Sr. Manager, Power Plant Operations - Memphis

xAI•Memphis, MS

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Sr. Manager of Memphis Power Plant Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for the gas turbine power generation facility supporting SpaceXSI's Colossus data center campus in Memphis, Tennessee. The role oversees plant operations, maintenance, commissioning, and continued construction and expansion, with responsibility for delivering reliable, high-availability electrical power to the Colossus AI training clusters. The position leads efforts to ensure 24/7 power reliability and quality, safety, environmental compliance, and cross-functional execution of scale-up, availability, cost, and schedule objectives. The manager serves as the site leader and primary representative to the Memphis community, regulators, and stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
At least 8 years of experience in power generation operations, plant management, or related industrial or aerospace operations.
At least 3 years of leadership experience managing teams of operators, technicians, and engineers.
Experience operating or managing gas turbine power plants, either simple cycle or combined cycle.
Ability to support and supervise plant operations and construction outside normal business hours, including nights, weekends, and on-call response.
Must be based at the Memphis/Southaven site.
Willingness to work extended hours as needed to support plant reliability and construction milestones.
General physical fitness, including ability to walk the plant site, access equipment, and work in industrial and outdoor environments with heat and noise.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing large-scale gas turbine facilities of 100 MW or more, preferably for high-availability critical power applications such as data centers or industrial facilities.
A track record of achieving and sustaining high plant availability, reliability, and low forced outage rates.
Hands-on experience with plant construction, commissioning, start-up, and concurrent operations and expansion of gas turbine facilities.
Deep knowledge of gas turbine technology, including aeroderivative and/or heavy-duty frames, performance optimization, emissions controls such as SCR, and balance of plant systems.
Experience with high-voltage electrical systems, generators, switchgear, protection, and data center or industrial interconnection.
Strong understanding of environmental permitting, air quality compliance, and regulatory reporting for combustion turbines.
Experience in fast-paced, high-growth environments requiring simultaneous operations and major construction.
Demonstrated ability to manage budgets, fuel costs, contractors, and complex stakeholder relationships.
Excellent oral and written communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
Comfort with major, abrupt changes in strategic direction and aggressive timelines.
Ability to work in a demanding, autonomously driven, start-up atmosphere.

Responsibilities

Provide strategic and operational leadership for the Memphis gas turbine power plant, including 24/7 operations, maintenance, commissioning, and ongoing construction and capacity expansion.
Own end-to-end delivery of electrical power to the Colossus data center sites, ensuring reliability, availability, power quality, and redundancy.
Lead multidisciplinary teams of operators, maintenance technicians, engineers, contractors, and support staff in a 24/7 operational and construction environment.
Oversee plant performance, commissioning, testing, and integration with data center electrical infrastructure and load.
Develop and execute operations and maintenance strategies, including preventative and predictive maintenance, outage planning, hot gas path management, and OEM coordination for gas turbines, generators, balance of plant, and high-voltage electrical systems.
Manage concurrent construction, equipment installation, civil works, and phased capacity expansions while maintaining safe, reliable operation of the existing plant.
Ensure compliance with environmental, safety, and regulatory requirements, including air permits, emissions controls, TDEC, EPA, OSHA, and local authorities.
Partner with SpaceXSI data center operations, engineering, fuel suppliers, OEMs, utilities, and regulatory agencies.
Formulate and execute operating budgets, fuel management, O&M, capital projects, and annual operating plans.
Drive continuous improvement in plant availability, heat rate, emissions, cost, safety metrics, and operational processes.
Establish and promote a culture of safety, accountability, operational excellence, rapid execution, and collaboration.
Serve as the site leader and primary representative to the Memphis community, regulators, and stakeholders.
Recruit, develop, coach, and retain talent; manage staffing, resource allocation, and contractor oversight for operations and construction.