When you think about the U.S. Navy’s impressive global fleet, Pittsburgh probably isn’t the first city to come to mind.
A few miles away in our own backyard of Monroeville, however, is a company that exists solely to help power America’s submarines and aircraft carriers with nuclear energy. That company is Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI).
To understand BPMI, you need to understand a little Naval history. In the 1950s, the U.S. Navy began researching nuclear energy to power and propel ships. While a nuclear power plant cruising around the ocean in a ship may sound odd at first, the Navy found that it’s actually a very efficient and effective energy source! Nuclear energy also improves the endurance, mobility, and sustainability of naval ships and doesn’t omit any greenhouse gases — leaving the world’s atmosphere and oceans clean.
With the proven success and advantages of nuclear energy aboard large ships, the Navy created an enterprise of professionals to support a long-term program: the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP). This is where BPMI comes onto the scene.
Since 1956, BPMI has been the project engineering organization contracted by the NNPP to help bring research and development to life by coordinating the design, manufacturing and supply-chain management of the nuclear power plant components installed in all U.S. nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers.
In other words, BPMI is the link between the NNPP enterprise and U.S. companies that support the Navy’s mission. BPMI engineers and professionals ensure that where there is a nuclear-powered ship, there is a network of professionals and suppliers to support it.
BPMI employees manage a vast portfolio of relationships to support this mission — and they don’t need to be near a ship or ocean to do so! They work daily with their government customer, shipyards and hundreds of American defense industrial base suppliers — everyone with the common goal of supporting our sailors and ships stationed all over the world.
Partnering with such a large network also provides interested employees with unique career experiences, such as shipboard field support, participating in sea trials aboard ships, working assignments at satellite offices, on-site supplier visits, and opportunities to work hands-on with the nearby Naval Nuclear Laboratory.
BPMI has also been shaping their headquarters as a “workplace of the future” through improving work efficiencies, expanding operational capabilities, and improving employee work environments. The 270,000-square-foot facility features innovation spaces, an outdoor pavilion, on-site cafeteria, fully equipped gym, mothers’ rooms, a 300 seat auditorium, adjustable-height work stations, and more. BPMI is also dedicated to providing employees with transparent and competitive salaries, benefits, hybrid work, and more.
Barbara Staniscia, general manager at BPMI, explains, “It’s an exciting time for BPMI! We are growing and transitioning into a new era focused on program innovation, human-centered leadership, and supporting the Navy’s increased demand for shipbuilding. We’re even helping the U.S. Navy train Australian Sailors to own and operate their own nuclear-powered fleet. I’m so proud of our employees — they are full of energy and truly dedicated to our national defense. Their teamwork, innovation, and standard of excellence are quickly shaping a new tomorrow for BPMI and the entire Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.”
If you would like to learn more about joining BPMI’s top-level team, visit bpmionline.com, where you can read about BPMI’s mission, search open positions, and apply online.