Chief Engineer

Location: Lake Forest, IL
Duration: 3 Months
Shift: 8:00AM - 4:30PM

Responsibilities:

• Provide technical and operational leadership for engineering and maintenance functions, ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, life safety, controls, and critical infrastructure systems.
• Serve as the facility’s senior technical resource for complex equipment and infrastructure issues, providing technical direction, advanced troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and solutions to reduce operational risk and improve system reliability.
• Lead, coach, and develop maintenance technicians by establishing engineering and maintenance standards, strengthening technical capabilities, providing hands-on training, and promoting consistent execution of safe and effective work practices.
• Direct and prioritize preventive, predictive, corrective, and emergency maintenance activities based on business impact, operational risk, equipment criticality, regulatory requirements, and available resources. Develop reliability-centered maintenance strategies that improve equipment availability, extend asset life, and reduce unplanned downtime.
• Lead maintenance, infrastructure, renovation, and capital improvement projects from concept through completion, including business justification, scope development, budgeting, technical review, contractor coordination, execution, commissioning, closeout, and stakeholder communication.
• Provide technical oversight of contractors, vendors, and service providers by establishing performance requirements, monitoring service levels, resolving complex issues, validating completed work, managing costs, and ensuring compliance with company standards, applicable codes, and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with the Facility Manager to develop operating and capital budgets, forecast maintenance expenditures, assess lifecycle costs and infrastructure risks, identify replacement needs, and develop long-range capital plans that support reliable and cost-effective facility operations.
• Serve as a subject matter expert and technical leader for CMMS, asset management, business continuity, emergency response, and facility recovery while driving continuous improvement in safety, reliability, energy efficiency, maintenance effectiveness, technician productivity, data quality, operating costs, and customer satisfaction.

Requirements:

• High School Diploma/GED required; Associate's Degree preferred.
• Minimum 7 years of progressive experience in commercial or industrial facilities engineering, building operations, or critical infrastructure maintenance.
• Minimum 5 years of data center maintenance experience required.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience managing capital construction and infrastructure improvement projects.
• Knowledge of CMMS administration and maintenance planning.
• Experience working with Building Automation Systems, HVAC controls, electrical distribution, emergency power, chilled water systems, and critical facility operations.