The Chief Mechanical Officer – Turbomachinery serves as the top executive responsible for the engineering, reliability, maintenance, and lifecycle strategy of all turbomachinery assets, including gas turbines, steam turbines, compressors, expanders, pumps, and associated rotating equipment. This role defines enterprise-wide standards, drives asset performance optimization, and ensures mechanical systems support operational, safety, financial, and environmental goals. The CMO will lead cross-functional teams and collaborate with OEMs, vendors, and strategic partners to ensure best-in-class mechanical asset management across the fleet.
Develop and execute the corporate turbomachinery strategy across power generation, refining, petrochemical, or LNG assets.
Align engineering, operations, and maintenance with corporate goals related to uptime, emissions, lifecycle cost, and risk management.
Serve as the executive owner of asset integrity, equipment availability, and mechanical reliability.
Lead the performance strategy for all turbomachinery systems—including thermal efficiency, degradation trends, vibration control, and emissions optimization.
Oversee reliability programs such as RCM, RBI, CBM, and digital twin integration.
Benchmark global best practices and ensure implementation of predictive analytics and machine health monitoring technologies.
Drive enterprise-wide standards for maintenance strategy (preventive, predictive, corrective), including long-term service agreements (LTSA) with OEMs.
Oversee all major maintenance and capital overhaul programs (e.g., HGPs, rotor replacements, compressor re-rates).
Evaluate upgrade strategies for fuel flexibility, power uprating, efficiency enhancement, and emissions reduction.
Provide executive-level oversight on turbomachinery scope for new build and brownfield capital projects.
Approve technology selection, mechanical design standards, and OEM qualification.
Lead integration of new digital, AI/ML, and IoT solutions for asset intelligence and performance benchmarking.
Ensure adherence to mechanical codes, standards, and compliance frameworks (API, ASME, ISO, OSHA, NERC).
Lead asset risk analysis and mitigation strategies for high-impact mechanical failures.
Direct incident investigations and ensure implementation of effective corrective/preventive actions (RCFA/5 Whys/FTA).
Lead senior managers, directors, and discipline leads across mechanical engineering, reliability, maintenance, and asset integrity.
Foster a culture of safety, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.
Build internal capabilities through training, succession planning, and external benchmarking.
Serve as the executive liaison with OEMs (GE, Siemens, MHI, Solar, etc.), industry bodies, regulators, and investors.
Support technical due diligence for M&A activity and represent mechanical systems in investor discussions.
Lead cross-functional steering committees for turbomachinery innovation and performance optimization.
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering (Master’s or MBA preferred)
Additional certifications in reliability, asset management (e.g., CMRP, CRL, API 580/581) desirable
Experience:
20+ years of experience in turbomachinery, rotating equipment, or mechanical engineering, with at least 10 years in executive or senior leadership roles
Proven record of large-scale fleet management, outage execution, and asset optimization
Strong knowledge of multiple OEM platforms and regulatory frameworks
In-depth knowledge of gas and steam turbine design, operation, and performance modeling
Expertise in maintenance planning, outage management, and reliability engineering
Familiarity with digital twin technology, AI-driven performance monitoring, and Industry 4.0
Proficiency in lifecycle cost analysis, capital project integration, and root cause failure analysis
Executive presence with strategic and systems-level thinking
Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement across technical and business functions
Strong financial acumen and decision-making skills for CAPEX/OPEX optimization
Ability to lead transformational change across complex, multi-site organizations
Executive HQ or regional technical center with global/multi-site travel
On-site presence during critical outages, inspections, or failure investigations
Dynamic collaboration with board-level executives, field leaders, and technical experts