Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Utility Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Utility Manager is responsible for planning, directing, and coordinating all utility and energy-related operations across a facility, campus, or portfolio. This role ensures safe, compliant, efficient and cost-effective delivery of building and process utilities — including electricity, steam, chilled water, domestic water, compressed air, natural gas, and wastewater systems — while leading teams, managing budgets, driving energy conservation initiatives, and delivering capital and maintenance programs. The Utility Manager acts as the primary point of contact with external utility providers, regulatory agencies, and key internal stakeholders to meet operational, sustainability, and service-level objectives.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Utilities Technician / Lead Mechanic with 3–7 years of technical/shift experience
Facilities Supervisor or Maintenance Supervisor responsible for building systems
Mechanical/Electrical Engineer with hands-on O&M experience

Advancement To:

Senior Utility Manager / Plant Manager
Director of Facilities or Director of Operations
Regional Facilities Manager or VP of Engineering & Operations
Energy & Sustainability Director

Lateral Moves:

Facilities Manager / Building Operations Manager
Energy Manager or Sustainability Manager
Maintenance Manager or Reliability Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, implement, and own the annual utilities operations budget and multi‑year capital plan, forecasting energy costs, projects, and lifecycle replacement needs to optimize total cost of ownership and reduce utility spend.
Manage daily operations of centralized utilities — including boilers, chillers, steam distribution, compressed air, electrical distribution, natural gas systems, water treatment, and wastewater systems — ensuring systems meet reliability, throughput, and quality targets.
Lead, hire, train, and supervise the utilities operations team (operators, technicians, contractors), set performance expectations, conduct performance reviews, and build bench strength through cross-training and succession planning.
Implement and manage preventive and predictive maintenance programs using CMMS (e.g., IBM Maximo, SAP PM, Ultimo), ensuring scheduled tasks, work orders, spare parts inventory, and KPIs (MTTR, MTBF) are tracked and improved.
Oversee capital projects from scope, estimating and procurement through commissioning and turnover, working with engineering, contractors, and project managers to deliver utilities upgrades on schedule and within budget.
Ensure regulatory compliance with OSHA, EPA, local environmental permits, NFPA, and state utility codes — maintain permits, submit required reports, respond to inspections, and ensure staff certification and training.
Lead energy management, efficiency, and sustainability initiatives (LED retrofits, VFD deployment, heat recovery, building automation optimization, demand response) to reduce consumption and meet corporate sustainability targets.
Monitor and optimize plant performance using BAS/SCADA data and energy management systems to tune control strategies, balance loads, minimize fuel usage, and maintain system redundancy.
Negotiate and manage service contracts, vendor agreements, and utility procurement (electricity, gas, water), including RFPs, contract terms, compliance, and performance oversight of third-party providers.
Coordinate outage planning, emergency response, and contingency operations for utilities disruptions — develop and exercise emergency plans, call trees, and restoration procedures for critical systems.
Perform root cause analysis for repeat utility system failures, implement corrective and preventive actions, and lead reliability improvement projects using RCM and continuous improvement methodologies.
Oversee utility metering, submetering, and billing accuracy; analyze consumption trends, reconcile bills with meter data, and identify opportunities for cost recovery or adjustment.
Prepare and present monthly/quarterly operational and energy reports to senior leadership, highlighting performance against KPIs, budget variances, capital project status, and risk mitigation plans.
Manage fuel handling and storage processes (where applicable), including diesel backup generators and on-site fuel contracts, ensuring safe storage, testing, and compliance with environmental regulations.
Drive commissioning and start-up activities for new utility equipment and plant expansions, developing test procedures, acceptance criteria, and training operators for reliable handover.
Maintain spare parts strategy and lifecycle planning for critical utilities equipment, optimizing inventory turns and minimizing downtime risk due to parts shortages.
Coordinate with internal stakeholders (production, facilities, safety, engineering) to align utility supply and reliability with operational demand and production schedules.
Lead cost-savings and value engineering reviews for utilities projects and operational improvements, quantifying ROI, payback periods, and total lifecycle benefits.
Maintain a strong safety culture across utilities operations, delivering safety training, enforcing lockout/tagout, confined space, hot work, and LOTO procedures, and investigating incidents to closure.
Manage water and wastewater treatment processes where applicable, ensuring discharge permits are met, chemical dosing is controlled, and treatment systems operate within quality parameters.
Oversee electrical distribution and low voltage systems, coordinate with electrical engineers for substation work, protective relay testing, and ensure coordination for planned and unplanned outages.
Implement data-driven dashboards and analytics for energy and utilities performance, supporting predictive maintenance and enabling data-backed decisions for asset management.
Ensure documentation integrity: SOPs, P&IDs, single line diagrams, operation manuals, maintenance histories, and regulatory filings are current, auditable, and accessible.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis for utilities consumption, cost modeling, and benchmarking.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by identifying measurement gaps and recommending meter upgrades or analytics tools.
Collaborate with business units to translate operational needs into engineering requirements for utilities-related projects and upgrades.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within cross-functional project teams when utilities work is part of digital or automation initiatives.
Mentor junior engineers and technicians on utilities best practices, technical troubleshooting, and regulatory compliance.
Participate in customer/stakeholder meetings to align utilities planning with business continuity and production schedules.
Support sustainability reporting (GHG inventories, CDP submissions) by providing accurate utilities consumption and emissions data.
Review and approve technical drawings, P&IDs, and vendor submittals to ensure design aligns with operational standards and maintainability requirements.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Utilities systems operations: boilers, chillers, steam systems, condensate returns, and plant balancing.
HVAC and building systems troubleshooting and optimization for large facilities and central plants.
Electrical distribution knowledge including switchgear, substation basics, protective relays, and transfer switching.
Proficiency with BAS/SCADA, PLC programming fundamentals, and hands-on experience with DCS/automation systems.
Experience with CMMS platforms (e.g., IBM Maximo, SAP PM, Infor EAM) to manage work orders, preventive maintenance, and spare parts.
Energy management and measurement: metering, submeters, interval data, and energy modeling for load management and forecasting.
Regulatory compliance knowledge: OSHA, EPA, NFPA, local environmental and permitting requirements for utilities.
Project management for capital and maintenance projects including budgeting, scheduling, commissioning, and closeout.
Water and wastewater treatment processes, chemical dosing, and permit compliance (where applicable).
Contract and vendor management: RFP development, supplier evaluation, and performance management of third-party service providers.
Financial acumen for utility budgeting, cost tracking, ROI and life cycle cost analysis, and forecasting.
Familiarity with sustainability programs, demand response, energy procurement strategy, and incentive/utility rebate programs.

Soft Skills

Strong leadership and people-management skills with experience coaching, developing, and supervising multi-shift teams.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills for cross-functional collaboration and executive reporting.
Analytical problem-solving with root cause analysis and data-driven decision making.
Effective stakeholder management — able to balance operational constraints with business needs.
Safety-first mindset and the ability to cultivate a proactive safety culture.
Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to prioritize in dynamic environments.
Negotiation and vendor relationship skills to secure favorable contracts and service levels.
Change management and influence: lead process improvements and technology adoption with minimal disruption.
Time management and project coordination across maintenance, operations, and capital disciplines.
Customer service orientation when interfacing with internal clients, regulatory agencies, and utility providers.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Facilities Management, Energy Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related technical field; or equivalent combination of technical certifications and experience.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s plus advanced coursework or Master’s degree in Engineering, Facilities Management, Energy Systems, or Business Administration (MBA preferred for larger portfolios).
Professional certifications such as CEM (Certified Energy Manager), PEM (Plant Engineering Manager), PMP, Certified Facility Manager (CFM), or trades/technician certifications.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Facilities or Plant Engineering
Energy Systems / Sustainability
Industrial Maintenance / Technology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 7–12+ years of combined facilities/utilities operations, with at least 3–5 years in a supervisory or managerial role.

Preferred:

Proven experience managing centralized utility plants (steam/chillers/electrical) in industrial, healthcare, higher education, data center, or large commercial campus environments.
Demonstrated success delivering capital projects, energy conservation measures, and reliability improvements.
Hands-on troubleshooting experience and a track record of improving uptime and reducing utilities costs through operational and engineering interventions.