Central Mechanical Plant Manager

Atlantic Constructors • Richmond, VA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Manager – Chiller & Central Plant Services is responsible for developing, leading, and growing the company's Chiller and Central Plant Services group. This position serves as the company's senior technical resource for chiller systems and central utility plants while building the technical capabilities of the technicians assigned to the group. The Manager provides hands-on technical leadership, troubleshooting, commissioning support, and maintenance planning, and develops a structured training and mentoring program that produces a highly capable team of chiller and central plant technicians. A significant focus is mission-critical facilities-including data centers-where reliability, redundancy, documentation, safety, and rapid response are essential. Initially, assigned technicians will report directly to this Manager. As the group matures, the reporting structure and supervisory responsibilities are expected to evolve in line with the growth objectives described below. The successful candidate combines advanced chiller and central plant expertise with leadership, teaching ability, customer communication skills, and a strong commitment to developing others.

Requirements

• Extensive commercial or industrial HVAC service experience with significant hands-on chiller experience.
• Demonstrated expertise troubleshooting and servicing large-tonnage chiller systems.
• Strong understanding of chilled-water, condenser-water, hydronic, and central plant systems, including centrifugal, screw, air-cooled, and water-cooled chillers.
• Strong electrical and controls troubleshooting capability.
• Ability to read and interpret mechanical drawings, piping diagrams, electrical schematics, control diagrams, sequences of operation, and equipment submittals.
• EPA Section 608 Universal Certification and a strong understanding of refrigerant management.
• Demonstrated ability to train and mentor technicians.
• Strong written and verbal communication; able to interact professionally with customers, engineers, manufacturers, commissioning personnel, and facility operators.
• Valid driver's license and acceptable driving record.

Nice To Haves

• 10+ years of commercial/industrial HVAC service experience; 5+ years of significant chiller service experience.
• OEM training or certifications (Trane, Carrier, York/JCI, Daikin, or equivalent).
• Experience with large-tonnage centrifugal chillers and mission-critical or data-center central plants.
• Boiler and hydronic systems experience; BAS and controls experience.
• Vibration analysis, oil analysis, eddy-current testing, or other predictive-maintenance technologies.
• Startup and commissioning experience.
• Previous supervisory, foreman, lead-technician, or technical-training experience.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the company's senior technical resource for commercial and industrial chiller and central plant systems.
• Lead complex diagnostics, troubleshooting, repairs, overhauls, startups, commissioning, and performance resolution.
• Evaluate equipment condition and recommend repair, overhaul, replacement, modernization, or operational improvement.
• Review operating data-trends, alarms, approach temperatures, flows, pressures, refrigerant and electrical characteristics, and vibration data-to identify developing problems before failure occurs.
• Develop and lead the company's chiller preventive and predictive maintenance program.
• Establish standardized procedures, inspection requirements, documentation, and service intervals.
• Build equipment-specific maintenance plans based on manufacturer requirements, operating conditions, criticality, age, and customer needs.
• Ensure programs address overall plant performance rather than treating equipment in isolation.
• Support long-term maintenance agreements and central plant service programs across commercial, institutional, industrial, healthcare, mission-critical, and data-center customers.
• Participate in estimating, scope development, manpower planning, and technical review of major opportunities.
• Build and lead a formal Chiller and Central Plant Technician Development Program.
• Assess current technicians' abilities and establish individualized development plans with measurable competency levels and advancement requirements.
• Deliver classroom, shop, manufacturer, and field-based training across refrigeration and chiller theory, hydronics, pumps and pump curves, cooling towers, boilers, electrical and VFD/motor-control troubleshooting, chiller controls and BAS integration, refrigerant management, oil and vibration analysis, tube inspection, water treatment, commissioning, plant sequencing, energy optimization, predictive maintenance, root-cause analysis, and mission-critical operating procedures.
• Teach technicians to understand the complete system rather than simply replacing components.
• Identify technicians with the aptitude to become advanced specialists; develop succession plans to expand the group.
• Promote cross-training among HVAC, controls, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical personnel where appropriate.
• Provide technical leadership for work performed in data centers and other mission-critical facilities, including N+1/2N redundancy, multiple plants, redundant pumping and distribution, and concurrent-maintenance requirements.
• Participate in Method of Procedure (MOP), SOP, EOP, and Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) development and other customer-required planning.
• Coordinate with customers, facility personnel, controls contractors, commissioning providers, manufacturers, engineers, and other trades before performing work that could affect critical operations.
• Promote a zero-unplanned-impact approach to all mission-critical work.
• Support startup, commissioning, retro-commissioning, and recommissioning of chillers and central plant systems.
• Verify equipment operation, control sequences, flows, temperatures, pressures, safeties, alarms, and system integration; assist with functional performance testing.
• Work with controls and commissioning personnel to resolve issues involving equipment, BAS programming, sequencing, sensors, valves, and VFDs.
• Lead root-cause analysis following significant failures or performance problems.
• Maintain the highest safety standards while performing or supervising work involving refrigerants, electricity, rotating equipment, pressure systems, chemicals, confined spaces, and elevated work.
• Ensure compliance with company safety policies, OSHA, EPA refrigerant regulations, customer requirements, and applicable codes.
• Promote proper refrigerant handling, recovery, documentation, and leak management; ensure lockout/tagout and energy-control procedures are followed.
• Exercise stop-work authority whenever conditions could endanger personnel, equipment, customer operations, or critical infrastructure.
• Develop trusted technical relationships with facility managers, plant operators, engineers, general contractors, and data-center operators.
• Participate in customer meetings, equipment evaluations, plant assessments, and technical presentations.
• Assist Service Sales in developing scopes for maintenance agreements, major repairs and overhauls, replacements, upgrades, controls improvements, plant optimization, reliability improvements, and capital planning.
• Provide technically sound recommendations that support long-term relationships rather than unnecessary replacement or short-term sales objectives.
• Lead by technical competence, professionalism, accountability, and willingness to teach.
• Set expectations for workmanship, troubleshooting methodology, documentation, customer communication, and jobsite conduct.
• Develop technicians rather than creating dependence on a single senior expert; delegate progressively as competence is demonstrated.
• Conduct technical reviews after difficult calls, failures, and major projects so lessons learned are shared.
• Participate in recruiting and evaluating technicians; assist leadership with manpower planning, tooling, training investment, manufacturer relationships, and growth strategy.
• On-call participation for this role is strictly as needed to support the team that is built. Rather than serving in a standing rotation, the Manager provides senior technical escalation and backup so that day-to-day emergency response is handled by the developed group.
• Serve as senior technical escalation for critical equipment failures that exceed the field team's capability.
• Provide backup response as needed while the group's independent capacity is being built.

Benefits

• $0.00 COST FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL, SHORT TERM DISABILITY & LIFE INSURANCE (EMPLOYEE ONLY) COVERAGE!
• Dental Insurance Plan
• Vision Insurance Plan
• 401(K) Retirement Plan with Generous Company Matching
• Health Savings Plan with Generous Company Matching
• Wellness Programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed