We are seeking an experienced Senior Mechanical Project Engineer to serve as the owner’s technical authority for the design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operation of multi-unit simple-cycle gas turbine power generation facilities, including associated Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and auxiliary systems.
This role will support the company’s power generation development and execution portfolio and may become dedicated to a specific project site during the execution phase.
The Senior Mechanical Project Engineer will provide engineering leadership from late-stage development through procurement, EPC execution, commissioning, and long-term asset operation. The position will ensure project solutions meet requirements for performance, efficiency, reliability, environmental compliance, operability, and lifecycle cost.
This individual will serve as a key technical interface between the company, equipment OEMs, Owner’s Engineers, EPC contractors, and internal stakeholders, providing owner-side oversight and technical direction throughout the project lifecycle.
What You’ll Do
Owner’s Engineering Leadership – Gas Turbine Projects
- Serve as the company's mechanical engineering subject matter expert and technical lead for gas turbine generation projects.
- Provide owner-side technical oversight of major equipment and plant systems, including:
- Gas turbines
- Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems
- Heat recovery systems, where applicable
- Fuel gas systems
- Lubrication and hydraulic systems
- Inlet air filtration, conditioning, and cooling systems
- Exhaust systems, silencers, and stack interfaces
- Cooling water and heat rejection systems
- Buildings, enclosures, ventilation, and fire protection
- Black-start generation systems
- Ensure equipment and plant designs support long-term availability, maintainability, reliability, and lifecycle economics.
Engineering & Design Management
- Establish and validate design basis, boundary conditions, performance requirements, and equipment specifications.
- Coordinate technical interfaces between equipment suppliers, EPC contractors, Owner’s Engineers, offtakers, and other stakeholders.
- Oversee mechanical equipment integration, piping layouts, and balance-of-plant auxiliary systems.
- Support integration of advanced augmentation technologies and hybrid power configurations.
- Perform and review feasibility studies, conceptual designs, and engineering analyses, including:
- Heat and mass balances
- Thermal performance assessments
- Water and heat balance calculations
- Auxiliary and cooling system evaluations
- Review and validate key engineering deliverables, including equipment datasheets, technical specifications, PFDs, P&IDs, and thermal system documentation.
Project Development & Technology Selection
- Support project development through technology screening, conceptual design, and performance definition.
- Evaluate gas turbine technologies and configurations, including simple cycle, combined cycle, CHP, and primary power applications for data centers.
- Develop owner-level technical requirements, performance guarantees, and specification frameworks for equipment procurement and EPC contracting.
- Provide technical input into project feasibility, execution strategy, and investment decisions.
Technology Innovation & Optimization
- Evaluate technologies designed to improve plant efficiency, flexibility, reliability, and emissions performance.
- Assess turbine power augmentation and inlet air management technologies, including:
- Mechanical chilling
- Thermal energy storage
- Fogging
- Wet compression
- Intercooling
- Absorption chillers
- Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)
- Evaluate advanced auxiliary systems for high-reliability and extreme-climate operating environments.
- Lead technical evaluations of emissions-control technologies, including SCR and oxidation catalysts.
- Support decarbonization assessments involving:
- Hydrogen blending
- Combined-cycle efficiency improvements
- Carbon capture readiness and CCUS integration
- Evaluate impacts of emissions and decarbonization technologies on turbine performance, auxiliary loads, backpressure, permitting, CAPEX, OPEX, and lifecycle economics.
Procurement, Contracting & OEM Management
- Lead the technical development of RFQs, bid specifications, equipment requirements, and performance guarantees.
- Conduct technical evaluations of OEM and EPC proposals.
- Support commercial negotiations and contract development with equipment suppliers and EPC partners.
- Review vendor deviations, technical exceptions, change orders, warranty provisions, and long-term service agreements.
- Ensure equipment procurement aligns with project schedule, technical requirements, risk profile, and investment objectives.
- Develop and maintain strong technical relationships with OEMs, EPC contractors, and major equipment suppliers.
Compliance & Risk Management
- Lead and participate in technical risk assessments, including HAZOP and HAZID studies.
- Identify and mitigate technical, operational, safety, and reliability risks associated with gas turbine packages and auxiliary systems.
- Ensure applicable safety, environmental, regulatory, and owner requirements are incorporated throughout design, procurement, construction, and commissioning.
- Provide technical support for air permitting, emissions modeling, and environmental compliance.
Regulatory & Air Permitting
- Provide owner-level engineering support for environmental and regulatory requirements associated with gas turbine generation.
- Support air permit applications and compliance documentation.
- Provide technical inputs for emissions modeling and control technology evaluations.
- Maintain awareness of applicable requirements, including:
- EPA NSPS
- NESHAP
- PSD/NSR
- Local air district permitting
- Noise and thermal requirements
- Emerging carbon and decarbonization regulations
EPC Oversight & Project Execution
- Serve as a member of the owner's project management team during EPC execution.
- Provide technical oversight of turbine package engineering, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and startup.
- Review EPC design packages, interface documentation, installation procedures, and commissioning plans.
- Participate in:
- Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs)
- Site Acceptance Tests (SATs)
- Performance testing
- Reliability testing
- Commissioning and startup activities
- Lead resolution of technical issues, equipment problems, vendor claims, and commissioning challenges.
Asset Lifecycle & Operational Support
- Provide engineering support to operating generation assets, including troubleshooting, upgrades, outage planning, and performance optimization.
- Support spare-parts strategies, service planning, and reliability improvement initiatives.
- Evaluate retrofit and upgrade opportunities related to emissions compliance, output enhancement, efficiency, and long-term asset value.
- Capture operational lessons learned and incorporate them into future project development and design standards.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
- 10+ years of progressive experience supporting open-cycle gas turbine power generation projects through development, EPC execution, OEM environments, or owner/operator organizations.
- Strong technical knowledge of gas turbine packages, turbine auxiliaries, balance-of-plant systems, and equipment integration.
- Demonstrated experience with engineering design review, equipment procurement, EPC execution, and OEM management.
- Experience supporting air permitting, emissions compliance, and environmental control systems.
- Strong understanding of project development, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operational interfaces.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working for an IPP, power developer, or owner/operator organization.
- Experience with simple-cycle and/or combined-cycle power generation projects.
- Understanding of HRSG and steam-cycle integration.
- Experience with gas turbine technology selection and performance evaluation.
- Knowledge of decarbonization technologies, including hydrogen blending and carbon capture readiness.
- Professional Engineer (PE) license strongly preferred.
- Field commissioning, startup, performance testing, or troubleshooting experience.
- Experience supporting power generation for data center applications.
Core Competencies
- Owner's engineering mindset and strong technical accountability
- Gas turbine and balance-of-plant expertise
- EPC and OEM technical oversight
- Equipment procurement and specification development
- Project development and technology evaluation
- Regulatory and air permitting knowledge
- Strong commercial and contract awareness
- Technical risk identification and mitigation
- Ability to balance innovation with practical project execution
- Strong communication with technical, commercial, and executive stakeholders
- Ability to operate effectively across development, engineering, construction, and operations teams
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