Reliability Manager

Solaris Energy Infrastructure•Houston, TX

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Solaris Energy Infrastructure, Inc. (NYSE:SEI) provides scalable equipment-based solutions for use in distributed power generation as well as the management of raw materials used in the completion of oil and natural gas wells. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Solaris serves multiple U.S. end markets, including energy, data centers, and other commercial and industrial sectors. The Reliability Manager owns the reliability strategy, program, and team for the gas turbine generator fleet and associated power generation equipment. This role leads a team of reliability engineers and a data scientist, directing data gathering and analytics efforts, root cause analysis (RCA) investigations, and the translation of findings into maintenance strategy and design improvements. In addition to technical and team leadership, the Reliability Manager owns cost analysis for reliability and maintenance activities, partnering with Finance and Operations to identify and drive OPEX reduction opportunities across the fleet. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring close collaboration with OEMs (e.g., Solar Turbines), maintenance and operations teams, engineering, and executive leadership to drive continuous improvement in fleet reliability and total cost of ownership. This position involves a combination of office-based leadership, data analysis, and budget/cost-analysis work, along with periodic field site investigations. The candidate must be comfortable working in industrial environments including operating power plants and active maintenance sites. Travel to domestic and/or international project sites may be required for failure investigations and inspections, estimated at up to 20% of working time. The employee may be required to perform other job-related duties as requested by management. All duties will be assigned in accordance with applicable laws and company policies.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree (MS/MBA) a plus.
8–15 years of experience in reliability engineering, maintenance engineering, or rotating equipment engineering in the power generation or oil & gas sector.
3+ years of experience directly managing or leading a technical team, including performance management and professional development responsibilities.
Demonstrated experience with gas turbine generator sets (e.g., Solar Turbines, GE, Siemens) is highly preferred.
Experience conducting and overseeing formal root cause analysis (RCA) and FMEA investigations.
Experience building or managing cost models, budgets, or OPEX reduction initiatives in a maintenance or operations environment.
Proficiency with reliability tools and methodologies: RCA, FMEA, FTA, Weibull analysis, RCM.
Working knowledge of turbine condition monitoring: vibration analysis, oil analysis, borescope inspection, and performance monitoring.
Familiarity with CMMS platforms (e.g., Maximo, SAP PM) and SCADA/historian data sources, and the ability to direct a Data Scientist in building analytics and automation around them.
Understanding of turbine auxiliary systems: fuel, lube oil, combustion, SCR/emissions control, and generator/electrical systems.
Familiarity with applicable industry standards including API, ISO 14224, and NFPA.
Strong financial acumen, including cost modeling, budgeting, and OPEX/CAPEX trade-off analysis.
Strong data analysis skills (Excel, Power BI, or similar); comfort reviewing and directing statistical or predictive modeling work.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail in technical investigations.
Proven people leadership skills, including coaching, delegation, and performance management of a technical team.
Effective written and verbal communication skills for technical and financial reporting and cross-functional collaboration.
Ability to manage competing priorities, budgets, and multiple investigations in a fast-paced project environment.
Collaborative leader able to work cross-functionally with engineering, maintenance, operations, and finance teams.
Willingness to travel to project sites for failure investigations and inspections.
Detail-oriented with a strong commitment to safety, quality, and engineering best practices.

Nice To Haves

Exceptional communicator – direct and transparent, skilled problem-solver with proven success in building coalitions and avoiding conflicts
Total ownership mentality – proactively identifies and removes obstacles across numerous ongoing tasks
Independent thinker – provides original thoughts and constantly asking "how can we do this better"
Innovative thinker – willingness to consider novel solutions and ability to adapt to change
Desirable teammate – impeccable character, humility, and collaborative
Relentless – aspires to contribute and achieve his/her full potential

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and develop a team of reliability engineers and a dedicated Data Scientist supporting the reliability function.
Direct the Data Scientist's efforts in building automated data pipelines, dashboards, and predictive models to support turbine fleet data gathering and analytics.
Set team priorities, allocate workload across investigations and analytics projects, and review technical output for quality and rigor.
Conduct performance management, goal-setting, and professional development planning for direct reports.
Partner with HR and senior engineering leadership on hiring, onboarding, and org planning for the reliability team.
Oversee collection, organization, and validation of turbine operating data (starts, hours, trips, alarms, vibration, temperatures, emissions) from SCADA, CMMS, and OEM monitoring platforms, leveraging the team's Data Scientist to automate and scale these efforts.
Direct development and maintenance of reliability databases/dashboards tracking MTBF, MTTR, availability, and forced outage rates.
Review historical performance trend analysis to identify degradation patterns and early warning indicators.
Benchmark fleet performance against OEM design specifications and industry standards.
Own KPI development and reporting for reliability performance reviews with senior leadership.
Lead and/or participate in root cause analysis (RCA) investigations for turbine and balance-of-plant equipment failures (e.g., Fishbone/Ishikawa, 5-Why, Fault Tree Analysis).
Perform failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) on critical turbine components and systems.
Investigate unplanned outages, trips, and forced derates, documenting findings, contributing factors, and corrective actions.
Coordinate with OEM engineering teams on component failure investigations, metallurgical analysis, and warranty claims.
Maintain a failure history database and lessons-learned repository to prevent recurrence.
Provide technical insights and recommendations to maintenance planning teams based on reliability data and RCA findings.
Support development and refinement of preventive and predictive maintenance (PdM) programs, including vibration analysis, oil analysis, and borescope inspections.
Recommend adjustments to maintenance intervals, spare parts strategy, and inspection scopes based on observed failure modes.
Review OEM maintenance bulletins, service letters, and technical directives, and assess applicability to the fleet.
Support reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) initiatives across the turbine fleet.
Perform cost analysis on maintenance, spare parts, and repair activities to identify opportunities to reduce operating expense (OPEX) across the turbine fleet.
Build and maintain cost-of-reliability models (cost per failure, cost per operating hour, cost of unplanned downtime) to quantify the financial impact of reliability initiatives.
Partner with Finance and Operations to develop and track the reliability program budget, including spare parts inventory, contracted services, and predictive maintenance tools.
Evaluate maintenance interval and strategy changes (e.g., condition-based vs. time-based maintenance) for their OPEX impact, balancing cost against reliability risk.
Present cost-benefit analyses and business cases for reliability improvement projects and capital vs. OPEX trade-off decisions to leadership.
Track and report savings realized from reliability-driven OPEX reduction initiatives.
Interface with plant operations, maintenance, and engineering teams to align on reliability priorities.
Communicate technical and financial findings clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executive leadership reporting.
Support project engineering teams during design reviews with lessons learned from field reliability data.
Participate in equipment commissioning and startup to establish reliability baselines.
Develop and maintain technical documentation including RCA reports, failure analysis reports, and reliability trend reports.
Track and report on corrective and preventive action (CAPA) closure.
Support audits and OEM reliability reviews.
Identify and champion reliability improvement projects and quantify their impact.