Lead Specialist, Long Lead Equipment

CenterPoint Energy • Houston, TX

7d

About The Position

CenterPoint Energy is seeking a Lead Specialist, Long Lead Equipment to join their team. This role is crucial for ensuring the timely and reliable delivery of critical equipment for capital projects. The specialist will lead proactive supply assurance activities, including early identification of equipment needs, development of sourcing and capacity strategies, negotiation of supplier commitments, and oversight of EPC procurement performance. The position involves managing the entire equipment lifecycle from procurement to final delivery, ensuring alignment with project objectives and contractual commitments. The role also requires proactive risk management, escalation of issues, and providing executive-level reporting on equipment status, supplier performance, and delivery forecasts.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in expediting, supplier performance management, procurement, supply chain, materials management, manufacturing, logistics, capital projects, or a related field.
• Experience managing post-order execution activities for critical equipment, engineered products, or long-lead materials.
• Experience working with OEM suppliers, EPC contractors, engineering organizations, project teams, and logistics providers.
• Experience monitoring manufacturing schedules, supplier commitments, inspection activities, testing milestones, shipment readiness, and delivery performance.
• Experience identifying and resolving supplier performance issues and implementing schedule recovery plans.
• Experience presenting delivery risks, mitigation strategies, and performance metrics to leadership and project stakeholders.
• Experience with SAP or similar ERP systems, project schedules, Microsoft Excel, Power BI, and reporting tools.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree preferred in Supply Chain, Business Administration, Operations, Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• Equivalent utility, construction, supply chain, expediting, or materials management experience may be considered where appropriate.
• Preferred utility, transmission, distribution, substation, generation, or large capital project experience.
• Preferred experience with transformers, breakers, switchgear, protection and control equipment, structures, cable, conductor, and other critical electrical equipment.

Responsibilities

• Lead proactive supply assurance activities including early identification of critical and long-lead equipment requirements, development of sourcing and capacity strategies, negotiation and management of supplier manufacturing commitments, oversight of EPC procurement performance, and ongoing governance of supplier execution through final delivery and project completion.
• Lead oversight of EPC procurement activities across the full equipment lifecycle, ensuring procurement plans, sourcing strategies, supplier engagements, purchase order execution, expediting, inspection, logistics, and delivery performance align with CenterPoint's project objectives, supply assurance requirements, and contractual commitments.
• Serve as CenterPoint Energy's project representative for post-award execution of critical long-lead equipment and strategic materials supporting capital projects.
• Lead equipment delivery assurance activities from purchase order award through engineering, manufacturing, testing, shipment, delivery, and project handoff to ensure supplier commitments support project schedules and business objectives.
• Proactively identify, communicate, and mitigate risks related to manufacturing schedules, supplier performance, testing milestones, logistics constraints, labor shortages, documentation requirements, and delivery commitments before they impact project execution.
• Provide leadership-ready reporting on critical equipment status, supplier performance, manufacturing progress, delivery forecasts, risk exposure, mitigation actions, and recovery plans.
• Partner with Strategic Sourcing, Engineering, Project Management, and EPC organizations to define procurement strategies, lead-time assumptions, required-on-site dates, and supply risk mitigation plans during project development and planning phases.
• Lead the early identification, assessment, and prioritization of critical and long-lead equipment, materials, and constrained-supply components necessary to support capital project portfolios and system reliability objectives.
• Establish and maintain forward-looking visibility of supplier capacity constraints, manufacturing lead times, market conditions, and demand forecasts to proactively mitigate schedule and supply chain risks.
• Coordinate cross-functional efforts required to negotiate, secure, and maintain supplier manufacturing capacity reservations, production slots, allocation agreements, and delivery commitments for critical equipment and strategic materials.
• Facilitate and coordinate equipment releases, call-offs, scheduling activities, and fulfillment actions associated with CenterPoint capacity reservations, volume commitments, framework agreements, and other strategic supply arrangements.
• Provide governance, oversight, and performance management of EPC procurement activities to ensure alignment with CenterPoint sourcing strategies, negotiated supplier agreements, capacity commitments, and delivery objectives.
• Monitor and evaluate EPC procurement execution, supplier engagement practices, expediting effectiveness, and schedule performance, driving accountability for achieving equipment and material delivery commitments.
• Ensure EPC contractors maintain appropriate visibility, reporting, documentation, and follow-up actions necessary to support successful equipment delivery.
• Challenge supplier and contractor commitments when production schedules, resource availability, manufacturing capacity, logistics conditions, or delivery forecasts create elevated project risk.
• Maintain ongoing accountability for supplier and EPC performance following purchase order award, ensuring contractual deliverables, manufacturing commitments, delivery milestones, and corrective actions remain on track through project completion.
• Lead recurring performance reviews with EPC contractors and strategic suppliers to evaluate schedule adherence, manufacturing capacity utilization, recovery actions, and overall execution effectiveness.
• Drive resolution of supplier and EPC performance issues through structured escalation, corrective action plans, executive engagement, and continuous performance monitoring until risks are resolved.
• Establish and maintain delivery assurance plans for critical equipment including power transformers, breakers, switchgear, substation equipment, steel structures, conductor, cable, controls, and other strategic materials.
• Escalate significant supplier and EPC performance concerns with clear business impacts, recommended actions, decision requirements, and recovery alternatives.
• Monitor factory acceptance testing schedules, inspection activities, quality hold points, release-to-ship milestones, and shipment execution activities for critical equipment.
• Validate supplier delivery forecasts against project schedules, construction milestones, and required-on-site dates.
• Develop and maintain executive-level dashboards and reports that provide visibility to critical-path equipment, manufacturing status, delivery risk, supplier performance, and recovery actions.
• Capture lessons learned and recommend improvements to supplier governance, expediting processes, delivery assurance methodologies, risk management practices, and project readiness programs.
• Comply with all applicable company policies, regulatory requirements, safety standards, procurement procedures, and project governance processes.
• Keep informed of industry developments, supplier capacity constraints, manufacturing challenges, and logistics risks that could impact project execution or supply certainty.
• Comply with applicable company, safety, regulatory, supply chain, procurement, and project governance policies and procedures.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Paid training
• Benefits eligibility begins on your first day
• Transit subsidies
• Flexible work schedule
• Paid holidays
• Paid time off
• Access to discounts at fitness clubs
• On-site wellness center at our headquarters in Houston
• Professional growth and development programs
• Tuition reimbursement
• 401(k) Savings Plan featuring a company match dollar-for-dollar up to 6% and a company contribution of 3% regardless of your contribution

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior