The Senior Vice President of Plant Operations provides executive leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight for approximately 200 employees - approximately half of the company - and 11+ generating sites across Georgia. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the SVP is responsible for delivering top-quartile operational performance, executing large-scale capital projects, maintaining a strong enterprise-level accountability for safety culture, and ensuring the readiness, resiliency, reliability, and long-term sustainability of the fleet.

This role is one of the most influential operational leadership positions within OPC and will play a central part in shaping the organization's next decade of growth, including commissioning new plants, expanding the portfolio, and developing the next generation of operational leaders.

The role is deeply integrated with the broader "family of companies" (OPC, GSOC, GTC), works closely with system operations, engineering, construction/project management, and corporate functions, and engages regularly with Member EMC managers, OPC senior leadership, and Board committees (e.g., construction, risk management/compliance committees).

The SVP will oversee a 10+ GW and growing portfolio of generation resources, including a new 1,425 MW combined-cycle plant, a new 240 MW combustion turbine unit at an existing plant, dual-fuel upgrades at multiple plants, and future projects such as additional gas capacity.

Key Responsibilities:

Executive & Operational Leadership

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for OPC's gas fleet and the Rocky Mountain Pumped-storage Hydroelectric facility.
• Ensure all units are safe, available, reliable, and performing at upper-decile industry levels.
• Lead a large, geographically dispersed workforce (approx. 200 employees), including plant managers, operations managers, engineering, and maintenance teams.
• Build and maintain a high-performance, safety-first culture rooted in technical excellence and accountability.

Portfolio Optimization & Asset Strategy

• Drive operational strategy across OPC's fleet including modernization, lifecycle planning, outage strategy, and resiliency upgrades.
• Evaluate and prepare for emerging technologies such as hydrogen-cofiring, SMRs, battery storage, and biomass.
• Monitor market, regulatory, and Member-driven trends to inform asset strategy and investment decisions.

Capital Program Management

• Oversee construction, commissioning, and integration of major new generation assets, and future utility-scale BESS projects, including:
  • 1,425-MW two-unit combined-cycle plant
  • 240-MW combustion turbine unit
  • Fleetwide dual-fuel upgrades
  • Rocky Mountain pumped-storage reinvestment program
• Ensure capital projects are delivered on time, within budget, and in alignment with strategic objectives.
• Partner with Construction & Project Management to ensure projects meet schedule, budget, and performance milestones; monitor risk, cost, and change-management plans.
• Contribute to long-term resource planning and portfolio strategy, including evaluation of SMRs/ advanced nuclear, biomass opportunities, battery storage, and other technologies as they become economic and practical for OPC and its Members.
• Ensure new assets are operationally ready, winter-resilient, and integrated with dispatch and market strategies.

Cross-Functional & External Engagement

• Collaborate extensively with related organizations, GSOC and GTC, to ensure alignment on system operations, planning, and construction.
• Present plant operations updates at monthly EMC manager meetings and engage with OPC Member systems as needed.
• Participate in Board committee updates, including the Construction Project Committee and RMCC (Risk Oversight).
• Serve as a visible, trusted leader across the entire cooperative community.

Organizational Development & Culture Stewardship

• Identify, develop, and mentor internal high-potential leaders.
• Shape culture through leadership transitions, including replacement of long-tenured staff at key generating sites (e.g., Rocky Mountain).
• Ensure succession planning, workforce development, and employee engagement efforts support a long-term talent pipeline.

Performance, Safety & Compliance

• Own overall safety performance for Plant Operations, leading a culture that delivers on corporate safety goals, including training, safety meetings, safety observations, and hazard Uphold OPC's strong safety record and continuous safety improvement initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements (NERC, FERC, environmental, state, local).
• Drive operational KPIs, including availability, forced outage rates, heat rate, and cost performance.

Reliability and Operational Performance

• Deliver top-quartile reliability and availability across OPC-managed gas and hydro assets, including successful start performance for the combustion turbine fleet and peak-season availability for combined-cycle and combustion turbine units.
• Ensure compliance with NERC, FERC, state regulatory requirements, and internal standards; partner closely with GSOC and GTC to support system reliability and grid operations.
• Maintain high standards for maintenance, outage planning, and execution, including major overhauls, hot-gas-path work, and long-term asset health planning.

People Leadership, Culture, and Succession

• Lead, develop, and retain plant managers, operations leaders, and technical staff across approximately 11 owned sites; "foster an experience-driven and collaborative culture led by leaders who are credible operators with extensive hands-on experience.
• Build and execute a formal succession and development plan for key roles, including plant managers and future VP-level leaders; support the transition associated with multiple retirements (incumbent SVP, Rocky Mountain plant leadership, and other key staff).
• Uphold and advance a cooperative, Member-centric culture distinct from IOU environments; model collaboration, transparency, and humility while holding teams accountable for results.
• Ensure strong engagement, communication, and alignment across plants, headquarters, safety, engineering, and project teams.

Stakeholder, Member, and Board Engagement

• Represent Plant Operations in monthly EMC manager meetings, providing updates on fleet performance, projects, and operational risks/opportunities.
• Engage with OPC's Board and Board committees (e.g., construction committee, RMCC) on capital projects, risk management, and major operational decisions.
• Coordinate closely with GSOC, GTC, and other external partners to manage system reliability, outage planning, and integration of new resources.
• Serve as a visible and accessible leader to Member systems, particularly as OPC responds to rising Member demand and navigates rapid change in the energy industry.

Cost, Risk, and Performance Management

• Maintain a cost-conscious mindset, meeting or exceeding corporate budget, schedule, and performance targets for existing-fleet projects and major overhauls.
• Monitor operational and project risks, including fuel availability, winterization, equipment condition, contractor performance, and regulatory changes; implement mitigation plans and report transparently to leadership and the and the Board.
• Use data and benchmarking (NERC-GADS, INPO, peer comparisons) to track performance, identify gaps, and drive continuous improvement.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a seasoned generation-operations leader who began their career in plant operations and progressed through leadership roles, ultimately assuming multi-site executive responsibility. They bring deep, hands-on experience across multiple fuel types, especially natural-gas combined-cycle, simple-cycle combustion turbines, and pumped-storage hydro, with meaningful exposure to coal and nuclear environments. Their leadership style is steady, credible, and grounded in practical operating experience, earning trust from long-tenured plant teams while driving disciplined safety, reliability, and project performance. They are comfortable overseeing large capital programs, dual-fuel conversions, winterization efforts, and new-build generation projects, and they operate with strong cost and risk awareness. The candidate blends technical rigor with a cooperative, Member-focused mindset, communicates clearly with boards and EMC managers, and collaborates smoothly across the family of companies. They are a people developer who can strengthen internal bench talent over the next 3–5 years, thoughtfully navigate cultural dynamics, and lead an organization of approximately 200 employees through continued growth, modernization, and portfolio expansion.

Required Qualifications

Leadership & Cultural Competencies

• Executive-level responsibility (VP or SVP) for multi-site generation operations, with direct or matrix oversight of several hundred employees and multiple plants.
• Proven ability to lead large operational teams with experience-driven credibility that resonates in a cooperative environment.
• Ability to operate effectively in a high-expectation, performance driven culture.
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally and present to Members, committees, and executive leadership.
• Proven track record of improving or sustaining high safety performance (including SIF-free operations), fleet reliability, and peak-season availability against industry benchmarks.
• Commitment to cooperative principles, Member value, transparency, and collaborative problem-solving.
• Credible operator with direct hands-on experience and is comfortable in plant environments, with the respect of plant managers, operators, and craft employees.
• Developer of people: committed to building internal bench strength.
• Cooperative-minded: balances technical and financial rigor with Member focus, cost consciousness, and a long-term stewardship mindset for cooperative owners.
• Cross-functional integrator: able to operate effectively across OPC, GSOC, GTC, and Member systems, avoiding silos and ensuring information flow across executive and plant levels.
• Clear, calm communicator: comfortable in Board rooms, plant control rooms, and Member meetings; able to explain technical issues and tradeoffs in straightforward terms.

Technical & Industry Expertise

• 20–30 years of progressive generation experience, ideally beginning in operations (e.g., auxiliary operator to shift supervisor to plant manager to fleet leadership).
• Demonstrated leadership of natural-gas generation fleets (combustion turbine and combined-cycle) and hydro/pumped-storage assets; strong familiarity with coal and nuclear operations is highly valued, even if not directly in scope for this role.
• Deep operational expertise across multiple technologies, ideally including natural gas, coal, hydro, and nuclear; diversity of experience is highly valued.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing large capital projects, major outages, or commissioning
• Strong understanding of modern combined-cycle technology; experience with GE H-Class, Siemens F-Class, or comparable advanced platforms preferred.
• Familiarity with dual-fuel operations, winterization strategies, and fleet resiliency programs.
• Deep knowledge of combustion turbine and combined-cycle operations, maintenance, and performance metrics (start reliability, availability, EFOR, EUUF, capacity factor).
• Understanding of nuclear and coal co-ownership structures and how OPC interfaces with Southern Company and other partners on jointly owned assets.
• Familiarity with safety management systems, hazard identification and reduction processes, and contractor safety oversight.
• Comfort with project controls (schedule, budget, risk, change management) for multi-year generation projects in the $100M–$2B+ range.

Strategic & Organizational Acumen

• Ability to assess future technology trends (SMRs, hydrogen, battery storage) and incorporate them into long-term planning.
• Experience in lifecycle asset management, reliability strategy, and performance benchmarking.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and mentor internal leaders; passion for succession planning.

Background & Experience Preferences

• Experience interacting with boards, member systems, or equivalent stakeholder groups.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, technical discipline, or similar required; advanced degree preferred.
• Experience operating in or with cooperative, G&T, public power, or municipal utilities; IOU/IPP backgrounds are acceptable where the candidate demonstrates clear alignment with cooperative culture and member-focused decision-making.

Behavioral Expectations

• Demonstrates high integrity, humility, and a steady presence; capable of building trust across a close-knit organization with long-tenured employees.
• Transparent decision-maker who explains tradeoffs and invites constructive challenge while maintaining accountability.
• Willing to be highly visible across sites, spending significant time with plant teams, including nights/ weekends during outages or critical events.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and growth, as OPC responds to Member requests for new generation to meet rising demand and evolving environmental expectations.

Location / Lifestyle

• Headquarters: Tucker, Georgia (metro Atlanta).
• Fleet footprint: Multiple gas and hydro facilities across rural Georgia, including Talbot, Washington, Walton, Hartwell, Hawk Road, Smarr, Baconton, Chattahoochee, BC Smith, TA Smith, Doyle, Sewell Creek, and the Rocky Mountain pumped-storage hydro plant.
• Travel: Regular in-state travel to plants, Member EMCs, and partner organizations; periodic overnight stays during outages and major project milestones.

This search is being managed by the external search firm, Carter Baldwin. For formal consideration, please reach out to Chris Guiney at [email protected], 770-335-2427.