Senior Director of Engineering Operations

Strata Careers•Durham, NC

About The Position

Strata Clean Energy is seeking a Senior Director of Engineering Operations to provide strategic leadership, technical excellence, and team performance for utility-scale solar and battery storage (BESS) projects nationwide. The Engineering group supports projects throughout their lifecycle, from initial design to construction execution and post-operation support. This multidisciplinary group includes electrical, civil, structural, and I&C engineering, working on internal Strata projects and for third-party EPC clients. The Director of Engineering Operations will manage the daily performance of this group, reporting to the Chief Engineer. This role focuses on operational management, including resource allocation, performance tracking, process improvement, and managing relationships with external engineering firms, rather than being a senior technical authority. The discipline leads will maintain technical standards, while the Director will oversee the operational system.

Requirements

12+ years of professional experience, with at least 5 in a role managing a multi-discipline technical delivery operation — not just a project team.
Background in engineering, architecture, or technical consulting.
Demonstrated experience managing external professional services firms and professional services agreements.
Comfortable with schedule and cost data; able to build and run performance tracking systems.
Technically credible with engineers without needing to be the technical authority in the room.
Strong operational instincts: energized by making complex systems run well.

Nice To Haves

Utility-scale energy experience a plus but not required.
PE license or equivalent professional credential a plus.

Responsibilities

Manage a team of discipline directors and execution managers across electrical, civil, I&C, and project engineering functions.
Own Engineering's operational performance: track throughput, rework rates, resource utilization, and design change volume; use that data to identify bottlenecks and drive improvement.
Manage Strata's commercial relationships with external civil and structural engineering firms: master service agreements, portfolio-level capacity planning, and performance accountability.
Resolve resource conflicts and cross-team scheduling issues; escalate structural problems to the Chief Engineer with recommendations.
Support the development of Strata's sub-contracts function, representing Engineering's requirements for firm capability, reliability, and technical standards.
Partner with the Engineering Program Manager to ensure smooth coordination across project phases and teams.