Director of Operations - Amp Americas

About Amp Americas
Founded in 2011, Amp Americas builds, manages, operates, and maintains RNG production facilities that convert dairy waste into carbon-negative hydrogen, renewable transportation fuel and power. The vertically-integrated company leverages over a decade of unique expertise and specialized experience in carbon-negative fuel development, operations, services and marketing to deliver comprehensive, turn-key solutions that address greenhouse gas emissions and seek to improve air, land and water quality. Visit ampamericas.com.

Position Summary
The Director of Operations will manage Amp’s portfolio of operating RNG production facilities.  S/he will be responsible for staffing, training, and retaining a team of on-farm operators with electro-mechanical, digester operations, chemical and/or biological process expertise as well as ensuring adherence to all of Amp’s protocols for safe work practices.  This position will also require extensive collaboration with Amp’s EHS, asset management, engineering, project delivery, finance, and regulatory compliance teams.  The Superintendent will manage project-related expenses, identify and share best practices across the fleet, manage outside vendors and contractors, build strong customer relationships, and help analyze performance / identify opportunities to increase production and reduce costs.  As needed, the individual will also work cross-functionally to support or lead a diverse set of analytical and/or operational tasks that may arise in a start-up environment.  This position will report, and be a potential successor, to the Vice President of Operations and have significant direct interaction with the Chief Operating Officer. 

Key Responsibilities

• Work with engineering and asset management to develop annual operating plans, manage major maintenance, and execute capital improvement projects, including 

• Identifying opportunities for improvement  
• Assisting in the evaluation of potential projects (e.g., equipment upgrades, process flows / P&IDs, safety considerations) 
• Informing financial and business modeling (especially cost-to-serve as well as risk and opportunity analysis) 
• Building relationships with vendors/partners/stakeholders 

• Professionalize/upgrade and expand the team and tools 

• “Third-line” supervision of the hiring, training, development and retention of a rapidly growing team of experienced operators & technicians in remote locations 
• Establishing and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) 
• Forecasting and managing operating (and other project-related) costs 
• Ensuring accuracy and timeliness of performance reporting to executives 
• Maintaining critical field instruments and devices for data collection and storage at each site to comply with all credit compliance reporting and annual auditing  
• Driving creative problem solving to address operational issues and opportunities 
• Making frequent unplanned site visits to ensure 100% compliance with safety practices, operating permits & regulatory reporting requirements 
• Optimizing spares inventory 
• Managing outside vendors and contractors 

• Set up Amp for safe, successful operations 

• Supporting the ongoing refinement of Amp’s field safety programs  
• Ensuring consistent execution of safe work practices while performing preventative maintenance, troubleshooting, and emergency response 
• Developing and documenting standard operating procedures (SOPs) 
• Helping automate performance monitoring & reporting  
• Identifying & leveraging best practices from competitors, other industry verticals 
• Establishing a culture of continuous improvement  

• Other duties as required

• Recruit, train, develop and mentor plant management and field talent 
• Understand and follow the Health, Safety, Environmental and Regulatory requirements for anaerobic digestion and gas upgrading facilities 
• Design and implement processes and procedures to create an operating environment that is safe and optimizes both uptime & throughput 
• Triage multiple (potentially conflicting) priorities and deadlines for diverse stakeholders 
• Review and develop operating plans from engineering drawings including, but not limited to, PFDs, P&IDs, plot plans, civil, structural, piping plans, isometrics, instrumentation, and electrical drawing and documents 
• Manage confidential information with the highest degree of professional responsibility 

• Bachelor's degree (required) 
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Chemical, Industrial, Mechanical, or similar) or Construction (preferred) 
• 15+ years of experience in field service management (i.e., leading operating teams and team leaders) in Oil & Gas, Renewable Gas, or other process-related industry (required) 
• Experience with relevant process equipment, components, and SCADA systems such as Wonderware, Factory Talk or Ignition (required) 
• Willingness to travel 50% or more of the time to remote locations, including to conduct unannounced audits and be responsive to abnormal conditions/emergencies (required) 
• Excellent written & oral communication skills (required) 
• Experience with basic computer software like MS Office (required) 
• Passion for & track record of solving complex problems and delivering results (required) 
• Interest in alternative energy, renewable fuels, or carbon abatement (preferred) 

What We Offer
Corporate:
·       Compensation package commensurate with experience including merit-based bonuses and equity
·       Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance starting day one
·       Paid time off and 12 paid company holidays
·       Opportunity to build upon your career in a company on the cutting edge of the RNG industry
·       HQ located near Clybourn & Armitage in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago
·       Casual dress code and marginally competitive ping-pong

Disclaimer: This job description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of the duties and responsibilities of the position, and the duties and responsibilities may change without notice. Amp is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to excellence through diversity.