Maintenance Specialist

Maintenance Specialist (Boiler System) Outage Planning & Daily Execution (Plant Scherer)

Position Summary

The Maintenance Specialist at Plant Scherer plans, schedules, and coordinates both daily maintenance activities and major outage work for fossil generation units, with a focus on boiler systems and balance-of-plant equipment. Plant Scherer operates CE, tangentially fired, pulverized coal units with water-tube, drum type boiler featuring 8 corner-fired burner systems and multi-stage air input.

This role ensures safe, reliable, and cost-effective plant operations by building executable work packages, aligning resources, and supporting field execution. The position partners closely with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Reliability/CBM, contractors, and a corresponding system owner to drive system health and long-term reliability. The role also includes leading and coordinating contractor work scopes.

Key Responsibilities

Outage Planning & Execution

• Develop detailed outage work packages: scope definition, sequencing/logic, labor loading, materials, tools/equipment, and quality hold points.
• Coordinate outage schedules and readiness activities across Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Reliability/CBM, and contractors.
• Support scope freeze, readiness reviews, and daily outage coordination meetings; track open actions and drive resolution.
• Provide field support during outages to manage emergent work, conflicts, access constraints, and schedule impacts.
• Track progress vs. plan; escalate risks early and propose recovery options when schedule/cost impacts occur.

Daily Work Planning & Scheduling

• Plan and schedule preventive and corrective maintenance activities using the plant work management system (Maximo or similar).
• Develop and maintain executable daily and weekly work schedules aligned with equipment availability, safety requirements, operational priorities, and resource constraints.
• Ensure work orders are field-ready by coordinating job plans, permits/LOTO requirements, materials, tools, contractor support, and required resources.
• Review and prioritize work orders, communicate system needs through the work management process, and participate in weekly planning meetings to support future schedules and plant priorities.
• Develop, monitor, and revise maintenance strategies through fleet initiatives, Maintenance Strategy Governance, and Plant Review Board (PRB) processes to support long-term system reliability.
• Perform system walkdowns, evaluate equipment condition, and incorporate field feedback to improve job plans, scope development, planning accuracy, and maintenance effectiveness.
• Provide technical support and subject matter expertise to maintenance personnel by utilizing OEM specifications, engineering documentation, procedures, and industry best practices.
• Manage system O&M and maintenance-related capital budget forecasting, including contractor labor, services, materials, parts, and equipment needs. Monitor expenditures and provide monthly projections to balance reliability, cost, and resource requirements.
• Maintain appropriate inventory strategies and coordinate with warehouse personnel to ensure critical materials and spare parts availability.
• Establish and maintain relationships with vendors, contractors, fleet subject matter experts, and SCS resources to support system reliability and execution excellence.
• Utilize available tools and systems, including Maximo, Tableau, OIS, and Microsoft Office applications, to support planning, execution, monitoring, and reporting activities.
• Execute major maintenance and replacement activities by coordinating maintenance and contractor resources while ensuring compliance with safety, quality, technical, and contractual requirements.
• Participate in on-call rotations and support outage, emergent, night shift, weekend, and holiday work as required.

Contractor & Vendor Coordination

• Serve as contract coordination point for assigned scopes; align contractor staffing with the plan and site expectations.
• Ensure contractors meet safety, environmental, and quality requirements, support pre-job briefs and post-job reviews.
• Coordinate vendor support, troubleshooting, and documentation (as applicable).
• Monitor execution performance and address issues quickly (scope clarity, access, sequencing, quality, and schedule impacts).
• Support execution across all shifts including night shift during outages (Planned, Forced, and Maintenance Outages).

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Reliability, Continuous Improvement & Compliance

• Support reliability initiatives (including CBM) by translating findings into actionable work orders and outage scope.
• Analyze recurring equipment issues; partner with Engineering/Reliability to reduce forced outages and improve availability.
• Participate in outage critiques/lessons learned and drive planning/process improvements.
• Oversee safety valve work and PAG/SOE requirements.
• Use OIS or monitoring tools (KPI Tools) to assess equipment health.

Qualifications

Required

• Experience supporting maintenance planning/scheduling, outage execution, or maintenance/operations in a plant or heavy industrial environment.
• Strong planning and organizational skills; ability to manage multiple priorities and respond effectively to changing conditions.
• Proficiency with work management practices (work orders, job plans, materials coordination, documentation) and basic computer tools (Excel/Outlook).
• Strong communication skills and the ability to coordinate across Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, and contractor teams.
• Demonstrated commitment to safe work practices and procedural compliance.
• Knowledge in governing code for Power Boilers - ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) – Section 1.
• Knowledge in governing code for Power Boilers - ASME B31.1 – Power Piping
• Knowledge in governing code for Power Boilers – Pressure Vessels ASME Section VIII.
• Fossil generation experience (boiler or balance-of-plant).
• Maximo experience (or equivalent CMMS).
• Outage planning experience (scope development, sequencing, readiness tracking).
• Contractor coordination/contract administration exposure.
• CBM/reliability exposure (vibration, thermography, oil analysis, etc.).
• Valve or safety valve experience.
• Welding certification (Preferred)
• NDE techniques (UT, RT, etc.).
• Experience with OIS or KPI monitoring systems.

Behavioral Attributes

• Self-motivation and demonstrated initiative are required for this position.
• The ability to communicate and work effectively in teams with varied individuals (craft personnel, supervisory, staff, and management) is required.
• Must perform all responsibilities each day with a safety-focused mindset.
• Must represent yourself and the company with the utmost integrity, ethical behavior and professionalism.
• Ability to make decisions and demonstrate short/long-term strategic planning skills.
• Ability to work with people to achieve organizational objectives.
• Ability to interface with vendors and contractors while representing the best interests of Southern Company.
• If this job is determined to be a critical job, limitations for transferring internally within the Company may apply for a set period of time. If applicable, details will be shared during the selection process.