O&M Manager/Commissioning Manager

Job Information

• Job Opening ID: ZR_1459_JOB
• Work Experience: 5+ years
• Number of Positions: 1
• City: Sharjah
• State/Province: Ash Shariqah (Sharjah)

Job Description Role Summary

The O&M Manager with additional responsibility as Commissioning Engineer is a strategic leadership position that demands technical depth, operational maturity, and execution excellence. This role is accountable for the end to end lifecycle ownership of plant operations, maintenance, and successful commissioning of water and wastewater treatment plants. The position requires the ability to orchestrate multi disciplinary teams, maintain high standards of compliance, safety, and performance, and ensure flawless handover to clients or asset owners. The incumbent shall act as the single point of accountability for uptime, operational efficiency, and performance reliability of all assigned assets, while simultaneously delivering commissioning excellence during new project rollouts.

Primary Responsibilities

• Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Management - Full Ownership of Plant Performance
  • Operational Excellence & Uptime Assurance
    • I. Take full ownership of the 24x7 plant operation, ensuring uninterrupted treatment processes across STP, MBR, MBBR, UF, RO, and other process technologies.
    • II. Drive KPI based monitoring including throughput, recovery ratio, energy consumption, chemical usage, and OPEX per m of water treated.
    • III. Identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and non conformities in real time and implement corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to optimize process performance.
    • IV. Maintain consistent process quality output aligned with statutory compliance and client service level agreements (SLAs).
  • Preventive and Predictive Maintenance
    • I. Develop and implement comprehensive maintenance programs including preventive, predictive, and condition based strategies for all mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation assets.
    • II. Monitor asset health and schedule planned shutdowns with minimal impact on operations.
    • III. Ensure availability and stock management of critical spares, consumables, and chemicals through digitalized inventory systems.
  • Leadership and Team Management
    • I. Lead a multi disciplinary team of operators, technicians, supervisors, and engineers, ensuring their roles are well defined, trained, and monitored.
    • II. Conduct performance evaluations, on site coaching, technical trainings, and team motivation to foster ownership at all levels.
    • III. Ensure 100% compliance to all local and international HSE standards, implementing zero incident culture, near miss tracking, and safety drills.
    • IV. Serve as the HSE custodian on site, enforcing permit to work systems, confined space entry, lockout tagout procedures, and MSDS adherence.
  • Process Data Reporting & Client Interaction
    • I. Generate daily, weekly, and monthly plant performance dashboards, highlighting key trends, deviations, and improvement areas.
    • II. Present O&M results in structured formats to senior management and external stakeholders.
    • III. Serve as the client facing technical lead, attending review meetings, audits, and progress reviews with a proactive problem solving mindset.
• Commissioning Engineering - Accountability from Mechanical Completion to Final Handover
  • Project Transition and Design Validation
    • I. Act as the first technical point of contact during project transition from engineering to O&M.
    • II. Validate P&IDs, GA drawings, BOQs, and process design documents for constructability and operability gaps.
    • III. Provide inputs to PLC/SCADA programmers to ensure control philosophy aligns with operational practicality and safety.
  • Pre Commissioning & Mechanical Completion
    • I. Preparation of commissioning documents, commissioning checklists, inspection test plans (ITPs), calibration reports, and quality dossiers.
    • II. Lead pre commissioning activities including loop testing, pressure testing, flushing, alignment checks, leak tests, and documentation verification.
    • III. Coordinate with QA/QC, safety, and civil teams to certify readiness for commissioning with comprehensive checklists and ITPs.
  • Cold & Hot Commissioning Activities
    • I. Execute cold commissioning to verify mechanical and electrical integrity.
    • II. Conduct hot commissioning with actual loading, operational tuning, and chemical dosing to meet design KPIs (TSS, COD, BOD, turbidity, recovery %).
    • III. Ensure adherence to process manuals, equipment O&M manuals, and operational procedures.
  • Performance Testing & Client Acceptance
    • I. Run Performance Guarantee Tests (PGT) and operational demonstrations with calibrated instruments and validated analyzers.
    • II. Prepare and submit commissioning dossiers including signed test sheets, punch point closures, DLP schedules, and as built documentation.
    • III. Obtain Provisional and Final Acceptance Certificates from the client with zero disputes or liquidated damages.
  • Knowledge Transfer & Post Handover Support
    • I. Conduct training sessions for client teams on plant operations, maintenance procedures, HMI/SCADA usage, and emergency handling.
    • II. Maintain support during Defects Liability Period (DLP) and continue monitoring until stable handover.
  • Core Competencies Required
    • I. Process Mastery: Deep knowledge of treatment technologies - MBBR, MBR, SWRO, BWRO.
    • II. Control & Instrumentation: Proficiency in PLC/SCADA systems, loop diagrams, HART/Modbus protocols, and cause effect matrices.
    • III. Multi Project Handling: Proven experience managing multiple concurrent projects across international geographies under pressure.
    • IV. Documentation & QA/QC: Expertise in commissioning checklists, inspection test plans (ITPs), calibration reports, and quality dossiers.
    • V. Client Management: Professional in handling high stakes technical meetings, audits, and authority approvals with tact and credibility.
    • VI. Leadership & Ownership: Proactive leader who assumes complete responsibility and ownership for O&M and commissioning success.

Experience

Accumulated 8-12 years of experience in O&M roles, with a significant portion dedicated to managerial or leadership responsibilities. Demonstrated expertise in water treatment or related industries, emphasizing hands on experience in detailed design for projects such as Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs), pumping stations, Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO)/Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis (BWRO) plants, and Demineralization plants. Preferred experience in water construction, Oil & Gas projects, providing an additional advantage.

Skills & Abilities

• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Excellent project management skills with a focus on delivering results.
• Technical proficiency in water treatment engineering.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
• Problem solving and decision making abilities.

Personal Qualities

• Visionary leader with a strategic mindset.
• Commitment to upholding the highest standards of ethics and integrity.
• Results oriented with a focus on achieving tangible outcomes.
• Adaptable to changing industry dynamics.