Associate Director, Utilities and Waste-Water Treatment

Merk•Elkton, VA

20d

About The Position

The Associate Director, Utilities and Waste-Water Treatment is responsible for safe, compliant, reliable, and cost-effective operation of the Elkton Utilities generation/distribution and Waste-Water Treatment Plant operations. The Utilities and Waste-Water Treatment facilities are responsible for providing the Elkton campus 24 hours per day, 365 days per year operation’s capability. The Utilities and Waste-Water Treatment Operation’s Associate Director typically manages through subordinate managers and professionals in groups of larger complexity and provides input to strategic decisions that affect the functional area of responsibility.

Requirements

Successful completion of the Select Assessment® for Leader Development assessment (SALD).
Minimum eight (8) years of experience in management related to Utilities or Wastewater Treatment Operations, Engineering, or Maintenance.
Minimum five (5) years of demonstrated management experience (union/non-union).
Highly developed communication, leadership, and teamwork skills.
Ability to handle and prioritize many simultaneous assignments and quickly adapt to changes in business priorities.
Ability to quickly address issues and develop solutions to minimize compliance risk and maintain operability.
Demonstrated ability to lead and collaborate with cross functional teams to achieve a common goal.
Demonstrated ability to build high performance teams and maintain teamwork and morale during periods of significant transition.
Experience with financial and budget tasks including profit plans.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and a hands-on approach to problem solving, with a bias towards going to see problems for oneself in the field.
Knowledge and expertise in the application of federal/state regulations, engineering standards, EPA and OSHA guidelines.
Ability to read mechanical, electrical and P&ID drawings.
Computer knowledge including automation/control systems, SAP, Excel, Word and other Microsoft based solutions and platforms.
Ability to examine an issue from diverse perspectives (safety, compliance, maintenance, automation, equipment, process, and people) in order to best understand and resolve.
Strong desire to succeed and to help others to do the same.

Nice To Haves

M.S. degree in environmental, civil, mechanical, biological, or chemical engineering or related scientific field of study.
Experience in a large industrial waste treatment environment, including activated sludge, biological nutrient removal, and solids handling systems. Knowledge and experience operating process and environmental compliance monitoring and control instrumentation.
Experience with environmental (air, water, waste) permits and compliance reporting.
Knowledge of building and plant site utilities systems (steam, water, compressed air, and electric).
A Virginia Waste-Water II license or the ability to receive license within three years after hire.
A Virginia boiler operator license or the ability to receive license within three years after hire.
Experience with cGMP in a regulated industry.
Experience with SAP.
Experience in Reliability Centered and Predictive Maintenance.

Responsibilities

Establish operational performance measurements, monitoring and analytical systems/tools to drive accountability and achieve high levels of performance.
Monitor and ensure safety/environmental/quality compliance, system operational reliability, coordination of maintenance, system efficiency/cost performance, and process optimization.
Manage operational budget for two cost centers.
Manage two operational teams which each include first line operations managers and union operations personnel.
Develop and train of the skills and capabilities of the operational managers and operational team. Establish and maintain operator qualification training programs and annual process specific training.
Use technical knowledge and collaboration skills to support departmental goals in assuring the compliant, reliable, and cost-efficient operation of a variety of systems within Utilities and Waste-Water Treatment operations including their associated auxiliary systems and required utilities.
Collaborate with technical support team in managing, troubleshooting, and improving the Utility operations and the biological and chemical wastewater treatment and solids handling processes as well as site sanitary treatment system.
Manage and implement operational adjustments and changes, gaining operator buy-in and adherence.
Owns/operates/maintains Utilities and Waste-Water Treatment operations in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.
Provides 24/7 on call support for Utilities and Waste-Water Treatment operations and provides effective emergency or crisis response.
Responsible for active involvement in employee relations and the resolution of labor relations issues which require tact, diplomacy and independent judgment.
Develop and manage operational procedures concerning normal operations, startup/shutdown, spill, upset condition, and emergency response, as well as alarm management.
Responsible for Talent Development of their direct and extended team.
Provide environment for effective Tier communication with technical support and maintenance organizations as well as shift turnover communication.
Develop a program to continuously improve and up skill the managers and operation team.
Provides operational support to master plan development and updates. Provides capital project support in project design reviews, commissioning, execution, and turnover acceptance for area projects.
Interfaces with internal and external groups, gains consensus and contributes to reliable and effective teamwork.
Participates in audits and training programs in the area of responsibility.