Renewable Natural Gas Plant Technician

Waste Management, Inc. (WM)•Elgin, SC

About The Position

Manage a landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas facility to maximize production while ensuring safe work practices, environmental compliance, timely maintenance, contract compliance, and coordination with landfill management and operations. The role functions as a plant owner and must be available when necessary to meet role objectives and facility needs. The facility converts landfill gas into pipeline-quality natural gas for household and commercial use. The position operates and maintains specialty gas-processing equipment, gas compressors, hydrogen sulfide removal systems, a nitrogen removal unit, and a pressure swing absorber. This salaried position is eligible for a form of overtime. It combines office and plant/field work and includes responsibility for plant operations, instrumentation and controls, maintenance, outages, vendor coordination, safety, environmental compliance, procurement, budgets, and operational records. The operator must respond to plant shutdown call-outs during non-business hours and exercise sound judgment when addressing problems without direct supervision.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED from an accredited institution.
Five years of relevant experience in a plant operations or plant maintenance environment.
Valid in-state driver’s license.
Ability to respond to plant shutdowns during non-business hours.
Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment in non-routine situations.
Ability to operate assigned personal protective equipment and follow safety procedures.
Basic computer skills for communication, documentation, and changing operational settings.

Nice To Haves

Previous renewable natural gas operations experience.
Gas processing or pipeline operations experience.
Gas compression and gas conditioning experience.
Controls and programming experience.
Landfill gas collection experience.
Automotive or heavy-equipment technician experience.
Refrigeration or HVAC experience.
Ability to interpret P&IDs or electrical drawings.
Project management experience.

Responsibilities

Operate and manage the landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas facility to maximize production while maintaining safety, environmental, contractual, and maintenance requirements.
Perform intermediate to advanced instrumentation and control repair, maintenance, calibration, and troubleshooting.
Collect and evaluate operating data and choose actions to optimize plant performance within identified budgets.
Follow safety and environmental requirements and standard operating procedures.
Organize and manage plant outages and projects, maintaining detailed maintenance reports, gas data analyses, and waste-stream documentation.
Operate advanced instrumentation and process control systems.
Lead and coordinate third-party vendors and customers for scheduled maintenance, unplanned downtime, compliance, and well-field issues.
Regularly communicate with the Market Area Gas Operations Manager and/or WMRE Operations Manager.
Inspect, repair, maintain, and service plant machinery and equipment in accordance with operating procedures, manuals, company policies, and training.
Handle non-routine repairs and operational issues, applying sound judgment when working without direct supervision.
Implement company safety policies and ensure staff, vendors, contractors, and visitors follow them at the facility.
Complete assigned safety and operational training.
Procure supplies and replacement equipment, anticipate needs, manage vendors, follow company guidelines, and manage the annual budget.
Respond promptly to plant shutdown call-outs outside business hours, diagnose and repair or adjust equipment to restore operations, and consult operations managers as needed.
Maintain spare-parts inventory and provide a written inventory count twice a year.
Complete special assignments from the WMRE Operations Manager, Market Area Gas Operations Manager, or Landfill District Manager.
Work as part of a team and communicate clearly and professionally across business units.
Wear and operate assigned personal protective equipment and follow company safety protocols and procedures.
Troubleshoot and perform minor repairs on low-voltage AC and DC electrical systems.
Use basic computer skills to communicate, document work, and change operating settings to optimize plant performance.