Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wind Farm Director

🎯 Role Definition

The Wind Farm Director is a senior operational and commercial leader responsible for end‑to‑end delivery, safety and financial performance of one or multiple wind farm assets or a regional portfolio. This role combines technical oversight of turbine and balance‑of‑plant systems, contract and vendor management (OEMs, service providers and EPCs), P&L accountability, regulatory and grid compliance, and proactive performance improvement through data, SCADA and condition monitoring. The Wind Farm Director is the primary point of contact for investors, local authorities and community stakeholders and leads multi‑disciplinary teams to maximize energy production, minimize downtime and drive lifecycle value.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Wind Farm Operations Manager
Site / O&M Manager
Commissioning or Project Manager (EPC)
Senior Asset Manager
Technical Manager (Turbine OEM or Service Provider)

Advancement To:

Regional Director – Renewables
VP / Head of Operations (Renewables)
Chief Operating Officer (Utility / Independent Power Producer)
Head of Asset Management or Portfolio Director

Lateral Moves:

Asset Manager (Corporate/Investor side)
Project Director – New Builds and Repowering
Commercial Director – Power & Trading

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Provide strategic leadership and full accountability for the operational performance, safety, availability and long‑term value of onshore and/or offshore wind farm assets, delivering against production, availability and financial KPIs (availability > 95%, energy yield targets, OPEX/CAPEX budgets).
Develop, own and execute the multi‑year O&M strategy and lifecycle plan (preventive, predictive and corrective maintenance), including spare parts strategy, workshop facilities, tooling and remote diagnostics to reduce downtime and cost per MWh.
Lead HSSE (Health, Safety, Security & Environment) governance and continuously improve safety culture onsite and across contractors; ensure compliance with ISO45001, local HSE regulation and permit conditions, and run regular audits, toolbox talks and emergency response exercises.
Manage and optimize the wind farm P&L: prepare annual operating budgets, capital expenditure plans, financial forecasts, variance analysis and cost control initiatives; present and justify budgets to executive management and investors.
Own relationships and commercial agreements with turbine OEMs, asset service providers, third‑party technicians and balance of plant contractors; negotiate and manage long‑term service agreements, warranties, performance guarantees and SLA enforcement.
Oversee SCADA, condition monitoring systems (CMS) and telemetry infrastructure; drive use of remote monitoring, alarm management and analytics to enable predictive maintenance and reduction of unscheduled outages.
Direct outage planning and execution (planned and unplanned), including major component replacements, blade repairs, transformer works and HV/LV switchgear interventions while minimizing lost production.
Ensure regulatory and grid code compliance (connection agreements, fault ride‑through, reactive power capability, curtailment management) and coordinate with Transmission System Operators (TSOs) and Regulators for curtailment, balancing and market directives.
Lead performance analysis and continuous improvement programs using KPIs, root cause analysis, reliability centered maintenance (RCM), vibration analysis and failure mode effects analysis (FMEA) to increase turbine and farm availability.
Drive digitalization and data‑driven asset management initiatives: implement PI/OSIsoft, SCADA analytics, IoT sensors, machine learning for failure prediction and continuous performance optimization.
Provide technical leadership for commissioning, turbine acceptance testing, handover from EPC to operations, and repowering projects; validate technical documentation, FAT/SAT and compliance certificates.
Build, mentor and manage a multi‑disciplinary team (site managers, engineers, technicians, HSSE leads) including recruitment, performance reviews, training plans and competency matrices to ensure safe and efficient operations.
Direct supply chain, logistics and spares inventory management for high‑value rotating equipment (gearboxes, generators, transformers) and manage repair/replace decisions to optimize TCO and lead times.
Serve as single point of contact for investor reporting and asset governance: produce monthly/quarterly operations reports, OEE metrics, incident reviews, and present performance to stakeholders and boards.
Lead stakeholder and community engagement programs including local authorities, landowners, fisheries (offshore), community benefit schemes, and handle media or public inquiries to preserve social license to operate.
Manage insurance, claims, and technical disputes including warranty claims with OEMs and contractual claims with EPCs and service providers; coordinate technical investigations and support litigation/insurance specialists when required.
Oversee environmental compliance and biodiversity mitigation measures (bird & bat monitoring, habitat management), ensuring adherence to permit conditions and adaptive management strategies.
Coordinate with commercial and trading teams to optimize dispatch, curtailment strategies, energy scheduling, and merchant market participation to maximize revenue under varying market conditions.
Drive capital project delivery for mid‑life upgrades, life‑extension works and repowering programs: scope definition, vendor selection, contract management, design reviews and commissioning oversight.
Implement risk management frameworks for operational, technical, commercial and extreme weather risks, including contingency plans, redundancy strategies and crisis management protocols for major incidents.
Champion quality assurance and continuous improvement: develop SOPs, quality control plans, service provider KPIs and lessons‑learned processes following incidents and outages.
Ensure cybersecurity and OT/IT integration security of SCADA and control systems; coordinate with internal cybersecurity teams and vendors to maintain secure remote access and patch management.
Manage cross‑functional coordination with finance, legal, commercial, environment, and corporate development teams to align operations with corporate strategy, acquisition integration and divestment readiness.
Lead sustainability initiatives: energy efficiency, carbon accounting for operations, circularity of components, and integration of on‑site storage or hybridization where applicable.

Secondary Functions

Support corporate reporting by providing detailed production and availability data for monthly and quarterly investor reports, and contribute to due diligence for acquisitions/divestments.
Coordinate ad‑hoc technical and commercial analyses to support bid responses, PPA negotiations, and proposals for repowering or expansion projects.
Participate in executive-level strategic planning and long‑term portfolio optimization workshops to align asset performance with company growth targets.
Contribute to the organization’s digital transformation roadmap by piloting new monitoring tools, AI/ML models for predictive maintenance and condition monitoring pilots.
Mentor and coach emerging operational leaders across regional sites; lead cross‑site knowledge sharing, standardization of best practices and competency development programs.
Engage with industry bodies, standards committees and regulators to represent the company’s operational interests and maintain awareness of evolving technical/regulatory trends.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proven expertise in wind farm operations and maintenance (O&M) for onshore and/or offshore wind assets, including turbine OEM interfaces and BOP systems.
Strong knowledge of wind turbine technology (gearbox, generator, pitch & yaw systems), electrical balance‑of‑plant, substations, transformers and HV/LV systems.
Experience with SCADA systems, telemetry, condition monitoring systems (CMS) and industrial data platforms (OSIsoft PI, SCADA historian, WTG OEM portals).
Ability to interpret vibration analysis, oil analysis, thermography and other predictive maintenance diagnostic outputs to inform maintenance decisions.
Demonstrated competence in contract negotiation and management for O&M agreements, service level agreements (SLAs), warranties and supply contracts.
Budgeting, P&L management and financial forecasting experience, including CAPEX/OPEX optimization and lifecycle cost modelling.
Knowledge of grid codes, interconnection agreements, curtailment processes, and TSO/ISO operational requirements for renewable assets.
Strong HSSE competency including implementation of ISO45001, incident investigation, permit management and emergency response planning.
Familiarity with asset management and ERP systems (SAP, IBM Maximo, IFS or equivalent) and experience managing spares inventory and logistics.
Experience with regulatory and environmental compliance, permitting processes, habitat/biodiversity mitigation and community engagement obligations.
Proven experience implementing digital analytics, IoT deployments and condition based predictive maintenance tools; familiarity with SQL, Python or analytics platforms is advantageous.
Project management capability for delivering upgrades, repowering and major component replacements, with risk and schedule control skills (PMP or equivalent beneficial).
Knowledge of offshore logistics and marine operations if responsible for offshore assets, including vessel management and marine warranty surveyor coordination.

Soft Skills

Strategic leadership and people management: ability to inspire teams, build capability and steward high‑performing multidisciplinary groups.
Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills: able to present technical and commercial information to investors, regulators and local communities.
Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills to balance technical, financial and contractual considerations.
Decision‑making under pressure: proven ability to prioritize and make timely decisions during outages, incidents or emergency responses.
Problem‑solving orientation and continuous improvement mindset using data and root‑cause analysis.
Resilience and adaptability to operate in dynamic, remote or harsh environments and lead through change.
Collaboration and influence across corporate functions and external partners to achieve integrated outcomes.
Cultural sensitivity and community engagement capabilities for working with local stakeholders and international teams.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Renewable Energy Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Renewable Energy, Engineering Management, Business Administration (MBA) or equivalent advanced technical qualification.
Professional certifications such as PMP, NEBOSH/IOSH, or advanced technical training in condition monitoring and SCADA.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Renewable Energy / Power Systems Engineering
Engineering Management
Environmental Science (for permitting and biodiversity aspects)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

10+ years in wind energy or power generation operations with progressive leadership responsibilities; typically 5+ years in senior operational management roles.

Preferred:

Demonstrated experience managing 50–500+ MW wind farm portfolios or equivalent multi‑asset responsibility.
Proven track record of delivering high availability targets, reducing OPEX per MWh, managing major outages and implementing predictive maintenance programs.
Experience with offshore operations if role covers offshore assets, including marine operations and logistics coordination.
Prior exposure to investor reporting, PPA/commercial optimization and preparing assets for acquisition or divestment is highly desirable.