Commissioning Project Manager, BESS

The Commissioning Project Manager, BESS at SOLV Energy leads commissioning activities for utility-scale battery energy storage projects. The role covers planning, execution, and turnover across multiple concurrent projects nationwide and is based remotely in California with required onsite presence at project sites. Travel frequency and site assignments vary by project phase.

Responsibilities

• Own HV or BESS commissioning scope across 2-3 concurrent projects, including deliverables, milestones, schedule, resources, risks, documentation, and turnover.
• Develop and maintain project-specific commissioning execution plans, milestone registers, responsibility assignments, readiness criteria, integrated schedules, and resource forecasts.
• Translate contract requirements, technical specifications, interconnection requirements, permit conditions, OEM requirements, and company standards into executable commissioning work plans.
• Track progress, productivity, forecasted completion, constraints, and corrective actions; provide daily and weekly reporting to commissioning and project leadership.
• Review IFC drawings, one-line and three-line diagrams, equipment data, control narratives, relay and protection documentation, sequence-of-operations documents, OEM manuals, test requirements, and interconnection deliverables.
• Coordinate development, technical review, approval, and field implementation of commissioning plans, procedures, test forms, energization prerequisites, and acceptance criteria.
• Lead readiness reviews to verify construction, quality, engineering, documentation, communications, controls, equipment, staffing, and safety prerequisites before testing or energization.
• Manage pre-commissioning, cold, warm, and hot commissioning activities including functional, protection and control, communications, synchronization, utility capability, performance, and acceptance testing.
• Direct field commissioning teams, technicians, OEM technical advisors, third-party testing providers, and subcontractors; confirm responsibilities, sequencing, access, and witness requirements.
• Evaluate technical issues, test failures, deficiencies, and nonconformances; lead troubleshooting, assign corrective actions, confirm retesting, and manage closure.
• For BESS assignments, coordinate battery enclosures, inverters/PCS, transformers, controls, EMS/PPC/SCADA, fire and life-safety interfaces, OEM requirements, functional testing, and performance or capacity testing.
• Develop and manage detailed commissioning activities within the integrated P6 schedule, maintaining logic, durations, sequencing, constraints, and forecast dates.
• Develop and maintain the commissioning resource plan and forecast for labor, equipment, test sets, specialty services, OEM support, utility support, and third-party providers.
• Monitor commitments, hours, third-party costs, and potential change impacts; identify variances and support forecasts, change management, and recovery planning.
• Lead commissioning coordination meetings and daily plan-of-day meetings; document decisions, constraints, owners, and due dates.
• Coordinate with owners, utilities, ISOs/RTOs, OEMs, engineering, construction, quality, project management, operations, SCADA/controls, and safety teams while protecting contractual witness and notice requirements.
• Coordinate energization plans, switching plans, LOTO, tagging, permit-to-work, red-rope, grounding, and energized-work requirements with authorized personnel.
• Verify roles, boundaries, approvals, communication protocols, care/custody/control requirements, and operational authority before energization or system turnover.
• Ensure commissioning activities comply with company procedures, project requirements, NFPA 70E, applicable codes and standards, environmental requirements, and site-specific safety plans.
• Ensure complete, accurate, and timely daily reports, test records, issue logs, deficiency and punch lists, redlines, approvals, turnover packages, training records, and commissioning closeout documentation.
• Support milestone documentation for mechanical completion, energization, substantial completion, commercial operation, and final completion.
• Lead organized turnover to owners and O&M teams, including system status, open items, warranties, procedures, training, and operational documentation.
• Capture lessons learned and improve commissioning templates, work methods, estimating assumptions, schedules, readiness gates, and standards.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of progressive experience in commissioning, startup, testing, construction, operations, or project delivery for utility-scale electrical facilities, including substantial experience with HV substations or BESS.
• Demonstrated ownership of technical project scope including schedule, resources, stakeholders, risk, issue resolution, documentation, and delivery commitments.
• Experience coordinating multiple concurrent projects or complex workstreams and leading cross-functional field teams.
• Strong working knowledge of utility-scale HV substation or BESS systems and their commissioning sequence, interfaces, risks, and acceptance requirements.
• Ability to read and interpret contracts, scopes of work, specifications, IFC drawings, electrical one-lines, schematics, control narratives, relay and protection documents, OEM manuals, and interconnection requirements.
• Knowledge of HV and MV electrical systems, switching and grounding concepts, LOTO and energized-work controls, protection and control, SCADA/communications, and electrical test methods.
• Knowledge of PCS/inverters, batteries, transformers, EMS/PPC/SCADA controls, communications, auxiliary systems, fire and life-safety interfaces, and OEM commissioning requirements for BESS assignments.
• Working knowledge of applicable NEC, NFPA 70E, NETA, IEEE, NERC, utility, ISO/RTO, and manufacturer requirements.
• Project management capability in scope, schedule, resource, risk, stakeholder, cost, change, issue, and document management.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and experience with scheduling, document-control, and project-management systems; P6 experience strongly preferred.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to satisfy project access requirements.
• Frequent travel and extended project-site assignments required based on project phase and portfolio needs.
• Ability to work outdoors in variable weather, around construction equipment, and near energized medium- and high-voltage systems.
• Ability to walk active project sites, climb ladders or stairs, access equipment areas, bend or crouch, and lift or carry up to 50 pounds with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Ability to wear required PPE and work varied hours, including early mornings, nights, weekends, or outage windows.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management, project management, or related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Construction Manager, NETA certification, electrical license, or other relevant technical credentials preferred.
• Experience with EPC contracts, utility interconnection, owner or utility witness testing, commercial milestones, and project change management preferred.
• Legally authorized to work in the U.S. without employer sponsorship now or in the future.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic life, and disability insurance for employees and their families.
• 401(k) plan enrollment.
• Vacation, sick, and holiday pay.
• Compensation range of $110,632.00 - $138,290.00 salary.