What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Performance Engineer position at Clearlight Energy?
About us:
Clearlight Energy, one of North America’s leading private renewable energy companies, operates more than 5,600 MW across 52 assets consisting of utility-scale solar, wind, battery storage, and renewable natural gas in North America. Approximately 5,100 MW of its operations are located in the U.S., across NYISO, MISO, PJM, ERCOT and CAISO markets, with the remaining 500 MW located in Canada. The Company is headquartered in Oakville, Ontario, with employees in both Canada and the United States.
Clearlight Energy focuses on providing operational excellence to supply critical energy capacity and meet growing demand. Additionally, it has a 1,200 MW development pipeline of additional renewable resources to support grid reliability and decarbonization.
About the Role:
Clearlight Energy is seeking a Senior Performance Engineer to join the Engineering and Technology team. This individual will play a pivotal role in optimizing the performance of Clearlight’s growing portfolio of wind, solar, and battery storage generation assets, ensuring that the fleet operates to its full potential. The ideal candidate will be a self-starter with experience implementing technology and processes that ensure reliable, safe, and optimal operation of renewable energy assets.
The Senior Performance Engineer will serve as Clearlight’s subject matter expert (SME) in wind turbine availability, performance, software, controls/operability, and parameters. The role focuses on the identification and resolution of lost production drivers, reduction of fleetwide faults, and increasing output efficiencies. While performance analysis is the primary qualification, the role will also require reviewing information related to all practical elements of renewable facility plant operations.
The Company follows a hybrid work model, with employees in the office from Tuesday through Thursday.
Location: Oakville, ON or Houston, TX. Remote candidates will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Job Summary:
Monitor the operational performance of renewable generation (wind and solar) assets, utilizing SCADA and operational data. Identify top contributors to lost energy and lead corrective action execution. Calculate and report on key metrics that represent asset health and define business priorities.
Job Responsibilities:
- Act as the subject matter expert (SME) on wind turbine software, parameters, controls, and operability with respect to performance engineering requests and troubleshooting support
- Lead performance reviews with site teams and report on lost production drivers, improvement opportunities, and status of ongoing projects
- Manage fleet control parameter and software configurations to ensure reliable and optimal turbine operation
- Apply fault analytics across the fleet to identify sources of energy loss and recommend solutions
- Find and resolve sources of underperformance (i.e., power curve issues, derates, etc.)
- Define metrics and monitor the performance of operating renewable assets (wind, solar, BESS) utilizing SCADA, machine, and operational data (Bazefield, Power Factors, and Pi)
- Develop methods or tools that enhance the detection of availability and performance issues and highlight impactful improvement opportunities
- Lead initiatives to improve asset availability or generation efficiency, while minimizing costs and long-term risks
- Provide data extraction and interpretation support and education for teams across the business
- Explore and share emerging technologies, industry trends, and advanced analytics that focus on increasing performance, operational, and cost efficiencies
- Document and track historical performance issues and corrective actions
- Communicate data-driven priorities and collaborate within cross-functional teams to support critical business goals
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent technical field
- 7 years of professional experience in engineering with a focus on measuring, maintaining, and improving system performance, preferably in renewable energy asset operations
- Demonstrated history of developing, implementing, and operating performance monitoring and/or improvement programs
- Strong understanding of wind turbine systems and controls, SCADA systems, operational data, and power plant performance metrics
- Demonstrated ability to read and comprehend equipment schematics, technical documentation, and drawings (electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, etc.)
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to share and present complex technical information to non-technical audiences
- Displays strong discipline and initiative in a self‑managed role, able to lead projects to completion, secure stakeholder buy‑in, and coordinate work with cross‑functional teams
- Occasional travel to project locations may be required (~15% travel)
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Engineering
- Deep knowledge of wind turbine control logic and operability, and the ability to impact performance through control parameters. Vestas and/or Siemens Gamesa controls experience is highly preferred
- Experience troubleshooting and installing wind turbine actuators, sensors, and instrumentation
- Experience with wind turbine design, operation, plant controls, interconnection, and/or compliance
- Proficiency with advanced analysis and database tools for development of metrics and dashboards (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, SQL, Python, etc.)
- Experience with asset performance management platforms such as Power Factors, Bazefield, or similar tools