Sr. Director, Outage & Work Management
Houston, TX, US, 77010
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Job Summary
The Senior Director, Outage and Work Management provides enterprise leadership for the planning, governance, and execution of outages and day-to-day work management across a multi-plant power generation fleet operating in both union and non-union environments.
This role is accountable for safe, on-schedule, and on-budget outage delivery; standardized planning and scheduling practices; accurate work and cost tracking; and continuous improvement of maintenance and asset reliability programs. The Senior Director also provides training support—partnering with Learning & Development and plant leadership to build capability in outage leadership, planning/scheduling, contractor management, and work management fundamentals—to ensure consistent, repeatable performance across sites.
Scope and Span of Control
- Fleet-wide governance for planned, forced, and emergent outages, including major maintenance and capital work.
- Standardization and performance of work management processes (planning, scheduling, execution, and closeout).
- Oversight of KPIs, analytics, and reporting to drive schedule adherence, cost control, backlog health, quality/rework, and reliability outcomes.
- Training support: curriculum input, qualification standards, and effectiveness checks for outage and work management roles (in partnership with L&D).
Key Responsibilities
- Outage Management – Enterprise Governance and Delivery
- Establish and lead outage strategy, standards, and governance across all generation assets.
- Approve outage scope, integrated schedules, budgets, and resource plans balancing risk, cost, and performance.
- Lead phase-gate readiness reviews, daily field oversight routines, and post-outage lessons learned to improve duration, quality, and repeatability.
- Serve as senior escalation point for outage-related risks, safety concerns, labor issues, and execution challenges.
- Work Management – Standardization and Reliability
- Develop, implement, and monitor best-in-class work management practices including planning, scheduling, execution, and work closeout.
- Standardize work order coding, prioritization, backlog management, and equipment cost tracking across the fleet to identify maintenance drivers.
- Monitor emergent and break-in work levels; implement constraint, escalation, and mitigation strategies to protect schedule and reliability.
- Drive continuous improvement through best-practice sharing, extent-of-condition reviews, SOPs, and process optimization.
- Training Support – Capability Building and Governance
- Partner with Learning & Development to define role-based curricula (planner/scheduler, outage lead, contractor coordinator) and qualification standards.
- Provide SMEs to develop training materials, simulations, and job aids; align content with regulatory and company standards.
- Establish effectiveness checks (participation, proficiency, field validation) and support audit readiness for outage/work management competencies.
- Sponsor communities of practice and coaching programs to build capability and ensure knowledge transfer across sites.
- Union and Non-Union Workforce Leadership
- Lead work and outage execution in both union and non-union environments in compliance with collective bargaining agreements and company policies.
- Partner with Labor Relations and plant leadership on workforce planning, jurisdictional alignment, and issue resolution.
- Foster collaborative relationships with union leadership, contractors, and salaried employees.
- Safety, Regulatory, and Environmental Compliance
- Champion a strong safety culture and personal accountability across all work and outage activities.
- Ensure compliance with OSHA, environmental permits, NERC requirements, and internal safety and quality standards.
- Sponsor pre-job risk assessments, readiness reviews, and field verifications.
- Financial and Performance Management
- Own enterprise outage and maintenance budgets, forecasts, and financial controls, including contractor cost management.
- Define, monitor, and communicate KPIs related to cost, schedule adherence, backlog health, quality/rework, and reliability.
- Drive cost optimization while maintaining safety, compliance, and asset performance.
- Systems, Standardization, and Analytics
- Ensure effective utilization of CMMS and scheduling tools (e.g., SAP, Maximo, TRACK, Primavera P6) and alignment of master data and work standards.
- Lead data quality, reporting, and analytics efforts (e.g., Power BI) to enable transparent, evidence-based decisions.
- Support system enhancements, integrations, M&A data conversion, and post-implementation stabilization with IT/OT and Cybersecurity.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration and Communication
- Coordinate with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Supply Chain/Procurement, IT, Finance, and Project Management to deliver integrated outcomes.
- Oversee contractor strategy, onboarding, performance management, and demobilization; ensure clear scopes and accountability.
- Provide executive-level status, risk, and performance communications; align priorities with business objectives.
- Leadership and Talent Development
- Lead and develop distributed teams of outage leaders, planners/schedulers, and training SMEs across multiple sites.
- Build capability and succession through coaching, mentoring, SMART goal setting, and performance management.
- Set expectations for accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Proven leader of cross-functional, multi-site teams in industrial or power generation environments.
- Deep knowledge of power plant systems, maintenance, operations, and TPM/RCM principles.
- Expertise in outage planning/execution, work management, contractor oversight, and labor relations in union/non-union settings.
- Advanced analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills; excellent written and verbal communication across all levels.
- Proficiency with SAP/Maximo CMMS, TRACK, Primavera P6, MS Project, Power BI; familiarity with plant historians and SCADA/DCS.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Technical, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- 15+ years of progressive experience across power generation maintenance, work management, and outage management; 5+ years leading multi-site teams.
- 5+ years working with SAP or other CMMS platforms and project planning/scheduling tools.
- Demonstrated experience building or governing fleetwide standards and training programs.
- Ability to travel up to 50% to plant locations and work extended/irregular hours during outages.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree or certifications (PMP, CMRP, PE, Six Sigma).
- Fleet-level oversight experience across multiple generation technologies (fossil, combined cycle, renewable, nuclear).
- Experience designing KPI frameworks and dashboards to drive performance improvement.
Physical and Travel Requirements
- Ability to access industrial environments including stairs, ladders, confined spaces, and elevated work areas.
- Ability to wear required PPE and meet site access requirements.
- Travel up to 40–50% with overnight stays as required; extended/irregular hours during outages.
Additional Information
Salary will be commensurate with education and experience and consistent with market pay rates for the job location.
NRG Energy is committed to a drug and alcohol-free workplace. To the extent permitted by law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement, employees are subject to periodic random drug testing, and post-accident and reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing. EOE AA M/F/Protected Veteran Status/Disability. Level, Title and/or Salary may be adjusted based on the applicant's experience or skills.
EEO is the Law Poster (The poster can be found at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf)
Official description on file with Talent.
Nearest Major Market: Houston