Operational Readiness Lead

Location: The Woodlands, TX Required travel to offshore and onshore facilities for site visits, commissioning support, and readiness walkthroughs.

Schedule: Monday - Friday 9/80 Hybrid
Operational Readiness Lead
Description
The Operational Readiness Lead serves as the primary interface between Operations and Project teams, ensuring new facilities, equipment, and systems are designed, commissioned, and handed over with a strong focus on safety, operability, reliability, maintainability, and long-term asset performance.
This role is responsible for integrating Operations and Maintenance requirements throughout the project lifecycle, from concept selection through startup and operational acceptance, to ensure projects are delivered ready for safe and efficient execution. Roles and Responsibilities
Stakeholder Engagement & Operational Integration

• Serve as the primary liaison between Field Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, and Project teams throughout project development and execution.
• Facilitate stakeholder alignment and ensure Operations requirements are identified, communicated, and addressed at each project phase.
• Advocate for operational excellence and lifecycle asset performance during project decision making.

Design & Operability Assurance

• Participate in design reviews to ensure facilities and equipment are safe, operable, maintainable, and aligned with operational requirements.
• Lead and coordinate operability reviews to identify potential operational challenges, startup risks, and maintainability concerns.
• Ensure Operations has meaningful input into equipment layouts, process designs, human factors considerations, and system functionality.
• Review and provide input to operating philosophies and operating strategies for major projects.

Risk Management & Hazard Reviews

• Participate in HAZOPs, JHAs, and other project risk assessments to ensure operational hazards and execution risks are properly identified and mitigated.
• Provide Operations perspective on project risks, safeguards, and risk reduction opportunities.

Work Execution & Construction Readiness

• Review and provide operational input to work execution plans, construction strategies, and project execution activities.
• Review, approve, and sign off on work packs to ensure they support safe, efficient execution and startup objectives.
• Ensure operations considerations are incorporated into project turnover and handover plans.

Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT)

• Participate in Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) activities for critical equipment and systems.
• Coordinate with Field Ops Leadership to have field operations personnel attend Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) activities for critical equipment and systems.
• Verify equipment functionality, operability, maintainability, and compliance with project and operational requirements before shipment.

Maintenance & Reliability Readiness

• Ensure Maintenance has input into equipment strategies, maintenance philosophies, and long-term asset management plans.
• Lead critical sparing reviews and ensure appropriate spare parts are identified and available prior to startup by the project team.
• Verify preventive maintenance programs, equipment hierarchies, and asset data are established within SAP before operational handover.

Training & Procedure Development

• Support development of training plans and competency requirements for Operations and Maintenance personnel.
• Review and provide input to training materials to ensure they accurately reflect field operating requirements.
• Review and provide input to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), operating instructions, and startup documentation to ensure operational effectiveness and consistency.

Commissioning & Startup Readiness

• Review and provide operational input into commissioning plans, commissioning procedures, and startup strategies.
• Support commissioning and startup activities to ensure systems are delivered to Operations in a safe and fully functional condition.
• Track readiness milestones and verify operational acceptance criteria are met prior to handover.

Cost Optimization & Lifecycle Value

• Participate in OPEX and Total Installed Cost (TIC) reviews to ensure operational and maintenance costs are considered during project development.
• Identify opportunities to improve reliability, maintainability, and long-term operating efficiency while minimizing lifecycle costs.
• Influence project decisions to optimize asset performance and total cost of projects.

Required Knowledge, Experience, Skills, and Competencies
Education

• High School Degree / GED Required.
• Preferred: Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Petroleum, Chemical, or Electrical Engineering.

Experience

• Minimum 10 years of oil and gas industry experience, including significant offshore operations and/or maintenance experience on Gulf of America deepwater platforms.
• Prior experience supporting capital projects, commissioning, or operational readiness/handover activities strongly preferred.
• Offshore Gulf of America experience preferred.

Professional/Technical Knowledge
Minimum

• T-HUET

Optional

• T-2 Certificate
• Strong communication, organization, and cross-functional collaboration skills; able to effectively bridge offshore Operations with onshore Engineering, Projects, and Construction teams.
• Detail-oriented with strong documentation and follow-up discipline to track readiness action items to closure.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently and drive readiness activities across multiple concurrent projects.

Skills & Competencies

• Ability to read and understand P&IDs, PFDs, equipment data sheets, and 3D models.
• Strong working knowledge of offshore production, utility, and safety systems and their operating and maintenance requirements.
• Working knowledge of Management of Change (MOC), HAZOP, and Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR) processes.
• Familiarity with CMMS platforms (SAP) and the development of PM strategies, asset hierarchies, and criticality rankings.
• Understanding of spare parts strategy, including critical spares identification and provisioning.
• Basic knowledge of commissioning and start-up sequences, mechanical/system completion, and punch list management.
• Basic knowledge of project management principles, scheduling, and cost estimation as they relate to operations readiness activities.
• Basic knowledge of root cause analysis and reliability principles.

Travel Requirements

• Required travel to offshore and onshore facilities for site visits, commissioning support, and readiness walkthroughs.

With over 90 years' combined experience, NES Fircroft (NES) is proud to be the world's leading engineering staffing provider spanning the Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables, Chemicals, Construction & Infrastructure, Life Sciences, Mining and Manufacturing sectors worldwide. With more than 80 offices in 45 countries, we are able to provide our clients with the engineering and technical expertise they need, wherever and whenever it is needed. We offer contractors far more than a traditional recruitment service, supporting with everything from securing visas and work permits, to providing market-leading benefits packages and accommodation, ensuring they are safely and compliantly able to support our clients.