Wind Energy Operations Managers
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 11-9199.09United States
Manage wind field operations, including personnel, maintenance activities, financial activities, and planning.
- Median annual earnings
- $106,813
- Projected change
- +8.9%
- Typical education
- Associate degree
- Employment
- 1.14M jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
39.7% of the workforce
Growing to 1.24M by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What wind energy operations managers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Supervise employees or subcontractors to ensure quality of work or adherence to safety regulations or policies.
- Train or coordinate the training of employees in operations, safety, environmental issues, or technical issues.
- Track and maintain records for wind operations, such as site performance, downtime events, parts usage, or substation events.
- Oversee the maintenance of wind field equipment or structures, such as towers, transformers, electrical collector systems, roadways, or other site assets.
- Prepare wind field operational budgets.
- Maintain operations records, such as work orders, site inspection forms, or other documentation.
- Develop relationships and communicate with customers, site managers, developers, land owners, authorities, utility representatives, or residents.
- Provide technical support to wind field customers, employees, or subcontractors.
- Recruit or select wind operations employees, contractors, or subcontractors.
- Estimate costs associated with operations, including repairs or preventive maintenance.
- Monitor and maintain records of daily facility operations.
- Order parts, tools, or equipment needed to maintain, restore, or improve wind field operations.
- Establish goals, objectives, or priorities for wind field operations.
- Review, negotiate, or approve wind farm contracts.
- Manage warranty repair or replacement services.
- Develop processes or procedures for wind operations, including transitioning from construction to commercial operations.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $49,585
- 25th percentile
- $73,342
- 50th percentile
- $106,813
- 75th percentile
- $152,210
- 90th percentile
- $237,454
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $106,813 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+8.9%faster than average
20251,136,396 jobs
2035 projected1,237,142 jobs
100,746 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Associate degree
- 39.7%
- Bachelor's degree
- 34.8%
- High school diploma or less
- 14.9%
- Certificate
- 7.1%
- Some college
- 3.6%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Site Operations Managers3 postings
- 02Operations Managers1 postings
- 03Wind Energy Managers1 postings
Top employers
- 01Bhe Renewables1 postings
- 02Global Wind Service1 postings
- 03Longroad Energy Management1 postings
- 04Northern Natural Gas1 postings
- 05Siemens Energy1 postings
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