Director of Electrical Systems, North America - Decatur, IL

Director of Electrical Systems, North America - Decatur, IL

This is an exempt-level position.

ADM is seeking a Director of Electrical Systems to oversee the strategy, condition assessment, and deployment plans for our Electrical Infrastructure and Co-generation plants across our network of plants in North America. The ideal candidate will be a self-starter, proven people leader, and practitioner in Power Generations, Transmission & Distributions Systems. This person will also partner with our Technical Centers to identify and guide sustainable Energy Efficiency programs.

This position has multiple priorities across our sizeable asset footprint and requires a high degree of coordination and execution among key internal stakeholders. The successful individual will provide leadership in developing the 5-year Electrical Utilities strategy, and provide proactive remediation plans for each site to ensure that the safety, adequacy, and reliability of the system to meet short and long-term business objectives is achieved.

Reporting to the VP of Plant Reliability, this role will lead the Utilities Technical Center for North America to ensure effectiveness in delivering improved reliability performance, and will be accountable for maturing the Utilities organizational capability and institutionalizing it to deliver asset performance at best-in-class levels.

Improving Electrical Asset Reliability:

• Directs the utilities team in daily execution of tasks and assigns resources to meet department objectives and plans.
• Directs 3rd party contractors in condition assessments of our electrical utilities infrastructure.
• Develop outage requirements and support the site coordination of maintenance activities for high voltage assets that results in minimal outage impact.
• Own the development of system reliability KPIs that optimize outage management and downstream plant uptime.
• Ensure that preventative and predictive maintenance techniques are applied, based on the most cost-efficient method of achieving safety and operational requirements.
• Develop consistent failure reporting systems for high and medium voltage electrical assets and integrate them into our CMMS systems and downtime reporting systems in line with ADM standards.
• Assist in driving remediation or improvement projects in execution to completion.
• Create and deploy standard operating procedures, metrics and key performance indicators to monitor the health and performance of electrical systems.
• Oversee the maintenance and repair of assets in our network of Co-Generation plants.
• Develop and align with operations leaders on asset care life cycle approach and requirements for high and medium voltage assets.
• Responsible to evaluate and recommend plant capital expenditures and projects, frame-up cost benefits, ensure reliability design factors are incorporated.
• Oversee electrical studies and ensure that recommendations implemented optimize the reliability of the network.

Effective Strategy Development & Deployment:

• Assess the adequacy and vulnerabilities of our electrical infrastructure and systems to support current and future plant operations and make recommendations to close gaps identified.
• Ensure that the Life Cycle Asset Management strategy for electrical utilities assets is developed in alignment with the ADM strategy and sustainability objectives.
• Own the development of the 5-year Capex plan and work with our Tech Centers partners in its successful execution by ensuring alignment with the FEL process.
• Develop, monitor, and manage multi-year improvement plans, by site, based on formal assessments of current state, prioritized by divisional strategic priorities.
• Inform maintain vs replacement vs asset re-investment decisions that optimize overall use of cash (Opex to Capex split).
• Ensure a common approach to electrical asset care and reliability across all plant locations.
• Guide the development of specification for electrical utilities assets that is aligned with recognized industry standards to facilitate asset standardization across the network.
• Act as the technical lead in reviewing electrical plant projects during the design, spec, procure and implementation phases.
• Develop Operational Readiness requirements for plant and major projects related to our electrical infrastructure.

People and Capability Development:

• Develop the career framework, training, and skills development plans for corporate, regional and plant-based electrical teams.
• Help to determine the right skillsets that are needed within the organization to support the maintenance of electrical utilities assets.
• Develop a practitioner development program for high voltage professionals.

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
• Master’s degree in engineering or MBA is preferred.
• 10+ years’ experience with power systems design, operation and maintenance working in a regulated utility environment.
• Exceptional knowledge and experience with leading / executing the elements Asset Care & Reliability and organizational learning and development.
• Analytical skills and business acumen.
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of industry standards that governs the selection, performance and maintenance of High Voltage assets.
• Proven decision-making quality and drive for results. Must exhibit managerial courage.
• Problem-solving, communication and influencing skills, including the ability to lead change through others.
• Leadership skills to inspire, engage and motivate – including the ability to paint a vision and operationalize a strategy to achieve it.

• Travel to manufacturing facilities as needed (approximately 30%).

• License Professional Engineer (P.E. or P.Eng).
• Project Management Professional.

Excited about this role but don’t meet every requirement listed? Studies show that often applicants will self-select out if they don’t check every box. We encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings.

ADM requires the successful completion of a background check. Relocation assistance is available for this position.

Benefits and Perks

Enriching the quality of life for the world begins by taking care of our colleagues. In addition to competitive pay, we support your diverse needs with a comprehensive total rewards package to enhance your well-being, including:

• Physical wellness – medical/Rx, dental, vision and on-site wellness center access or gym reimbursement (as applicable).
• Financial wellness – flexible spending accounts, health savings account, 401(k) with matching contributions and cash balance plan, discounted employee stock purchasing program, life insurance, disability, workers’ compensation, legal assistance, identity theft protection.
• Mental and social wellness – Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and Colleague Giving Programs (ADM Cares).

Additional benefits include:

• Paid time off including paid holidays.
• Adoption assistance and paid maternity and parental leave.
• Tuition assistance.
• Company-sponsored training and development resources, such as LinkedIn Learning, language training and mentoring programs.

#IncludingYou
Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are cornerstones of ADM’s efforts to continue innovating, driving growth, and delivering outstanding performance. We are committed to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce and create welcoming, truly inclusive work environments — environments that enable every ADM colleague to feel comfortable on the job, make meaningful contributions to our success, and grow their career.

We are committed to ensuring all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, ethnicity, disability, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, sexual orientation, age, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We welcome everyone to apply, especially those individuals who are underrepresented in our industry, as we strive to ensure our workforce represents the world that we help to feed: people of color, women, gender non-conforming, LGBTQIA+, veterans and persons with disabilities.

For more information regarding our efforts to advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, please visit our website here: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | ADM.

About ADM
At ADM, we unlock the power of nature to provide access to nutrition worldwide. With industry-advancing innovations, a complete portfolio of ingredients and solutions to meet any taste, and a commitment to sustainability, we give customers an edge in solving the nutritional challenges of today and tomorrow.

We’re a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world’s premier agricultural origination and processing company. Our breadth, depth, insights, facilities and logistical expertise give us unparalleled capabilities to meet needs for food, beverages, health and wellness, and more. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, we enrich the quality of life the world over. Learn more at

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