Manager, Operation & Maintenance (Power Plant) - Memphis
xAI is hiring a Manager, Operation & Maintenance (Power Plant) - Memphis. Level rates it ; you can apply on xAI.
Level's read on this job
- On Level's scale, this role is Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
- The posting mentions CMMS, power plant operations and gas turbines among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as a senior role.
- xAI has 309 other open roles on Level.
- Posted within the past two weeks.
AI in this role
Manage operation and maintenance of a power plant supplying electricity to AI supercomputing facilities.
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today, SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of making life multiplanetary and expanding consciousness to the stars.
SpaceXSI is building Super Intelligence to help humanity understand the universe. Our teams are building the full Super Intelligence stack: from our Colossus supercomputers, to Grok models, to our suite of applications, including Grok Bot, Grok Build, Grok Imagine, Grok Voice, and X. We're creating a powerful flywheel where more compute trains better models, better models power more useful products, and what we learn from people using those products shapes what we build next.
MANAGER, OPERATION & MAINTENANCE (POWER PLANT)
We are seeking a Manager of Operation & Maintenance to lead the people who keep SpaceXSI’s on-site power plant running. You will oversee supervisors, leads, and technicians supporting operations and maintenance of gas turbine generation, balance-of-plant, process and fluid systems, and plant electrical systems. This plant supplies power for high-density AI supercomputing facilities in the Memphis and Southaven area, and it has to stay online.
This is a hands-on leadership role. You will set the operating and maintenance standard, run the organization through trips, outages, and day-to-day work, and build supervisors and technicians who can execute safely without waiting on you for every decision. You will work with engineering, construction, operations leadership, OEMs, and contractors as the plant grows. This is a full-time, onsite role based in the Memphis region.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Own operation and maintenance of the power plant, including gas turbines and generators, balance-of-plant, fuel gas and process/fluid systems, water, compressed/instrument air, plant HVAC and cooling, and electrical systems through, including protection, e-houses, blackstart, and switching
- Lead supervisors, leads, and technicians across plant, process, and electrical crafts as one O&M organization
- Set daily and weekly priorities so planned maintenance, emergent work, alarms, trips, and outages are balanced without losing generation
- Own the maintenance program: work planning, scheduling, procedures, CMMS discipline, spare parts readiness, and as-found/as-left documentation
- Direct start-up, shutdown, switching, isolation, LOTO, and restoration so mechanical, process, and electrical work is coordinated and safe
- Enforce SpaceXSI safety standards, including LOTO, NFPA 70E / arc-flash, confined space, and hot work. Stop work when conditions are unsafe and hold the organization to that standard
- Lead outage planning and execution with engineering, OEMs, and contractors, and support commissioning and turnover of new generation and BOP systems into operations
- Own O&M vendor and contractor performance, cost, and schedule. Work with buyers and accounts payable so accounts and contracts stay in order
- Drive reliability: bad-actor elimination, root-cause investigations, and standards that raise uptime as capacity grows
- Coach and develop supervisors and leads. Set expectations, manage performance, and scale the team with the plant
- Communicate plant status, risks, team performance, and resource needs to site leadership
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:
- High school diploma or equivalency certificate
- 6+ years of experience in a power plant or other high-reliability industrial operations and maintenance setting
- 2+ years directly managing supervisors, leads, or a multi-discipline technician organization
PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical, engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience
- Experience operating or maintaining gas turbine generation and balance-of-plant, including fuel gas, water, compressed air, and plant electrical systems
- Experience leading a mixed-discipline O&M team (plant, process, and electrical) in a generating station or similar facility
- Working knowledge of P&IDs, single-line diagrams, electrical schematics, switching, LOTO, and NFPA 70E / arc-flash practices
- Experience running a CMMS-based maintenance program, including planning, scheduling, and outage execution
- Experience managing O&M budgets, OEM service agreements, and third-party contractors
- Track record of reliability improvement, root-cause investigations, and high-uptime operation of mission-critical plant equipment
- Ability to develop supervisors and leads while staying close enough to the work to catch problems early
- Strong written and verbal communication with technicians, engineers, contractors, and site leadership
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Willingness to be in the plant and to perform hands-on work in all environments (heat, cold, rain), in tight quarters or at heights
- Ability to work extended hours, nights, weekends, and on-call coverage to support plant operations
- Remain focused while working in hazardous environments, while wearing appropriate PPE
- Must be able to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted
- Lifting, standing, climbing, bending, grasping, sitting, pulling, pushing, stooping, stretching, and carrying are generally required to perform the functions of this position
- Must be able to work on-site at the power generation facility, with potential travel to other SpaceXSI sites
SpaceXSI is an equal opportunity employer. For details on data processing, view our Recruitment Privacy Notice.
How we rate this
Manager, Operation & Maintenance (Power Plant) - Memphis at xAI rates 20 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Little AI. AI is not part of the work.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where power plant operations was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where gas turbines was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where maintenance management was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where electrical systems was part of your work. What did you do?
- Walk me through how you've used CMMS in your day-to-day work.
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Power Plant Operations, Gas Turbines, Maintenance Management, Electrical Systems, and CMMS. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
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