Utility Engineer

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.

$75K — $95K *
Energy & Utilities
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Facilities Engineering.
  • Minimum 2 years of relevant experience in industrial utility, semiconductor factory, or high-tech manufacturing facility.
  • Deep understanding of chillers, boilers, water treatment units, compressors, vacuum pumps, heat exchangers, and industrial piping systems.
  • Ability to troubleshoot utility system failures and independently support facility capital projects.
  • Experience within a semiconductor wafer fab utility department.
  • Familiarity with DI water, CDA, vacuum, PCW operations, and central boiler/chiller station logic.
  • Basic operational knowledge of Building Automation Systems (BAS), Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), and facility monitoring systems.

Responsibilities

  • Lead technical coordination for new projects, overseeing scheme reviews and construction supervision.
  • Manage the operation of plant-wide utility infrastructure, including chillers, boilers, and water systems.
  • Develop standard operating procedures and preventive maintenance plans for utility equipment.
  • Monitor core utility equipment's load and energy indicators to ensure consistent operations.
  • Conduct root cause analysis for utility system failures and oversee capital renovation projects.
  • Provide technical support to maintenance teams and standardize workflows for utility maintenance.
  • Mitigate production risks related to utilities through effective technical control measures.

Benefits

  • Flexible health plans (medical, dental, vision) tailored to individual and family needs.
  • 401(k) employer matching.
  • Generous PTO policy with unused PTO payout at year-end.
  • Available relocation package within the US.
  • Immigration sponsorship for eligible candidates.
Full Job Description
Summary

Utility Engineer will conduct full-process technical management of plant-wide process utility systems covering chillers, boilers, pure water, compressed air, vacuum and cooling water supply systems. Support new fab construction, stable equipment operation, energy consumption control and production capacity expansion.

Job Duties
  • New project technical coordination: Take charge of scheme review, construction coordination, on-site construction supervision, system commissioning & acceptance, asset handover and closed-loop rectification of pending issues for all utility systems of new cleanrooms.
  • Technical management of utility systems: Manage all plant-wide utility infrastructure, including chillers, boilers, DI water systems, Clean Dry Air (CDA), vacuum systems, Process Cooling Water (PCW), circulating water and factory water supply & drainage systems.
  • Operation and energy consumption control: Compile standard operating procedures, graded preventive maintenance plans and energy optimization schemes for all utility equipment. Continuously monitor the load, medium pressure, flow rate and energy consumption indicators of core equipment such as chillers, boilers, water pumps and air compressors to ensure uninterrupted and stable supply of process utilities.
  • Fault handling & technical upgrading: Lead root cause analysis on shutdown failures of chillers, boilers, water and air utility systems, hidden danger investigation and rectification. Take charge of capital renovation projects including utility system capacity expansion, pipeline reconstruction, chiller and boiler replacement & upgrading.
  • Technical guidance for operation teams: Provide comprehensive technical support to workshop utility maintenance teams, standardize inspection and maintenance workflows for chillers, boilers, pure water and air compression equipment. Reduce production shutdown risks caused by water shortage, air cut-off, abnormal water temperature or insufficient steam supply through technical control measures.


Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering or Facilities Engineering.
  • Minimum 2 years relevant experience in industrial utility, semiconductor factory or high-tech manufacturing facility.
  • Profound knowledge of chillers, boilers, water treatment units, compressors, vacuum pumps, heat exchangers and industrial piping systems.
  • Capable of troubleshooting utility system failures and supporting facility capital projects independently.
  • Working experience in semiconductor wafer fab utility department.
  • Familiar with DI water, CDA, vacuum, PCW and central boiler/chiller station operation logic.
  • Basic operation knowledge of BAS, PLC and facility real-time monitoring systems.

Rich experience in equipment commissioning, utility system performance validation and energy-saving transformation projects.

Work Environment
  • Respond to off-hour emergency calls
  • Available to work overtime or weekend when necessary
  • Fabrication Facility/Cleanroom environment
  • Cover 24/7 continuous production; available for overtime, weekend duty and emergency call-out for chiller, boiler, water & gas system breakdowns.
  • Daily work in mechanical utility rooms, boiler houses, chiller plants, pump rooms and cleanroom production areas.
  • Wear designated PPE (safety shoes, goggles, gloves) when inspecting rotating, high-temperature and pressure-bearing equipment.
  • Strictly abide by EHS operation specifications for high-temperature, pressure and fluid medium equipment.


Location

This position will be on-site based in Sugar Land, Texas.

In addition to competitive salary, AOI offers
  • Flexible and competitive health (medical, dental, vision) plans offer the employee with the right options to meet individual and family needs
  • Employer matching on 401(k) deferrals
  • Generous PTO policy, with unused PTO payout at end of the year
  • Relocation package available within US
  • Immigration sponsorships (Must be currently authorized to work in the US)

We do not accept unsolicited proposals from third-party recruiters or agencies. Contacting hiring managers directly may result in disqualification of submissions.

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