Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wind Turbine Program Supervisor

🎯 Role Definition

The Wind Turbine Program Supervisor is a field-focused operations leader responsible for supervising maintenance and operations programs for a portfolio of wind turbines and related balance-of-plant systems. This role leads technicians, coordinates vendors and contractors, drives operational KPIs (availability, capacity factor, mean time to repair), maintains strict EHS compliance, manages budgets and schedules, and implements preventive and corrective maintenance strategies to maximize turbine reliability and minimize downtime. The ideal candidate combines deep technical troubleshooting experience (electrical, mechanical, hydraulic), strong program management capabilities, and proven people leadership skills in a wind farm environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Wind Turbine Technician / Lead Technician
Field Service Technician (wind) with supervisory experience
Maintenance Foreman / Wind Operations Coordinator

Advancement To:

Wind Operations Manager / O&M Manager
Asset Manager, Renewables
Regional Operations Director (Wind)

Lateral Moves:

Commissioning Supervisor (wind)
Reliability Engineer (wind)
Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Manager — Renewables

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead day-to-day field operations for a cluster of wind turbines, ensuring all maintenance and service activities are executed safely, on schedule and within budget while meeting performance targets for turbine availability and production.
Supervise, mentor and develop a mixed crew of wind technicians and contractors, setting clear performance expectations, conducting performance reviews, and creating training and certification plans (including GWO and site-specific rescue training).
Plan and coordinate preventive maintenance (PM) and predictive maintenance (PdM) programs using SCADA data, vibration analysis, oil analysis and thermography to reduce unplanned downtime and optimize mean time between failures.
Manage corrective maintenance workflows from fault detection to root-cause analysis to permanent corrective actions, ensuring timely parts procurement, efficient logistics, and minimal turbine downtime.
Oversee work scope development, issuance of work orders and coordination with CMMS/SAP to ensure accurate recording of labor, materials and work history for each asset.
Implement and enforce strict EHS policies and site-specific safety procedures, conduct toolbox talks, incident investigations, near-miss reporting and corrective action follow-up to maintain a safe work environment.
Develop and manage annual O&M program budgets and forecasts, monitor cost to actuals, and identify opportunities for cost reduction while protecting asset reliability and safety.
Coordinate and manage third-party service providers, EPC contractors and OEM field service teams, negotiating scopes, SLAs and contract terms while ensuring quality and compliance with site standards.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives including reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), root cause failure analysis (RCFA), and lessons-learned programs to improve turbine performance and reduce lifecycle costs.
Lead commissioning, major component exchanges (nacelle, gearbox, generator), and major crane lifts operations with detailed lift plans, risk assessments, and interfacing with crane/rigging crews to ensure safe and compliant execution.
Monitor SCADA and condition monitoring platforms for alarms and performance anomalies, triage issues remotely where possible, and prioritize field dispatching to reduce response times and lost production.
Establish and report key performance indicators (KPIs) such as availability, capacity factor, MTTR, preventive maintenance compliance and backlog to senior management and stakeholders with actionable insights.
Maintain inventory and spare parts management strategy, oversee stock levels for critical spares, recommend reorder points and lead times, and collaborate with procurement to minimize supply chain impact on O&M.
Implement quality assurance and quality control standards for workmanship, commissioning checklists, and post-repair verification to ensure long-term reliability of repairs and upgrades.
Manage permitting, environmental compliance and community relations activities related to field operations, ensuring site work meets local, state and federal regulatory requirements.
Lead outage planning and execution for scheduled major works and component replacements, coordinating internal crews, contractors, grid operators and landowners to minimize production impact.
Drive electrics and controls troubleshooting for medium- and high-voltage systems, power converters, yaw and pitch control systems, including coordination with utility interconnection stakeholders when required.
Coordinate blade inspections, repairs and conditioning programs—managing rope-access teams or specialized contractors—and include lightning protection, erosion mitigation and aerodynamic performance restoration where needed.
Champion digitalization projects such as advanced analytics, remote diagnostics, and CMMS integrations to streamline workflows, improve decision-making and reduce field time and costs.
Ensure clear communication and coordination across disciplines (engineering, procurement, planning, HSE, asset management, finance) to align maintenance activities with business objectives and construction/repowering schedules.
Prepare and maintain accurate operational documentation including maintenance procedures, as-built records, inspection reports, lift plans and handover packages for audits and warranty support.
Respond to critical incidents and emergency events (weather damage, grid events, major component failures) by activating contingency plans, mobilizing crews, liaising with authorities and restoring safe operation as quickly as possible.
Support repowering and asset life-extension studies by providing field insights, failure trends and reliability data and by participating in vendor selection and cost-benefit analyses.
Mentor junior technicians and act as the technical escalation point for complex mechanical, hydraulic and electrical failures to ensure effective knowledge transfer and capability growth within the team.
Drive safety culture and engagement programs, organize regular safety campaigns, lead emergency rescue drills and ensure all personnel maintain relevant certifications and training.

Secondary Functions

Support data-driven decision making by collaborating with reliability engineers to interpret SCADA trends, condition monitoring outputs and failure logs to prioritize maintenance investments and schedule interventions.
Contribute to the development of the wind farm's digital roadmap, providing practical field requirements for CMMS improvements, mobile workflows and remote diagnostics.
Participate in commercial activities by providing input for O&M contract scopes, SLAs, pricing assumptions and performance guarantees based on field realities and historical data.
Assist in stakeholder communication including owner updates, permitting authorities and community representatives during planned major works or incident recovery.
Support cross-functional continuous improvement projects (supply chain optimization, vendor consolidation, training standardization) to improve operational efficiency and reduce cost-per-MWh.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep knowledge of wind turbine systems including pitch, yaw, drivetrain (gearbox or direct-drive), generator, converter, hydraulic systems and nacelle mechanics.
Proficiency with SCADA systems, condition monitoring platforms and remote diagnostics tools to monitor turbine health and performance.
Strong electrical troubleshooting skills up to medium/high-voltage systems, including isolation procedures, protection relays, transformers and grid-interconnection basics.
Experience with CMMS (e.g., SAP, IBM Maximo, Infor) for work order management, inventory control and maintenance history recording.
Hands-on experience managing major lifts, crane operations, component exchanges and rigging plans, including familiarity with lift planning software and load charts.
Practical knowledge of predictive maintenance techniques: vibration analysis, oil analysis, thermography and blade inspection technologies.
Familiarity with OEM maintenance manuals, warranty management and interfacing with OEM field service organizations.
Financial acumen for budgeting, cost control, vendor invoicing, and lifecycle cost analysis.
Experience with rope access, MEWP operations, and / or coordination of specialist blade repair teams and rescue-trained personnel.
Competence in using Microsoft Office suite (Excel modeling for KPI tracking), and willingness to adopt digital maintenance tools and mobile workforce applications.
Understanding of regulatory and permitting requirements for wind projects, environmental controls, and land access agreements.
Familiarity with standards and certifications such as GWO, OSHA, First Aid/CPR, confined space and fall protection.

Soft Skills

Strong leadership and people-management abilities with experience mentoring technicians and managing multi-disciplinary crews across remote sites.
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, to prepare reports, present KPIs and liaise with internal and external stakeholders.
Problem-solving mindset and ability to lead root cause analyses under pressure to restore operations quickly and prevent recurrence.
Strong organizational and planning skills to balance reactive work with preventive scheduling in a dynamic environment.
Customer-focused orientation with the ability to represent the company professionally to owners, vendors and regulators.
Resilient, adaptive and decisive under operational stress, such as weather events or major failures.
Collaborative team player that works well across engineering, procurement, HSE and commercial teams.
Continuous improvement mindset; able to drive process improvements, standardization and adoption of best practices.
Cultural sensitivity and community awareness for working with landowners and local stakeholders in rural or remote regions.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma or GED plus significant field experience and industry certifications (e.g., GWO, trade certifications, electrical licenses).

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical or Industrial Engineering, Renewable Energy, or a related technical discipline preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Renewable Energy Technology
Industrial Maintenance / Mechatronics
Operations Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10 years of combined wind turbine field service/maintenance experience with at least 2–4 years in a supervisory or lead role.

Preferred:

7+ years in utility-scale wind O&M with demonstrated experience managing field crews, major component exchanges, crane operations and vendor management.
Proven track record of improving turbine availability and reducing lifecycle costs through preventive and predictive maintenance strategies.
Experience working with SCADA and condition monitoring systems and demonstrated ability to translate data into actionable field programs.