Energy Marshal, Data Centers

About Suffolk  

Suffolk is a national enterprise that builds, innovates, and invests. We provide value across the entire project lifecycle through our core construction management services and complementary business lines in real estate investment, design, self-perform construction, and technology start-up investment (Suffolk Technologies). By integrating data, artificial intelligence, and advanced technology through our Seamless Platform, we connect design, construction, and operations to deliver smarter, more predictable results and redefine how America builds. 

Suffolk – America’s Contractor – is a national company with more than $9 billion in annual revenue, 3,000 employees, and 17 offices, including Boston (headquarters), New York City, Miami, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Estero, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Herndon, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other key markets. Suffolk manages some of the most complex and transformative projects in the country, serving clients across healthcare, life sciences, education, gaming, aviation, transportation, government, mission critical, and commercial sectors. Suffolk is privately held and is led by founder, chairman and CEO John Fish. Suffolk is ranked #8 on ENR’s list of “Top CM-at-Risk Contractors.” For more information, visit www.suffolk.com and follow Suffolk on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. 

At Suffolk, we believe that our total rewards program should offer you and your family the support you need when it matters most. That’s why we have created a program that provides employees with access to a wide variety of options that can be personalized to support you and your loved ones physically, emotionally, and financially. 

Benefits include, competitive salaries, auto allowances and gas cards for certain roles, access to market leading medical and emotional and mental health benefits, dental, and vision insurance plans, virtual care options for physical therapy and primary care, generous paid time off, 401k plan with employer match and access to expert financial resources, company paid and voluntary life insurance, tax deferred savings accounts, 10 backup daycare days each year, short- and long-term disability, commuter benefits and more.  For more information, click here. 

Additional benefits may be available for employees considered Travelers within our Mission Critical Group, including relocation support, monthly housing stipends, and monthly travel allowances.  

The Role

The Mission Critical Center of Excellence manages billions of dollars in projects annually, specializing in data center and mission-critical construction for leading technology and telecommunications clients across the United States. Focused on fast-paced, MEP-intensive projects, the group is recognized for delivering complex solutions while offering significant opportunities for career advancement within the thriving mission-critical construction industry.

The Energy Marshal is responsible for project-level planning, coordination, verification, and authorization of startup, hazardous-energy-control, and controlled system-state activities on Mission Critical (MC) projects in accordance with current Energy Marshal (EM) Program standards, contractual and client requirements, applicable regulations, and approved project procedures. In this role, startup encompasses the controlled introduction, release, transfer, isolation, or restoration of all energy types across MC MEP Systems, including, but not limited to: electrical, mechanical, thermal, hydraulic, pneumatic, and other hazardous energy forms.

The Energy Marshal serves as Suffolk's Gate Check Warden and final independent integration point for startup authorization. In this capacity, the Energy Marshal confirms that the accountable Operations, Quality, Commissioning (Cx), Safety, trade-partner, client, and technical stakeholders have completed and documented their required readiness determinations before startup or a controlled system-state transition proceeds. The Gate Check Warden does not replace those functions or independently certify their work; the duty is to integrate the required inputs, reconcile unresolved conditions, document the authorization decision, and prevent progression when readiness has not been adequately demonstrated. Trade partners and vendors remain responsible for safely executing their work throug h qualified personnel and designated Persons in Charge; project Operations retains construction execution and trade management; Quality verifies installation conformance; Commissioning verifies commissioning readiness.

This position reports to either the assignment Sr Energy Marshal or the MC EM Program Manager. Between assignments, the role may support Preconstruction, Technical MEP, Commissioning planning, audits, training, or other program priorities.

Startup Planning and Energy-Control Implementation

• Develop and maintain project-specific startup-governance, hazardous-energy-control, access-control, and documentation processes in accordance with current EM Program standards and client requirements
• Review startup procedures, Methods of Procedure (MOP), switching and isolation plans, permits, and system diagrams for completeness and alignment with approved standards
• Identify systems approaching startup or an energizable, pressurized, or otherwise hazardous condition; coordinate the transition to formal energy-control governance and align startup and energy-control activities with the project master schedule, construction sequencing, Cx plan, and phased turnover requirements
• Verify that responsible trade partners designate qualified personnel and a competent Person in Charge for each applicable activity; administer project lock, tag, permit, and access-control processes
• Identify and escalate scope gaps, conflicting activities, unauthorized conditions, and other startup or energy-control risks before they affect personnel, equipment, testing, or project milestones

Startup Readiness and Gate Check Warden Duties

• Lead or facilitate startup planning and readiness reviews in accordance with current EM Program standards and verify objective completion of applicable prerequisites
• Serve as final independent integration point for startup authorization by confirming required Operations, Quality, Cx, Safety, client, and technical readiness determinations have been completed and documented before progression
• Confirm that each accountable function retains responsibility for its own readiness determination; Gate Check Warden authorization does not replace Quality verification of conformance, Cx readiness, Safety controls, trade execution responsibility, or required client and authority approvals
• Preserve the dual-key principle: Cx readiness does not replace Energy Marshal authorization, and Energy Marshal authorization does not replace Cx readiness

• Document startup authorization decisions, including applicable conditions, restrictions, authorized system state, responsible parties, and required follow-up actions
• Verify that required procedures, permits, pre-task planning, and safety controls are in place, and that isolation, lockout/tag out, stored-energy control, absence-of-energy verification, startup, and restoration activities are performed by qualified personnel per approved procedures
• Coordinate startup and system-state transitions across concurrent or interdependent systems, and conduct pre-and post-activity field verification to confirm equipment status, isolation boundaries, signage, access controls, and system security remain consistent with approved conditions

Field Assurance, Documentation, and Incident Control

• Audit field practices against approved EM Program, client, regulatory, and project requirements and require corrective action when conditions deviate from established controls
• Verify that applicable system studies, equipment labeling, drawings, and protection or control information are complete and available before affected startup activities proceed
• Manage energy-control deviations, unauthorized access, procedural violations, and abnormal system states throug h containment, correction, revalidation, and escalation; ensure changes to approved procedures, system configuration, personnel, sequencing, or field conditions are reassessed and reauthorized before affected work continues
• Maintain complete, accurate, traceable, and audit-ready records of startup status, permits, approvals, isolations, qualifications, deviations, and system-state changes within designated system s; provide timely reporting of upcoming startup activities, current conditions, unresolved risks, and residual exposure to leadership
• Support investigation of startup-related incidents, near misses, and procedural deviations, verify corrective actions are implemented, and coordinate transfer of startup status and energy-control records during phased turnover

Stakeholder, Training, and Team Leadership

• Serve as the primary project interface for startup and hazardous-energy governance with project leadership, Safety, Quality, Cx, trade partners, vendors, clients, utilities, and authorities having jurisdiction; lead startup-readiness, energy-control, and system-state meetings as assigned
• Lead implementation and reinforcement of the Gate Check Warden process on the assigned project, including orientation/training, clarification of responsibilities, and consistent application of startup-authorization expectations
• Deliver or coordinate project-specific startup and electrical-safety orientation and verify that personnel assigned to controlled activities possess required qualifications and training
• Direct the day-to-day activities of assigned Deputy Energy Marshals and other Suffolk EM personnel; coordinate third-party EM resources supporting the project
• Maintain independent startup and energy-control authority while supporting project delivery objectives and collaborative working relationships with project Operations; provide lessons learned and field-based improvement recommendations to the EM Program Manager

The Energy Marshal is authorized to:

• Determine whether applicable startup, hazardous-energy-control, and system-state requirements have been adequately demonstrated
• Authorize, conditionally authorize, hold, deny, suspend, or revoke startup activities and changes in system energy state within Suffolk's delegated Energy Marshal authority
• Require correction, procedure revision, additional evidence, rebriefing, or revalidation before work or system progression continues, and require abnormal or exceptional lockout, isolation, or system -control conditions to be managed through approved escalation and authorization procedures before safeguards are altered
• Require affected work to stop and systems to be placed in a controlled condition when approved requirements are not satisfied, and restrict access to energized, pressurized, isolated, or otherwise controlled equipment and spaces
• Stop work presenting an immediate risk of electrical shock, arc flash, unintended startup, uncontrolled energy release, equipment damage, or loss of system-state control, and escalate the condition through project and EM Program leadership