Commissioning Engineer
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AI Summary
This is a remote position.
Role: Commissioning EngineerLocation: Remote, home-based, US-based candidate. Headquarters in Rosenberg, Texas (Houston area). No work is performed at the head office. All work happens at customer sites.
Reports to / works within: The Project Management team. Trains and works side by side with the senior Commissioning Engineer.
Team size: Lean. Roughly 40 to 45 people in the US, about 260 worldwide. The project engineering group is currently eight people. This hire is the ninth.
Why this role exists right now: HITEC has one Commissioning Engineer dedicated to North America and a confirmed backlog of new and retrofit units running through 2027. This is the second North America commissioning resource, hired and trained ahead of a large install volume that hits late 2026 into 2027.
Salary: $120,000 - $130,000 DOE
Video Job Description - See the Leader Before You Apply: https://youtu.be/ZjxEG4tLPDM
Why This Role Matters
"Building the right team in order to accomplish that is, in my opinion, the absolute key focus to success. Because if we fail any one customer, that prevents two to three customers from us in the next couple years."
Robert is the person who connects what HITEC sells to what HITEC delivers. In his words, he makes sure the salespeople do not sell something the company cannot fulfill on the back end. The Commissioning Engineer is the last technical hand on that promise. They are the one who validates that every wire landed correctly, every mechanical connection was run to spec, and the machine actually comes to life the way the customer witnessed it in Holland.
HITEC is growing steadily and is already planning to 2030. There is real backlog: roughly 16 units scheduled from late January through June 2026, plus another 17 units in production or installation that hit starting around mid-2026 and run into 2027. The company has been leaning on its European commissioning team to cover North America, and Europe is also covering Asia, South America, and the Middle East. This role exists to stand up a true North America capability so HITEC stops relying on a flown-in resource and can keep its delivery promise to every customer.
The Mission
In the first 12 months, become a fully independent Commissioning Engineer for HITEC's Dynamic UPS units in North America. You will learn the work the way Robert builds people, side by side with the senior Commissioning Engineer, before you run units on your own. As Robert put it, "We're not just gonna hire someone and throw them in." You will work three to five commissionings alongside Joel to get the flow, then carry your own units through the full cycle: safety validation, systematic startup, troubleshooting at first power, customer witness test, and signed acceptance.
This is not the same work over and over. Every customer, every site, and every unit is different. The principles stay the same. The challenge changes job to job.
Performance Objectives
Complete each assigned Dynamic UPS unit through the full commissioning cycle within the standard 10 to 12 working-day per-unit window, from first safety check to customer-signed acceptance.
Lead the four to five day safety validation on every unit. Verify every wire landing against point-to-point schematic wiring diagrams and every mechanical connection against the P&ID drawings, and report all discrepancies to the Project Manager for contractor correction before any energization.
Execute the documented startup sequence per SOP, energizing switchgear, control panels, and mechanical systems systematically. Clear alarms and troubleshoot first-power faults so each unit reaches stable operation and is ready for witness testing by roughly day six.
Deliver the customer witness test alongside the client and produce the final commissioning report, including chart recordings and captures, and secure client signatures converting each unit to formal acceptance.
Reach independent commissioning capability after working three to five units side by side with the senior Commissioning Engineer, giving HITEC a second North America resource in place before the late 2026 into 2027 install volume.
Serve as a senior technical phone and screen-share resource for the field service team on units that have transitioned to service, resolving escalations remotely without requiring a return to a closed-out site.
Fit Traits
Mission-Critical Composure. Stays calm and systematic when a system is energized for the first time and the unknowns are real. Signal from the Conversation: "The guys in the submarine, they know what mission critical is. If that boat doesn't come off the bottom, that's about as critical as it ever gets."
Solve-It Ownership. Digs into the problem and drives it to done rather than waiting to be told what to do. Signal: "Those folks have a mindset of, hey, we're gonna solve this problem. We're gonna dig in, we're gonna get it done, and take care of the customer and the mission at hand."
Hands and Head Both. Reads a medium-voltage schematic and turns a wrench on a leaking fitting in the same day. Signal: "They have to be able to pick up a wrench, and they have to be able to chase wire."
Ego Checked at the Door. Functions as part of a team and lets the work be the thing the customer sees. Signal: "I don't need a prima donna. I just want somebody who's gonna function as part of the team." And: "The customer don't wanna see you, they wanna see the work get done."
Right Attitude Over Pedigree. Coachable, driven, and good with their hands. Signal: "We can teach a lot of things if we get a right person with the right aptitude and understand how to use their hands."
Who You'll Work For
Robert Suhon is the Director of Project Management and the Manager of Business Development at HITEC. He has spent almost 25 years in the rotary UPS industry, including 11 years as president of one of HITEC's competitors. He started his career at HITEC, left in 2007, and came back in 2018 because of the leadership and the new product line. He describes himself as the glue between what the company sells and what it delivers, and his stated philosophy is customer mission first.
He is direct about not running people into the ground. He builds people through on-the-job training rather than throwing them in cold, and the person you will learn from most directly is Joel, the senior Commissioning Engineer, who Robert has worked with for about 14 years and calls a jewel on his team.
"I'm not asking anybody to give up their life for HITEC. The work's gotta get done. As long as everybody's working together, I'll find backup if you can't or if you've got something going on."
Why Veterans Succeed Here
Robert's first instinct on the ideal candidate was a Navy nuke or submariner, and his reasoning was mission-critical mindset: "If that boat doesn't come off the bottom, that's about as critical as it ever gets." He named submarine Machinist's Mates and Fire Controlmen, surface turbine specialists, and Aviation Electrician's Mates who chase wires and read schematics under a real sense of urgency. He has also placed strong tank mechanics in roles like this. The current senior Commissioning Engineer, the person this hire learns from, is a Navy nuke submariner. That is the profile, already proven inside this team.
HITEC runs like a small, tight unit. Roughly 40 to 45 people in the US, customer-first, everybody willing to help everybody even when they have never physically met. Service techs are spread across the country and may not see each other for years, yet they pick up the phone for each other on a shared mission. That tempo and that accountability culture mirror military environments. The travel is planned and forecastable, more like a known deployment schedule than a pager going off on Monday morning.
VHS matched this role because the performance objectives, the leadership style, and the operational tempo align with transitioning sailors from the nuclear, submarine, and aviation electrical communities, and with maintenance and electrical NCOs from the other branches who operate calmly under pressure and are equally comfortable with a schematic and a wrench.
Requirements
- Must have served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Reserves, or U.S. National Guard.
Benefits
Base pay of $110K - $140KFull benefits package
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