HVAC Technician - Lead

Wood is recruiting for a Lead HVAC Technician to join its LNG Operations-Maintenance business onsite in Brownsville, TX United States.  Wood offers health, dental and vision insurance plans, long and short-term disability, 401k and Paid Time Off.

SUMMARY OF THE ROLE

Maintenance Lead Technician, HVAC, provides technical leadership, mentoring and oversight of HVAC maintenance execution activities and personnel to ensure safe, compliant and high-quality work while maximizing the availability, reliability and efficiency of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and associated environmental control systems across the facility. The Lead Technician is a working leader within the HVAC Maintenance team and provides coverage and support to the Supervisor during periods of absence, high work volume, outages and major maintenance activities.

Responsibilities

• Demonstrate proactive safety leadership and reinforce safe work practices across the Maintenance team.
• Guide the safety and wellbeing of execution team members, leading by example to maintain a positive culture of compliance and continuous improvement.
• Provide day-to-day technical direction, mentoring and coaching to HVAC technicians and specialist contractors.
• Coordinate with Operations, Electrical, Instrumentation, Mechanical, OT, IT, Security, Environmental, Plant Services, Engineering, specialist vendors and contractors while upholding the One-Team approach.
• Support execution KPIs and the Integrated Activity Planning and Scheduling process for RGLNG.
• Assist the Supervisor with work allocation and execution for HVAC activities, including Safety Critical Elements, statutory and federal requirements, deferrals and backlog management.
• Lead preventive, predictive, corrective and breakdown maintenance for HVAC, refrigeration, ventilation, pressurization and environmental control systems.
• Provide first-line technical escalation for complex HVAC faults and coordinate Engineering or vendor support when required.
• Lead HVAC teams during major maintenance activities, plant outages, turnaround events and unit shutdowns.
• Assist the Supervisor to complete locked-schedule activities safely, maximize tool time and minimize cost, backlog and deferrals.
• Support materials, critical spares, refrigerants, tools, test equipment and obsolescence management for HVAC systems.
• Drive continuous improvement, energy-efficiency, reliability improvement and cost-saving initiatives.
• Provide coverage for the Maintenance Supervisor, HVAC, as required.
• Participate in and, when assigned, lead maintenance execution meetings, HSSE meetings, pre-starts, work allocation and toolbox talks.
• Complete safety audits, quality workmanship inspections and field verification of HVAC maintenance activities.
• Review and update HVAC maintenance strategies, job plans, procedures, work instructions, equipment records, inspection sheets and functional test documentation.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED.
• 10+ years of industrial HVAC and refrigeration maintenance experience, including experience within hydrocarbon, petrochemical, LNG, power generation or another safety-critical facility.
• Recognized HVAC trade qualification, apprenticeship, technical diploma or equivalent industry credential.
• EPA Section 608 Universal Certification or the ability to obtain and maintain certification.
• Experience safely performing preventive, predictive and corrective maintenance on industrial HVAC and refrigeration systems.
• Experience maintaining centrifugal and screw chillers, packaged units, split systems, air handling units, ventilation and exhaust systems, pumps, fans, coils, compressors, condensers, evaporators and associated controls.
• Experience with chilled-water systems, refrigerant circuits, condensate systems, ductwork, dampers, filtration and building pressurization systems.
• Working knowledge of Building Management Systems and Building Automation Systems, including alarm review, trend review and approved control adjustments.
• Competent in interpreting P&IDs, HVAC drawings, wiring diagrams, control schematics, equipment schedules, logic diagrams, control narratives and cause-and-effect documentation.
• Experience with testing, inspection and documentation of Safety Critical Elements and statutory or federal compliance requirements applicable to assigned HVAC systems.
• Experience and working knowledge of CMMS systems such as SAP or similar, with the ability to create notifications, complete work orders and record inspection and test results.
• Ability to review and red-line HVAC drawings, maintenance procedures and work instructions.
• Working knowledge of Management of Change, change control and configuration management processes.
• Experience leading maintenance teams and specialist vendors during planned outages, shutdowns or major maintenance campaigns.
• Working knowledge of hazardous-area requirements applicable to HVAC equipment, including equipment identification, inspection and defect escalation.
• Strong fault-finding experience with HVAC mechanical, electrical and control components, including motors, starters, VFDs, sensors, actuators, thermostats and safety interlocks.
• Knowledge of refrigerant handling, recovery, leak detection, recordkeeping and environmental requirements.
• Experience maintaining HVAC systems supporting control rooms, electrical rooms, substations, telecommunications rooms, analyzer shelters and other critical occupied or equipment spaces.
• Must be experienced in Permit to Work, isolation and Lockout/Tagout processes applicable to HVAC equipment and associated energy sources.
• Must be experienced in writing and reviewing work instructions, job plans, inspection records and functional test documentation.
• Computer literate in word processing, spreadsheets, databases and applicable site systems, with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills and a hands-on approach.
• Ability to obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential and participate as a member of the Emergency Response Team when assigned.

Preferred knowledge, skills and abilities required of the position:

• Associate degree or technical diploma in HVAC, Refrigeration, Mechanical Technology or a related discipline; relevant NCCER or equivalent credentials preferred.
• Industry or vendor certifications relevant to industrial chillers, refrigeration systems, Building Management Systems, controls or condition monitoring.
• Experience with ABB CAPS, GE Vernova EMICON, Burrow CAHS using Trane equipment, or comparable industrial HVAC equipment and controls.
• Qualifications or demonstrated experience with hazardous-area HVAC equipment, refrigerant compliance, vibration analysis, thermography and predictive maintenance techniques.
• Experience applying reliability-centered maintenance, root cause analysis and lifecycle or obsolescence planning to HVAC assets.

Work Environment & Physical Demands with or without reasonable accommodations

• Operates in a complex construction and industrial environment.
• Work is conducted both in controlled indoor environments using HVAC monitoring and control systems and outdoors in the field, often under challenging weather conditions for extended periods.
• Must be able to wear all mandatory and necessary PPE equipment to perform job functions.
• Ability to move throughout all areas of the facility, including being physically capable of traveling to a designated muster point during emergency situations.
• Must be able to clearly communicate in the English language with others via radio, phone and verbal methods.
• Exposure to indoor and outdoor weather conditions and hot, cold, wet, humid or windy conditions.
• Exposure to moving mechanical parts, rotating equipment, refrigerants, pressurized systems and electrical energy associated with HVAC equipment.
• Must be able to lift up to 40 pounds unassisted and push or pull with up to 50 pounds of force.
• Required to grip objects with up to 50 pounds of force.
• Frequent standing, walking and balancing, including climbing stairs and ladders.
• Regular reaching, bending, stooping, handling and spinal twisting.
• Use of hands, arms and legs to lift, push and pull HVAC equipment, tools, filters, motors and components.