Lease Commissioning Manager - Energy

Microsoft•,

8d•$119,800 - $261,000

About The Position

Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation (CO&I) is responsible for delivering datacenter infrastructure for Microsoft’s cloud business. The CO+I Commissioning team manages end-to-end delivery of new datacenter capacity through program management and construction processes. The Lease Commissioning Manager works with datacenter architects, engineers, construction managers, network engineers, operations teams, and finance teams to deliver datacenter capacity within scope, schedule, and budget. The role ensures commissioning meets Microsoft standards and manages commissioning for projects in the assigned location region while supporting commissioning projects in other regions. The primary focus is commissioning and operational readiness for behind-the-meter (BTM) power-generation projects supporting datacenter capacity, with secondary responsibility for other CO+I commissioning initiatives. The manager oversees energy infrastructure from design review through energization, startup, integrated systems testing, performance validation, and operational turnover. The role involves extensive travel to project sites and coordination with utilities, independent power producers, EPC contractors, lease providers, vendors, and Microsoft stakeholders.

Requirements

Doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field and 2+ years of technical engineering experience; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 4+ years of technical engineering experience; or a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and 5+ years of technical engineering experience; or 12+ years of relevant technical engineering experience.
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements, including passing the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

Doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field and 4+ years of technical engineering experience; or a master's degree in one of these fields and 7+ years of technical engineering experience; or a bachelor's degree in one of these fields and 9+ years of technical engineering experience.
5+ years of experience working on datacenter projects.
Experience in project management and construction quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC).
Ability to develop and write detailed commissioning scripts.
Issue identification and resolution management experience.
Industry-recognized commissioning certification.
OSHA 30 or equivalent qualification.
NFPA-70E qualification.
Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Proficiency with MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), MS Visio, MS Project, and MS Teams.

Responsibilities

Lead commissioning activities for temporary and permanent onsite power-generation facilities, including gas-fired generation, reciprocating engines, microgrids, substations, utility interconnections, and associated balance-of-plant systems.
Develop and maintain commissioning standards, procedures, and best practices for safe, reliable, repeatable energy infrastructure deployment.
Manage contracted commissioning agents, EPC firms, generation providers, and startup vendors.
Review design packages, commissioning plans, startup procedures, operating sequences, protection studies, and testing scripts.
Conduct site inspections to evaluate construction quality, commissioning progress, startup readiness, safety compliance, and risk mitigation.
Drive commissioning from design review through energization, startup, integrated systems testing, performance validation, and operational turnover.
Travel extensively to project sites to oversee commissioning execution and support critical testing events.
Review construction progress, startup readiness, commissioning status, critical risks, and key performance metrics with stakeholders.
Coordinate commissioning between utilities, independent power producers, EPC contractors, lease providers, equipment manufacturers, operations teams, and Microsoft project stakeholders.
Facilitate commissioning readiness reviews, startup planning meetings, risk assessments, and lessons-learned sessions.
Report project scope, schedule, technical risks, startup readiness, and operational impacts to management.
Provide recommendations for executive decisions regarding energization readiness, load introduction, and commercial operation.
Develop, manage, and report commissioning scope, schedule, and execution strategy for BTM energy infrastructure projects.
Serve as Microsoft's on-site commissioning authority during critical startup and testing activities.
Lead troubleshooting, issue resolution, and recovery efforts for commissioning deficiencies, control-system integration issues, and startup challenges.
Evaluate and approve readiness for energization, synchronization, load testing, performance validation, and operational turnover.
Support Microsoft's energy resilience and capacity delivery strategy through alternative power solutions and BTM generation assets.
Develop and refine commissioning methods, startup practices, and operational readiness programs for emerging energy technologies and power-generation solutions.
Provide technical input to project planning, delivery strategies, design reviews, and risk mitigation.
Identify opportunities to improve startup reliability, commissioning efficiency, operational performance, and energy-asset readiness.
Monitor and evaluate commissioning performance of EPC contractors, generation providers, equipment suppliers, commissioning agents, and startup contractors.
Ensure compliance with project contracts, technical specifications, commissioning requirements, and Microsoft operational standards.
Review commissioning deliverables, including Statements of Qualification, test procedures, startup plans, turnover documentation, and operational-readiness packages.
Verify that generation performance, reliability testing, utility-interconnection requirements, and operational-acceptance criteria are achieved before turnover.
Hold external partners accountable for the safe, reliable, and timely delivery of commissioned power-generation assets.