Commissioning & Start up Process Lead M/F
SPIESPIE Oil & Gas Services Middle East LLC, Abu Dhabi branch, is seeking a Commissioning & Start up Process Lead for a fixed-term, full-time onsite role in Abu Dhabi. This senior position sits within the Technical Facilities Management domain and calls for a seasoned professional who can steer front-end commissioning, align cross-functional teams, and drive start-up activities for a major oil and gas program. The posting carries reference 2025-38138.
SPIE operates as a global energy services group with a footprint in around 30 countries. Its Energy division numbers about 5,000 employees, while the broader SPIE group employs roughly 55,000 people and reports substantial revenue. The Abu Dhabi opportunity is described with a Home Office location in the listing, but the work will be performed onsite in Abu Dhabi, including activity in the yard and at site facilities.
Ideal candidates will bring offshore experience and a hands-on approach to on-site installation, pre-commissioning and commissioning management for brownfield and greenfield projects in the oil and gas sector. If you enjoy coordinating multiple disciplines and pushing systems toward mechanical completion and formal system acceptance, this could be a strong match.
Daily cadence in the Abu Dhabi yard and site
In this role you’ll coordinate the resolution of technical issues and maintain alignment with the project engineer and PMT for major commercial and project decisions. You’ll also work closely with engineering, quality, construction and procurement to keep interfaces clear and track the progress of process equipment packages, while contributing to the development of test and commissioning procedures and supporting performance tests for major equipment. You’ll interface with subcontractors’ project management to ensure that all critical commercial and technical issues are addressed, including any quality deviations, inspection reports or specification deviations.
Engineering and planning support will extend to mechanical completion and commissioning activities across vendor shops, fabrication yards and field locations. You’ll review and approve design change notices and field change requests, help set testing criteria for FATs to ensure full international standard compliance, and ensure all documentation is complete with FAT punch-list items recorded in the systems completion database. You’ll lead efforts to develop site performance test procedures and contribute to the project systems completion schedule, participating in systems completion workshops to secure alignment among stakeholders for each milestone. You’ll generate comprehensive step-by-step commissioning procedures for the systems assigned to you and manage the procurement of spares, first fills, special tools and equipment to guarantee timely on-site availability.
Throughout, you’ll oversee on-site fabrication, mechanical completion and commissioning activities while working with discipline system owners to prioritize work. You’ll ensure the quality, accuracy and integrity of system issues, assist with closing out changes, and coordinate with the construction team to allocate mechanical completion check sheets to each item of equipment. You’ll ensure adherence to commissioning procedures, participate in system walk-downs with the MC Coordinator, support preservation activities and monitor compliance, and manage the vendor attendance plan to guarantee required on-site presence when needed for the assigned systems.
Must-have ingredients and nice-to-haves
These items describe the core qualifications and the extras that would help you stand out.
- Bachelor’s degree in Chemical engineering or an equivalent field, with at least 15 years of engineering experience including eight years on-site for installation, pre-commissioning, changeover and commissioning on brownfield and greenfield oil and gas projects
- offshore experience is mandatory
- Strong people skills and organizational ability, plus solid computer literacy and proficiency with Microsoft Office
- Dynamic, proactive, highly organized and detail-oriented
- Fluent in English
- French or Arabic language skills would be a plus
Compensation and practical details
The role offers a competitive salary and international insurance coverage.
Location is Abu Dhabi and the position is full-time, on-site, with a fixed-term duration of 1.5 years. The posting notes a Home Office arrangement but the day-to-day work is described as taking place in yard and on site locations in Abu Dhabi. English language proficiency is required at full professional level, and knowledge of French or Arabic is considered a plus. The candidate criteria specify a minimum of 10 years of experience, while the profile describes a preference for about 15 years of engineering experience with eight years on-site, including offshore work.
Advice for applicants
Lead your resume with the offshore, on-site commissioning leadership you’ve delivered, emphasizing 15+ years of engineering experience and eight years directing on-site activities in brownfield and greenfield oil and gas projects.
Show concrete proof of the must-have capabilities: demonstrate how you’ve interfaced with project engineers and PMTs on major commercial and PM decisions, managed MC and procurement interfaces, and guided the development of commissioning plans and system completion deliverables.
Prepare to discuss the specifics of system completion, FAT criteria, DCNs and FCRs, and how you’ve used system completion workshops to align diverse stakeholders through project milestones. Bring examples of how you’ve created step-by-step commissioning procedures for complex systems and ensured timely procurement of spares and tools for on-site execution.
When you ask questions, focus on how Systems Completion is measured on your projects, the cadence of SC workshops, and the expectations for vendor attendance and support plans across the systems you’d own.