.
• Comfortable with on-call escalation and managing corrective events calmly under time pressure.

Preferred qualifications

• Northern/New England utility-scale BESS O&M experience strongly preferred (regional vendors, utilities, and operating conditions).
• Electrical engineering background or equivalent power systems expertise.
• Experience building lean O&M models using local rapid-response techs + specialists rather than large fixed teams.

Success metrics

• ≥99% availability and measurable reduction in repeat faults / downtime drivers.
• High adherence to corrective response expectations through effective dispatch and vendor governance.
• Zero preventable warranty compliance breaches; clean claims administration.
• On-time monthly/annual reporting and strong performance review outcomes.
• Reliable vendor bench and spares strategy that consistently reduces time-to-restore.