Chief Operating Engineer

We are recruiting for the position of Chief Power Engineer, First Class at the University of Ottawa, a key role as we prepare for the upcoming retirement of the current incumbent. The Chief Operating Engineer is seen as one of the Senior Director’s trusted partners and advisors in leading the Operations to become a business-oriented organization.

In this capacity, he/she organizes, directs and controls, on behalf of the Senior Director, the power plant, satellite plants and district energy system which supply steam, hot water, chilled water and compressed air that are vital for heating and cooling of almost all buildings on main campus as well as research and teaching activities. The incumbent directly manages the operations of the service.

In this capacity, he/she designs and establishes strategies for extending and optimizing the lifespan of existing assets, which includes providing tactical delivery of the goals and objectives for managing the infrastructure - all mechanical, plumbing, electrical, controls and instrumentation systems of a complex and diverse environment associated with high pressure power plant and its district energy system feeding almost thirty (30) large-scale buildings ranging from complex research laboratories to residential and office spaces.

This seasoned professional will provide recommendations to the Senior Director on strategies and continuous improvement initiatives to implement that would have an impact on the life of University assets. As such, he/she will act as a strategic agent-of-change, be responsible for creating structures and processes to measure and manage assets proactively in order to enable continuous improvement and increased efficiencies aligned with associated resources at the University.

In this role, you will:

• Provide leadership and logistical support to the operation teams.
• Assist by developing and setting up a structure adapted to the growth and evolution of the service.
• Maintain a healthy and productive work environment, recruiting, training, leading, mobilizing and evaluating the staff under their responsibility in a multi-union environment.
• Play a key role amongst management to promote Health & Safety and Performance values for embedding a culture of safe performance that supports operational and strategic decision-making.
• Provide innovative and strategic leadership and expertise in the planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation of major and minor projects pertaining to the infrastructure under responsibility.
• Lead the development and implementation of policies, systems and procedures to systematically handle emergencies as well as the operation and maintenance of all equipment and infrastructure under his/her responsibility.
• Ensure compliance with University policies as well as municipal, provincial and federal codes and regulations.
• Advocate and seek opportunities to implement incremental innovation and continuous improvement.
• Continually seek optimal processes performance.
• Work with the leadership team to drive broad cultural change and position the organization for long-term success by helping to improve or build high performing processes.
• Be responsible for the commissioning and onboarding of projects to ensure a seamless transition between construction and ongoing operation.
• Evaluate and manage performance of internal and external trades through balanced key performance indicators.
• Ensure accurate data is maintained in the system to allow for ongoing analytics and auditing.
• Ensure complete transparency of the methods utilized.
• Provide expertise on industry best practices and identify areas for incremental business optimization.
• Provide qualitative and quantitative recommendations and data to assist the Senior Director in determining changes and improvements to the various assets and how to utilize the departmental budget with respect to operational expenditures within approved budget constraints.
• Drive and facilitate effective collaboration and communication with key internal groups such as Planning, Project Delivery and Business Management.
• Ensure effective and timely communications to executives, and other university bodies such as Risk Management, IT, Research and Protection.
• Be responsible for the oversight of hiring, leading and managing the maintenance staff to ensure optimum operations, minimize expenses and maximize tenant satisfaction.
• Direct risks and issues evaluation and take appropriate action to mitigate and resolve them.
• Plan, direct and coordinate activities in the event of emergencies, interruptions of service and/or breakdowns.
• Apply, test and maintain the Business Continuity Plan to ensure the continuity of critical operations of the University.
• Administer contracts and contract agreements associated with third party contractors and property management corporations, oversee the work of service contractors, prepare and obtain tenders for services and/or renovation projects for the department and recommend changes to future agreements to the Senior Director as part of related procurement and contract development processes.
• Stay abreast of new technology, work methods, and techniques.
• Proactively research technologies and tools that are of potential interest to the University and make recommendations to senior management.
• Assume full Senior Director responsibilities (or those responsibilities as directed) during the Senior Director's absence.

What you will bring:

• Hold a First Class Operating Engineer license valid in Ontario.
• Minimum of 10 years of directly related experience in a complex and diverse environment.
• Extensive knowledge of engineering systems and sound operational and maintenance practices.
• Demonstrated flexibility with the ability to lead in a changing and complex environment.
• Knowledge of process improvement frameworks such as TQM, Design Thinking, Kaizen, 5S, would be considered an asset.
• Ability to encourage innovation in others through strong communication, relationship building and listening skills.
• Strong business acumen and advanced analytical and computer skills.
• Knowledge and experience using computer systems and software such as Windows, financial systems, computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), spreadsheets and databases.
• Knowledge and experience in maintenance service contracts, estimations and contracting processes and practices.
• Demonstrated experience with management and supervision in a unionized environment and with a multi-million operating budget.
• Effective written and verbal communication and presentation skills.
• Bilingualism – French and English (spoken and written) preferred.