Area Operations Manager

Job Objective:
Harvest Alaska is seeking a disciplined, accountable leader to serve as Area Operations Manager for its Alaska midstream assets. This role has full operational responsibility for oil & gas pipelines in the Kenai/Cook Inlet region and North Slope, as well as an LNG facility on the North Slope.
The Area Operations Manager is responsible for safe, reliable, and cost-effective operations in a highly regulated, risk-complex environment. This leader must demonstrate mature operational judgment, integrate steady-state operations with active project and construction interfaces, and lead geographically dispersed teams across pipeline, plant, and control room operations.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

Operational Leadership & Accountability

• Own operational performance across all assigned Alaska assets, including safety, reliability, regulatory compliance, and cost management.
• Drive company metrics tied to throughput, risk reduction, cost control, and asset integrity.
• Demonstrate and enforce operational discipline across all teams and facilities.
• Lead as a manager of managers, holding frontline leaders accountable while elevating accountability throughout the organization.
• Proactively strengthen performance standards and support teams in continuously elevating results while maintaining morale in a close-knit and geographically dispersed workforce.
• Maintain calm, structured, and transparent leadership during high-pressure or abnormal operating conditions.

Risk, Regulatory & Process Safety Leadership

• Operate effectively within complex regulatory environments, including DOT 193, 192 & 195.
• Maintain strong working knowledge of pipeline regulatory requirements and process safety management principles.
• Lead disciplined risk identification, mitigation, and escalation practices.
• Oversee compliance with operations qualification (OQ) standards and maintenance procedures.
• Provide leadership during incidents, including incident command and spill response coordination.
• Foster a transparent operating culture where risks and issues are surfaced early and escalated appropriately.

Integrated Asset & Project Management

• Integrate pipeline, plant, LNG, construction, engineering, and control room functions to eliminate silos and drive cohesive asset performance.
• Effectively manage both steady-state operations and active project/construction interfaces.
• Partner with engineering on maintenance planning, facility design, cost estimating, and execution of capital projects.
• Identify and close gaps in operational or project execution efficiently and proactively.

Financial & Business Leadership

• Develop and manage OpEx and maintenance capital budgets and forecasts.
• Demonstrate strong business acumen and P&L awareness.
• Understand and clearly communicate the financial implications of operational decisions.
• Drive operational efficiency through disciplined systems, processes, and data capture.
• Support long-term strategic planning, growth initiatives, and due diligence efforts as needed.

Develop People & Culture

• Build and sustain a strong safety-first culture.
• Develop frontline leaders and create depth within the organization.
• Lead geographically remote teams with clarity, consistency, and engagement.
• Create clear performance expectations and measurable accountability.
• Maintain a leadership style that is confident but low ego — open to challenge and willing to challenge others constructively.
• Demonstrate the ability to engage in constructive dialogue across diverse working styles while addressing issues directly and respectfully.
• Drive continuous improvement in both technical and leadership capabilities across the organization.

Other Job Responsibilities:

• Adheres to the company’s values – integrity, ownership, urgency, alignment, and innovation.
• Provide leadership oversight for a 24-hour per day, 7-day per week operating environment, ensuring appropriate escalation, decision-making, and response during off-hours, weekends, and emergency situations.
• Supervise personnel, including conducting performance evaluations, providing ongoing feedback, and supporting professional development.
• Support salary administration, workforce planning, and succession planning efforts.
• Participate in hiring, onboarding, and retention of operations personnel to maintain a strong and capable workforce.
• Maintain availability as required to support operational continuity, emergency response, and critical decision-making.
• Maintain employee confidence and protect company assets, including proprietary and sensitive information, through appropriate confidentiality and discretion.
• Perform other duties as assigned by management.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive oil & gas midstream operations experience, including pipelines and process facilities. Pipeline control room management experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated mature operational judgment, especially under uncertainty or abnormal operating conditions.
• Experience managing geographically remote operations teams.
• Proven ability to manage both steady-state operations and active construction/project interfaces.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate plant, pipeline, LNG, and control room operations to drive cohesive asset performance.
• Strong familiarity with pipeline regulatory environments and compliance standards; working knowledge of process safety strongly desired.
• Incident command and spill response experience highly desired.
• Demonstrated ability to estimate, forecast, and manage operating expenses and maintenance capital.
• Strong business acumen, with the ability to connect operational decisions to financial outcomes, regulatory posture, risk exposure, and long-term asset value.
• Demonstrated ability to lead effectively in autonomous and dynamic operating environments.
• Demonstrated ability to establish clear performance expectations and drive consistent accountability across multiple layers of leadership.

The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and aptitudes:

• Practical, hands-on leadership while remaining an effective delegator.
• Clear and disciplined communication across all levels, from field personnel to executive leadership and external stakeholders.
• Consistent engagement with teams, ensuring alignment and shared understanding of priorities.
• Strong judgment in identifying, developing, and retaining field operations talent.
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead cross-functional teams.
• A track record of driving measurable operational improvements and delivering sustained performance gains.
• A servant leadership mindset, placing personal integrity and team success at the center of decision-making.
• The ability to collaborate effectively across operations, engineering, commercial, finance, HR, and other functional groups to execute strategic and tactical plans.

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline required.

Certifications, Licenses, Registrations:

• Professional Engineer (P.E.) license beneficial but not required.