Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wind Farm Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Wind Farm Officer is responsible for the safe, efficient and compliant operation of one or more wind farm assets. This role delivers daily operations and maintenance coordination, performance monitoring, contractor and stakeholder management, and continuous improvement to maximize availability and energy yield. The Wind Farm Officer ensures HSE and environmental compliance while executing planned and unplanned work within budget and schedule constraints.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Wind Turbine Technician / Site Technician
O&M Coordinator / Operations Assistant
Graduate Electrical or Mechanical Engineer (entry-level wind roles)

Advancement To:

Senior Wind Farm Officer / Site Lead
Wind Farm Manager / O&M Manager
Asset Manager / Regional Operations Manager

Lateral Moves:

Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Officer for Renewables
Condition Monitoring / Reliability Engineer
Project Commissioning Engineer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Oversee day-to-day wind farm operations and maintenance activities to ensure safe, efficient generation and high asset availability.
Monitor SCADA and condition monitoring systems to detect performance deviations, coordinate corrective actions, and drive availability improvements.
Plan, schedule and coordinate preventive and corrective maintenance using CMMS; manage work packs, permits to work and lock-out/tag-out procedures.
Manage contractors and third-party service providers, ensuring compliance with contractual SLAs, safety standards and quality expectations.
Lead incident response, root-cause investigations and implement corrective/preventative actions to prevent recurrence and mitigate risk.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Maintain spare parts inventory, oversee procurement of critical spares and optimize inventory levels to reduce downtime.
Prepare and deliver operational performance reports, KPI dashboards and board-level summaries on availability, yield and O&M costs.
Support budgeting, forecast OPEX and CAPEX needs for site-level operations and maintenance activities.
Maintain up-to-date site documentation, technical drawings, logbooks and statutory records for audits and regulatory compliance.
Provide on-site supervision during major works, turbine repairs, component replacements and commissioning/decommissioning tasks.
Coordinate with transmission system operators and local utilities for grid connection, outages and grid-code compliance activities.

Detailed Responsibilities (20+ recruiter-style responsibilities)

Manage day-to-day wind farm operations including SCADA monitoring, alarm triage, and dispatching technicians for reactive and preventive maintenance to maximize energy production and minimize downtime.
Develop, implement and enforce site-level health, safety and environmental procedures (HSE), lead toolbox talks, client safety meetings and ensure compliance with NEBOSH/IOSH principles and local legislation.
Coordinate and manage multiple contractors and subcontractors for turbine maintenance, electrical works, and civil infrastructure tasks; evaluate contractor performance and ensure compliance with contractual KPIs and safety standards.
Oversee condition monitoring systems (CMS) and vibration analysis workflows; interpret CMS alerts, prioritize defect investigations and liaise with specialists for trending and prognostics.
Plan, schedule and manage planned maintenance windows (preventive maintenance) using CMMS (e.g., SAP, Maximo) and ensure work-pack completeness, permit-to-work issuance, and risk assessments are in place prior to task execution.
Lead outage planning and execution for turbine overhauls, pitch/gearbox/transformer replacements and blade repairs including logistics, crane mobilization, and specialist vendor coordination.
Maintain spare parts inventory and logistics strategy: forecast critical spares, manage stock levels, coordinate warehouse activities and optimize parts lifecycle to reduce lead times and cost.
Prepare operational budgets and monthly/quarterly O&M cost reports, track expenditure against forecast, identify cost-saving opportunities and support CAPEX justification for reliability projects.
Conduct incident investigations and root cause analysis (RCA) for safety or reliability incidents, produce corrective action plans, track closure and implement lessons learned across operations teams.
Ensure compliance with environmental permits, wildlife protection measures (e.g., bird and bat monitoring), noise limits and landowner contractual obligations; coordinate environmental monitoring and reporting.
Monitor and improve wind farm performance via power curve analysis, availability KPIs, generation lost analysis and implement technical solutions to reduce wake losses and curtailment.
Liaise with grid operators for grid code compliance, planned/unplanned outages, reactive power management, and ensure SCADA telemetry, telemetry accuracy and SCADA historian integrity.
Supervise on-site commissioning, testing and handover activities for new turbines and balance-of-plant works; ensure punch lists are closed and commissioning documentation is completed.
Implement reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and continuous improvement initiatives by analyzing failure modes, MTTR and MTBF to extend asset life and reduce lifecycle costs.
Coordinate site security, access control and emergency response plans; act as site emergency coordinator for incidents and ensure clear communication with stakeholders and emergency services.
Produce weekly and monthly operational reporting packs for asset owners and investors, including OPEX burn-down, availability trends, incident logs and health metrics for major components.
Ensure all technical drawings, electrical single-line diagrams, lift plans and method statements are current, correctly versioned and accessible to operational teams and auditors.
Provide line management, mentorship and competency assessments for turbine technicians and site-based staff, maintain training matrices and implement development plans.
Support procurement and contract negotiations for O&M agreements, vendor service levels, warranty claims and technical disputes, ensuring best value and risk mitigation for the asset.
Drive digitalization initiatives such as remote operations, predictive analytics, and digital twins by collaborating with data teams to convert operational data into actionable maintenance strategies.
Manage health checks, thermography, oil analysis and electrical testing programs; evaluate results and coordinate remedial actions with engineering teams.
Represent the wind farm in community and stakeholder engagement activities — respond to landowner queries, manage local contractor interfaces and uphold corporate social responsibility commitments.
Ensure statutory compliance with site permits, transformer station licensing, HV switching authorizations and keep up-to-date with evolving regulatory frameworks affecting renewable generation.
Execute quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) for work delivered on site, supervise testing of replaced components and ensure rework is minimized through robust inspection regimes.
Coordinate decommissioning planning and end-of-life strategies, including salvage logistics, recycling plans and regulatory reporting when required.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

SCADA operation and alarm management (experience with WindPRO, WTG OEM SCADA or similar).
Condition Monitoring Systems (CMS), vibration analysis and predictive maintenance tools.
CMMS experience (SAP, Maximo, Infor EAM or equivalent) for work scheduling and asset records.
Strong electrical knowledge (HV/LV systems, switchgear, transformers, grid connections).
Mechanical competence in turbine drivetrain, gearbox, pitch and yaw systems.
Experience with wind turbine OEMs (e.g., Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, GE, Nordex) and their maintenance processes.
Power curve analysis, energy yield optimization and generation performance analytics.
Knowledge of grid code compliance, reactive power control and SCADA telemetry protocols (e.g., IEC 60870-5-104, IEC 61850).
HSE competency and certifications (NEBOSH, IOSH, or equivalent) plus permit-to-work and LOTO procedures.
Contract and vendor management, SLA monitoring and commercial O&M contract understanding.
Asset management and lifecycle planning, familiarity with reliability methodologies (RCM, RCA, FMEA).
Proficiency with MS Excel, Power BI/Tableau or equivalent reporting and data visualization tools.

Soft Skills

Strong leadership and people management; capable of supervising technicians and coordinating contractors.
Clear written and verbal communication for technical reports, stakeholder engagement and regulatory liaison.
Excellent problem-solving and root cause analysis capability under operational pressure.
Prioritization and time management to balance reactive and planned work effectively.
Decision-making confidence with a commercial mindset to balance cost, safety and availability.
Collaborative team player with cross-functional influence (engineering, procurement, finance).
Adaptability and resilience in field environments and changing operational conditions.
Attention to detail for documentation, QA/QC and regulatory reporting.
Negotiation skills for vendor and contractor management.
Customer- and stakeholder-focused mindset for community and investor reporting.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Renewable Energy, or similar technical field; or equivalent vocational qualifications plus relevant experience.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Renewable Energy, Energy Systems, Engineering Management or an industry-related certification (e.g., Chartered Engineer, PMP).
Additional HSE qualifications (NEBOSH, IOSH) or specialized CMS/trainings.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering / Power Systems
Renewable Energy / Sustainable Energy
Environmental Science / Environmental Management
Operations Management / Asset Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years in wind farm operations, O&M or relevant electrical/mechanical field roles.
Preferred: 5+ years of hands-on experience in wind farm O&M or as a site-based asset engineer, with demonstrated experience managing contractors, SCADA/CMMS systems, and delivering performance improvements.

Optimize your Wind Farm Officer job posting with these recruiter-crafted responsibilities and skills to attract qualified candidates who can deliver safe, compliant and cost-effective wind farm operations.