Senior Commissioning Manager, Portfolio Delivery (Remote)
Solvenergy · California, United States · remote
SOLV Energy is a leading provider of infrastructure services to the power industry, designing, building and maintaining utility scale solar, battery storage and high voltage substation projects nationwide.
Job Description Summary:
The Senior Commissioning Manager – Sr. CPM & Portfolio Delivery leads the Commissioning Project Management function and provides portfolio-level oversight for Testing & Commissioning delivery across SOLV Energy projects. This role is accountable for consistent project ownership, integrated commissioning planning, milestone visibility, cross-functional coordination, resource balancing, reporting, and escalation from early engagement through project closeout. The position leads the Sr. CPM team and partners with HV and BESS/PV technical and field-execution leaders, who retain accountability for their respective technical standards and field-delivery scopes.
This role is fully remote. Specific location details and expectations will be discussed during the interview process.
Job Description:
*This job description reflects management's assignment of essential functions; it does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.
Position Responsibilities and Duties:
- Lead the Sr. Commissioning Project Management team, providing clear direction, coaching, training, performance feedback, and support.
- Establish team goals, role expectations, workload priorities, and accountability consistent with T&Cx objectives.
- Hire, onboard, develop, and mentor employees while supporting succession planning and career growth.
- Build a culture of safety, project ownership, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
- Lead and standardize the Sr. CPM operating model across regions, business units, and project types.
- Maintain portfolio-level visibility of commissioning schedules, milestones, readiness, risks, resource needs, and project performance.
- Ensure every assigned project has clear Sr. CPM ownership, an integrated commissioning plan and schedule, and an effective coordination cadence.
- Ensure Sr. CPMs serve as the primary project-level owners for the overall commissioning scope, communication, cross-functional coordination, milestone management, turnover, and closeout.
- Establish consistent expectations for readiness reviews, dashboards, reporting, issue tracking, documentation, turnover, and closeout.
- Balance Sr. CPM assignments and workload across regions and projects based on schedule, complexity, risk, and portfolio priorities.
- Drive early identification and escalation of issues affecting energization, commissioning, substantial completion, contractual milestones, and customer commitments.
- Support Sr. CPMs in resolving cross-functional, contractual, schedule, resource, and stakeholder challenges.
- Oversee Sr. CPM engagement with Project Management, Operations, Preconstruction, Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Field Testing, Safety, Quality, SCADA, OT Infrastructure, and other partner teams.
- Partner with the HV and BESS/PV Field Execution leaders to integrate technical scope, field readiness, resource requirements, and execution risks into the overall project plan without replacing their technical or field-execution authority.
- Review portfolio staffing needs and resource forecasts, and recommend hiring, contract support, or assignment changes to protect project delivery.
- Monitor portfolio performance, trends, and recurring constraints; establish measures that improve ownership, transparency, predictability, and customer confidence.
- Standardize project-management processes, tools, templates, estimating and planning inputs, lessons learned, and performance reporting across the portfolio.
- Ensure safety planning, energized-work requirements, switching interfaces, and care/custody/control considerations are incorporated into commissioning plans and project coordination.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Advanced understanding of the utility-scale commissioning lifecycle from early planning through energization, performance testing, turnover, and closeout.
- Strong portfolio and multi-project management capability, including prioritization, workload balancing, resource forecasting, and executive-level escalation.
- Strong knowledge of commissioning plans, integrated schedules, readiness gates, milestone logic, turnover requirements, and project reporting.
- Ability to interpret contractual requirements and translate them into clear commissioning deliverables, responsibilities, schedules, and governance.
- Strong understanding of interfaces among Project Management, Operations, Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Performance Engineering, Field Testing, Safety, Quality, SCADA, and OT Infrastructure.
- Proficiency with project controls, P6 scheduling, dashboards, reporting systems, document-control systems, and Microsoft Office applications.
- Ability to analyze portfolio data, identify trends and risks, and communicate clear recommendations to leaders and project teams.
- Strong conflict-resolution, negotiation, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including concise executive reporting and client-facing communication.
- Functional competencies include leadership, ownership, strategic thinking, organization, collaboration, customer focus, prioritization, accountability, and drive.
Safety
- Presents, supports, and leads by example with a safety- and quality-oriented attitude.
- Leads by example to demonstrate that safety is the most important function and ensures employees follow safe work practices.
- Continually reinforces safe behaviors and promptly corrects at-risk behaviors.
- Adheres to and ensures team members understand applicable standard operating procedures.
- Leads and supports project and site teams in technical, quality, and safety matters using established systems and processes.
Minimum Skills or Experience Requirements:
- A minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in EPC commissioning, project management, construction management, or delivery of utility-scale electrical or renewable-energy projects.
- Demonstrated experience leading employees and managing a multi-project or portfolio-level workload.
- Proven experience integrating commissioning activities into project schedules, milestones, budgets, and cross-functional delivery plans.
- Strong understanding of utility-scale solar, battery energy storage, and high-voltage commissioning interfaces.
- Demonstrated ability to identify and escalate project risks, balance competing priorities, and drive cross-functional resolution.
- Demonstrated ability to train, mentor, and develop project-management personnel.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, and stakeholder groups simultaneously.
- Strong Microsoft Office skills and proficiency with scheduling, project controls, reporting, dashboard, and document-control systems.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Business, or a related field is preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
- PMP or other relevant project-management certification is preferred.
- Valid driver’s license.
Physical Demands and Environmental Conditions
- Occasional exposure to weather, harsh outdoor environments, and variable site conditions.
- Requires frequent stooping, bending, crouching, reaching, handling, finger dexterity, sitting, standing, walking, and lifting 50 or more pounds.
- Requires the ability to see details at close range and at a distance, hear and communicate effectively, and possess depth perception.
- Occasional climbing and carrying, proximity to moving mechanical parts, and work in high, exposed, or difficult-to-access locations.
- The noise intensity level may be high.
- Work may occur on or near lifts and other machi