Commissioning Director

Wood is looking for an experienced Commissioning Director to lead onshore oil and gas EPCm projects from its Abu Dhabi site. The right candidate will have a proven record of guiding multi-billion-dollar programs through commissioning and startup, with a talent for managing large teams and coordinating across contractors and client stakeholders. This role is onsite and suited to someone who thrives in a hands-on leadership position with high accountability for safe, successful handover to operations.

Wood’s Oil, Gas & New Energies business carries a strong legacy of delivering big, technically demanding projects for national and international energy players across the globe. They pride themselves on an experienced delivery model and a reputation for steady, predictable execution. Wood is a market-leading provider of integrated and innovative solutions across the oil and gas spectrum, including upstream, midstream, onshore and offshore work as well as decarbonization and electrification initiatives. They are committed to energy security and transition, with enabling teams at the forefront of transformative projects that bring low-carbon concepts to life.

In this role you’ll shape commissioning strategy and execution for onshore facilities, ensuring rigorous planning, safety, and regulatory compliance while coordinating with operations to enable a smooth turnover. It’s a chance to take ownership of complex activities and mentor a team across a portfolio of projects in a high-stakes environment.

Day-to-day leadership on a high-stakes site

You’ll own the commissioning plan and start-up strategy, developing procedures that drive a systematic approach across the project scope and aligning them with design intent and project milestones. You’ll supervise the testing and verification of systems and equipment to confirm they meet design specifications and operational requirements, and you’ll confirm that every system functions correctly and safely before handover. You’ll assemble and maintain comprehensive commissioning documentation, including test results and certificates, and you’ll keep open lines of communication with project teams, contractors and stakeholders to ensure seamless integration. You’ll identify commissioning risks and craft practical mitigation actions, while also providing training and hands-on support to operations and maintenance teams on the newly commissioned systems. You’ll ensure ongoing regulatory and safety compliance throughout the commissioning process, adapting plans as needed to reflect site realities and evolving standards.

Key objectives for the role include developing and implementing commissioning plans, overseeing the testing and integration work to verify system performance, and preparing the close-out and handover documentation that confirms readiness for operations. You’ll coordinate with construction and engineering managers to establish system breakdowns and work-pack structures that drive completion of each project scope, and you’ll contribute expert input to design reviews and design-to-commissioning handover discussions to minimize unnecessary design deliverables. You’ll participate in start-up activities, pre-commissioning, cold and hot commissioning, and you’ll conduct or participate in pre-start-up safety reviews with client, contractor and, where appropriate, the PMC and licensor. You’ll manage the commissioning management team across the project portfolio, oversee on-site activities, and interface with Operations during commissioning, start-up and turnover. You’ll help define readiness plans and ensure that hazard and risk analyses are performed and mitigated before activities begin, while implementing a completions management system to record verification work at every stage.

The essentials vs nice-to-haves

Here’s what you must bring to be considered for the role, and what would make you stand out.

• B.S. or equivalent degree in Engineering from an accredited university
• Minimum 25 years of relevant experience in the oil & gas industry, including at least 5 years in a similar position
• Demonstrable ability to manage commissioning on onshore greenfield and brownfield oil and gas projects
• Strong leadership and management skills to drive a team and meet project objectives
• Thorough knowledge of project success and benefits management, with solid risk management practices
• Experience coordinating packages, commissioning reviews, site plan management and completions progress measurement and tracking
• Experience developing schedules and cost estimates for standard projects, and a good grasp of QA standards
• Extensive experience across IOC, NOC, and mega onshore oil & gas EPC/EPCM projects; familiarity with handover and close-out activities

• Middle East experience with renowned clients (preferred)
• Participation in design reviews, 3D model reviews, Value Engineering, Risk Management workshops, Planning workshops, constructability reviews, PHSERs and IPRs
• Experience in developing ITT for Construction and Commissioning contracts, evaluating proposals, and advising clients on contract decisions
• Well-rounded experience guiding commissioning management across multiple projects within a portfolio

Pay, benefits and practical details

Wood offers a competitive remuneration package with regular reviews to ensure compensation stays in line with market norms. The package also includes medical insurance covering inpatient and outpatient care, plus group life and personal accident insurance. In line with UAE Labour Law, employees are eligible for an end-of-service gratuity. There’s an Employee Share Plan that gives you the chance to buy Wood shares with a company match, and a Long Service Award at 5-year milestones to recognise loyalty. Wood supports ongoing professional development with tailored plans and provides opportunities to connect with experts worldwide through its Global Connections and the Energy Transition Academy. The role is based onsite in Abu Dhabi, employing a full-time arrangement.

Advice for applicants

Lead with your breadth of oil and gas commissioning leadership. In your resume, open with a concise summary that highlights 25+ years in the field and at least 5 years in a similar commissioning leadership role, plus onshore greenfield/brownfield experience and any Middle East context.

Show concrete evidence of the must-have skills. Describe specific commissioning plans you built, the tests you managed, and how you handed the project over to operations, including budgeting and staffing you supervised and how you tracked progress against milestones and KPI targets.

Be ready to talk through how you integrate commissioning with design and project execution. Share examples of risk management, safety governance, and how you ensured compliance with external regulations and Wood procedures throughout the process.

Ask a smart question that ties to this role’s realities. For instance, ask how the project team plans the commissioning execution and start-up plan in concert with operations, or what support structures exist to align the commissioning plan with design reviews and handover activities.