Central Operations Manager

Company

Orenda is on a mission to make the grid more efficient with renewable energy projects and proprietary asset management technology. We develop, build, own and operate battery energy storage projects in dense urban environments to bridge the gap between renewables and electricity consumption.

We are a dynamic, NYC-based company at the forefront of a new industry. We are seeking highly motivated and incredibly talented individuals who wish to contribute to our important mission.

About the Team

Orenda’s Asset Management department is responsible for the safe, compliant, and profitable long-term operation of the company’s entire fleet of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) assets. Our primary objective is to maximize asset availability, revenue capture, and operational lifespan while managing all contractual, regulatory, and stakeholder obligations. Four functions report to the Director of Asset Management: Operations & Maintenance (site operations), Asset Integrity (engineering), Central Operations (24/7 command center & markets), and Commercial & Regulatory (contracts, compliance and reporting). We own the operating system that makes fleet operations repeatable at scale: engineered maintenance programs, a 24/7 monitoring capability, disciplined handovers from construction, and decision grade reporting.

We partner cross functionally with Development, Pre-Construction, Construction, Asset Technology, and Finance to ensure assets arrive operable and operate profitably.

About the Role

The Central Operations Manager runs the fleet's command center. As leader of Central Operations, you own the unified 24/7 real-time control and data intelligence function of the Asset Management department delivered today through an outsourced, NERC-CIP certified NOC vendor and an in-house daytime desk that you will build and operate. The fleet is monitored around the clock; your job is to make the vendor perform, make the desk genuinely capable, and keep the operating knowledge inside Orenda so that as the fleet scales, the company understands how its assets run and earn better than any vendor does.

Reporting to the Director of Asset Management, you build this function from zero: the alarm philosophy and response playbooks the fleet is monitored against, the dispatch and work order flow to the field, the real time interface with utility grid operators, the performance and warranty data watchdog, and the revenue strategy and operating constraints that govern the automated dispatch engine. You are the business owner of the operator facing EMS/SCADA tools, and every market revenue statement is audited against data you control. This is the role that makes the fleet observable, dispatchable, and honest about what it earns.

• This role is ideal for: an operations center leader who has lived shift work, knows what a clean alarm philosophy feels like, and holds vendors and optimization engines accountable with data rather than trust.

What you’ll do

• Own 24/7 fleet monitoring and remote triage through the outsourced NOC vendor: alarm philosophy, severity matrix adoption, response playbooks, and escalation paths.
• Stand up and run the in house daytime desk: business hours monitoring and triage, daily vendor handoff, and the discrepancy log that independently verifies vendor performance.
• Dispatch Site Operations and OEMs/vendors; escalate engineering issues to the Principal Engineer; own the work order and service ticket flow with the CMMS.
• Serve as the 24/7 real time operational point of contact for utility grid operators; continuously verify that every asset follows its automated dispatch schedule.
• Maintain the official system-of-record event log for all alarms, actions, dispatches, and grid-operator communications.
• Own the fleet's inbound call line: all site calls — including FDNY and other agency calls — route to the Central Operations team for triage, logging, and dispatch.
• Own the fleet's operational data: ingest high-volume telemetry and market data and turn it into high-level summaries, reports, and dashboards for the department and leadership.
• Run the NOC through the outsourced vendor today and own the roadmap and in-house capability plan to bring the NOC in-house when scale justifies it.
• Coordinate with Construction and Development ahead of handover so monitoring playbooks, alarm configuration, and dispatch are built and ready before the project comes online.
• Start hands-on across the desk and analytics, then build and lead the control-center and performance/markets teams until they perform nearly all the work.
• Act as the performance and warranty data watchdog: monitor degradation (SOH, RTE) against warranty curves and assemble and transmit validated technical data packages to the Commercial Asset Manager for claim initiation (Asset Integrity supplies the RCA).
• Provide the revenue strategy, market intelligence, and operating constraints that govern the automated dispatch engine; own the feedback loop into Orenda's asset technology platform.
• Audit all market revenue statements against Orenda's own meter and telemetry data; conduct performance back-testing; own the department's official performance dashboards.
• Manage the NOC vendor commercially and operationally: SLA scorecards built from Orenda data, quarterly business reviews, joint drills, and the insource versus vendor evaluation as the fleet scales.
• Build and lead the Central Operations team: hire, train, and develop the Daytime Desk Operator and Performance & Markets Analyst.
• Serve as the real-time operational point of contact for Con Edison and the NYISO: manage VDER/DLM event dispatch, telemetry, and grid-operator communications.
• Coordinate with the three peer managers: dispatch the Site Operations Manager for on-site response and track work orders to closure; escalate complex technical events to the Principal Engineer and run the alarm playbooks they author; and assemble and transmit validated warranty/performance data packages, plus revenue and reconciliation data, to the Commercial Asset Manager.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, engineering technology, or a related field or;
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, operations management, or a related field, or equivalent qualification through progressive control room and operations center leadership.
• 5+ years in control room or operations center environments (utility, ISO, power plant, or renewables remote operations), including 2+ years leading a shift, desk, or team where you owned the response.
• Alarm management in practice: has owned or materially improved an alarm philosophy, severity structure, or response playbook set, and can defend the choices under challenge.
• Demonstrated incident command composure: has run live events end to end: triage, dispatch, escalation, communication, and after action.
• Vendor or platform accountability track record: has enforced SLAs with independent data, not accepted self-reported performance.
• Analytics fluency: builds and reads dashboards, reconciles data across systems, and produces performance reporting leadership can act on.

Preferred Qualifications (Bonus)

• NYISO, VDER, or DER market operations exposure (dispatch, settlements, or enrollment mechanics)
• NERC certification (any level) or NERC-CIP environment familiarity
• BESS or renewables fleet monitoring experience; SCADA/EMS platform depth
• Settlement audit or revenue-assurance experience
• Previously built or scaled a monitoring function, desk, or control room from scratch

Skills and Attributes

• Treats vigilance as non-negotiable: designs the alarm philosophy and operating rhythm so the quiet anomaly gets caught, and never assumes the vendor saw it.
• Makes timely, well-reasoned decisions during live events steady in a P1, decisions logged rather than improvised and knows when to escalate.
• Organized, process driven, and capable of running a 24/7 operation through a vendor without losing ownership; builds shift procedures, handoffs, and playbooks that run identically at 3 pm and 3 am.
• Communicates clearly in writing and in person. Produces concise event narratives and performance reporting that give leadership what they need to act, and is equally credible with a desk operator, a grid operator, and the CEO.
• Works effectively across departments and builds strong working relationships with the NOC vendor, utility grid operators, and Asset Technology without compromising Orenda's position.
• Takes full ownership of monitoring and revenue outcomes and holds the vendor and the optimizer accountable with independent data, without being adversarial.
• Positive, solutions oriented mindset and genuine work ethic.

Work Environment

This is a full-time position based at Orenda’s headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, with extensive and regular work at active sites across the five NYC boroughs, including on-call rotation participation.

Why join Orenda?

At Orenda, you’ll help build the real-world infrastructure that makes the energy transition possible.

You’ll join a mission-driven culture that values ownership, accountability, continuous learning, high performance, and genuine collaboration. We work hard, move quickly, and enjoy doing it together.

In addition to the chance to do important work with a great team, Orenda offers a competitive compensation package designed to attract and retain top talent:

• Base Salary: The anticipated base salary range for this full-time position in New York City is $145,000-$165,000per year. The final base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the successful candidate's relevant experience, skills, and qualifications.
• Bonus: In addition to the base salary, this role is eligible for a significant annual performance-based bonus.
• Benefits: Our comprehensive benefits package includes:
  • Health, dental, and vision insurance
  • 401(k) plan, with 3% employer match
  • LifeTime Fitness corporate membership
  • Monthly commuter stipend
  • Learning and education stipend
  • Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) policy
  • Regular company events

Orenda Inc. is an equal opportunity employer committed to fair and inclusive hiring and employment practices in accordance with federal, New York State, and New York City law. We do not discriminate in any aspect of employment—including hiring, promotion, compensation, or termination—on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

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