Performance Engineer II (Remote)

SOLV Energy•San Diego, NV

2d•$117,678 - $129,446•Remote

About The Position

The Performance Engineer II - O&M oversees day-to-day operational activities for active projects and supports the performance, reporting, troubleshooting, and optimization of utility-scale solar PV projects. The position collaborates with internal and external teams, leads day-to-day coordination of operational work, and helps ensure accurate analysis and reporting. The role may be fully remote or hybrid with regular in-office presence in San Diego, California, or Bend, Oregon; location expectations will be discussed during the interview process. Travel may be required up to 20% of the time.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, science, or a related technical discipline.
At least 4 years of experience in PV performance engineering or data analytics.
Experience modeling with software such as PVsyst, PlantPredict, or SAM.
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other Office tools.
Ability to travel up to 20% of the time.
Ability to foster collaboration between teams.
Experience working in a diverse, multidisciplinary company.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to articulate a vision as an executable plan and clearly communicate with internal and external clients.
Effective problem-solving ability and strong analytical skills, including the ability to identify underlying or hidden problems.
Entrepreneurial spirit and passion for problem solving.
Ability to engineer solutions to problems and explain them to internal and external clients.
Ability to mentor and oversee Performance Engineers I and II.

Nice To Haves

Experience with programming languages such as Python, VBA, MATLAB, or Java.
Broad understanding of the renewable energy industry, particularly service and construction.

Responsibilities

Promote safety as the most important function and ensure employees follow safe practices.
Collaborate with internal teams to collect and consolidate data for reports, acceptance tests, analytical tools, and deliverables.
Onboard active projects into the Performance Team’s internal platforms.
Coordinate with other Performance Engineers to track critical issues across construction and operational projects and share findings to support fleet optimization.
Troubleshoot performance data and equipment, track commissioning challenges, and correlate them with work-order data for accurate reporting.
Lead Performance Engineers I and II in coordinating and managing day-to-day project operational activities.
Maintain a thorough understanding of site designs, equipment, and current project issues.
Calculate and analyze energy losses and system performance impacts from equipment outages or underperformance, and communicate findings to relevant teams.
Maintain understanding of analytical tools, performance calculations, and best practices; identify and help troubleshoot potential issues using analytical tools.
Update client reports using internal tools, including commissioning plans, test reports, operations reports, vitals, forecasts, and yearly guarantees.
Help prioritize field-team work based on failure criticality and occurrence.
Identify operational issues and initiate resolution with OEM vendors, field technicians, SCADA engineers, and other parties as needed.
Support the development of data analytics and software tools with Performance Engineers and Performance Engineering Managers.
Review reports and analyses generated by Performance Engineers I and II for accuracy and to identify project operational or performance issues.
Manage plant-performance optimization initiatives in collaboration with Performance Engineers, Field and Project Management teams, and clients.
Track contractual guarantees and hold periodic meetings to assess project risks and possible improvements, remediations, or optimizations.
Maintain clear and accurate documents and procedures for internal reference and training.
Support strong working relationships among Performance Engineers while prioritizing project ownership and success.
Facilitate project reviews and respond to client requests concerning project performance; escalate issues to management as needed.
Review turnover documentation for root causes of equipment underperformance and failure modes.
Run and evaluate energy models for utility-scale solar PV projects using PVsyst or other modeling software.
Verify project drawings, including site plans, system layouts, one-lines, cable management, and equipment installation details.
Create project-specific troubleshooting and reporting templates and maintain or improve workflow task templates.
Execute assigned tasks in the Performance Engineering Workflow Process and keep status notes accurate and up to date.
Run and evaluate PVsyst simulations of terrain, horizon losses, tree or external shading, snow, soiling, and spectral losses.
Develop into a subject matter expert in PV power plants.
Perform other duties as assigned.