Brandon Yates
Milton,West Virginia
Summary
Most recently in the past couple years I have strived to learn and adapt from a mechanic to a supervisor. In my most recent performance review I was able to achieve a role model rating based off my 2024 performance. prior to 8/23 I was Hydro Mechanic that has gone above and beyond what is expected. I strived to take Kanawha Valley in a new direction by taking on projects and training hydro mechanics, becoming successful and hitting milestones that have not been achieved by mechanics for many years. I brought back the possibility of doing our own outages. I'm ready for a new challenge and believe I have many of the skill sets to bridge to the supervision of Ceredo plant.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
Work History
Kanawha Valley Hydro Maintenance Supervisor
AEP
Marmet, WV
08.2023 - Current
- Coordinate and create schedules for major unit or equipment outages.
- Serve our customers by keeping units available with very minimal forced outages.
- Continuous improvement by investigating why units tripped and remedying the cause.
- Conduct regular performance evaluations of maintenance staff to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
- Find ways to develop direct reports by having them lead installs, disassembly, outages, specialized training, etc.
- Mentor mechanics on tasks they may not have seen before.
- Setup contracts for outside vendors
- Work in programs such as Maximo, SHEMS, MESH, Guardian, Workday, Excel, Citrix, Word, and others on a daily or weekly basis.
- Provide weekly schedules for direct reports.
- Track and managed KVH costs for good budget adherence.
- Provide guidance to management regarding project bids for onsite improvements.
- Hold bid meetings for vendors for outages or portions of outages for costs over $500K
- Submit quotes and other contract info to obtain a Purchase Orders and Work orders.
- Monitored daily progress and work quality to provide guidance and direction to mechanics.
- SHAC member for over 5 years.
- Hold weekly meetings to discuss good catches, up coming training, review work from the week and work to come the following week.
- Keep an open door for employees to come to me with any questions or anything they'd like to discuss.
- Coordinate schedules with CMS, REO, RSO, vendors, and other Supv and Supt to streamline outages and other work.
Hydro Mechanic A
American Electric Power, AEP
Winfield, WV
06.2008 - 08.2023
- Maintenance Supervisor fill in/Step up
- I am well versed in a majority of the admin work done by the supervisor including Maximo, Peoplesoft, Citrix / PASTA
- Function as a maintenance foreman for the KVP group
- Travel among plants and oversee unit outages along with leading the contractors and also performing the work myself
- Always look for safer ways to perform work and try to incorporate safety culture in the work I lead
- Troubleshoot mechanical failures and help engineering and supervision with solutions and root causes
- Make decisions on equipment based on past experience
- Train and develop other hydro mechanics in outage related maintenance
- Plan outage schedules and cost estimates on the labor
- Help supervision with outage budgeting
- Coordinate work with machine shops and other vendors and get quotes for capitol investments
- Regularly submit Purchase Requisitions, Work orders, Purchase Orders, time keeping, ect.
- Do all the regular plant maintenance and Operations when I have down time on outages
- Have completed Frontline Leadership training
- Have empathy for people
- I believe I've been a key component in creating a more positive culture at KVP
Mechanic 1
Walker Machinery Caterpiller
Belle, WV
10.2004 - 06.2008
- Disassembled and assembled heavy equipment transmissions
- Cleaned parts
- Occasionally went out with the field service crew
- Painted heavy equipment components
Education
Associate of Applied Science - Auto Diesel Technology
Nashville Auto Diesel College
08.2004
Electronics Program Diploma - Electronics
Putnam County Career And Technical School
05.2003
High School Diploma -
Hurricane High School
05.2003
Skills
- Decision Making
- Lockout and tagout procedures
- Willing to Learn
- Mechanical Troubleshooting
- Hardworking and Dedicated
- Diagnosis and Repair
- Welding/Cutting
- People Skills
- Ability to Teach and Coach
- Administrative skills
- Planning skills
- Team supervision
Timeline
Kanawha Valley Hydro Maintenance Supervisor
AEP
08.2023 - Current
Hydro Mechanic A
American Electric Power, AEP
06.2008 - 08.2023
Mechanic 1
Walker Machinery Caterpiller
10.2004 - 06.2008
Electronics Program Diploma - Electronics
Putnam County Career And Technical School
High School Diploma -
Hurricane High School
Associate of Applied Science - Auto Diesel Technology
Nashville Auto Diesel College