Engineer II or I Modeling - Southwest Power Pool

Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is about more than power. We’re about the power of relationships. Our employees have the opportunity to work together to ensure electricity is delivered reliably and affordably to the millions of people living in our service territory. We have been voted one of Arkansas’ Best Places to work by Arkansas Business and we are looking for a member of our team who is passionate about our mission to keep the lights on!

We have a core ideology here at SPP that we stand by: Do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.

We believe in supporting our employees through a fantastic benefits package:

• Competitive pay with bonus opportunities
• Excellent insurance package including three great medical plans to choose from, employer-paid short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
• Relocation assistance
• Flexible working environment for positions that are eligible where employees have the flexibility to work from home and come in where collaborative in person work is needed.
• Fantastic contributions to your retirement through a 401(k) savings plan with employer-match benefits and a defined benefit plan fully funded by SPP

Overview

The Engineer is responsible to the assigned supervisor for primarily performing the modeling of the SPP electrical transmission system for engineering analyses supporting the Integrated Transmission Planning process, Tariff Studies, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) model build requirements and processes, and/or NERC compliance models as well as coordination and completion of any special studies for Southwest Power Pool Inc.

The  Engineer will support the overall objectives, critical issues, new concepts, policy matters, and any other relevant issues to the planning model building process, including the development of new planning techniques, process improvements and engineering measurements. The Senior Engineer is responsible for coordinating many aspects of the SPP transmission planning models to ensure that the grid remains reliable, robust and able to meet many possible futures.

The position requires frequent interaction with SPP staff, stakeholders and regulators requiring the incumbent to be able to communicate effectively. This communication, both written and oral, is for the purposes of requests, analysis, coordination, guidance, and presentations. This position also requires advanced leadership skills and the ability to mentor other staff members. Leadership activities may include involvement with working groups, active involvement with multiple Engineering efforts, representing System Planning Modeling inside and outside of the Engineering department, and reviewing and approving work efforts of team members.

Essential Functions

Engineering Concepts and Tools:

• Have a advanced understanding and develop expertise with the SPP power system analysis tools and processes
  • PSSE (Power Flow, etc.)
• Have a basic understanding and develop advanced knowledge of the following SPP power system analysis tools and processes
  • PSSE (Dynamic Simulations)
  • DSA Tools (PSAT, VSAT, TSAT, and SSAT)
  • PowerGEM (TARA )
  • PROMOD (Market Analysis Software)
• Advanced knowledge of Windows Programs (WORD, EXCEL, Power Point, and Access)
• Develop strong understanding for database concepts and structures
• Develop strong expertise with the SPP power system analysis tools, models, and processes
• Develop automation (i.e. Python code, etc.) to perform data extractions, comparisons, or calculations from PSSE cases to modify the data and create reports

Engineering Responsibilities:

• As directed by the Manager, supervisor or lead engineer, enthusiastically complete the modeling assignments and specific assignments directed by ad hoc stakeholder/committees, Integrated Transmission Planning processes, Tariff Studies, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) model build requirements and processes and/or any engineering data coordination efforts
• Responsible for the development, use, and instruction of the System Planning Modeling tools and software such as PSS/E, Engineering Data Submission Tool (EDST), Model on Demand (MOD) and Microsoft Office
• Responsible for the technical content that is contained in model build manuals, procedures, and quality assurance checks
• Will work with other ISOs, RTOs and other Planning Authorities to coordinate the transmission system model build processes

Governing Processes:

• Detailed understanding of specific governing documents and processes will be required depending on specific support needs

Stakeholder Relationships:

• Develop positive stakeholder technical, supervisory, leadership and/or management level relationships as necessary to accomplish SPP objectives and assigned directives
• Assist with specific assignments as directed by more experienced engineers or supervisor to develop necessary technical stakeholder relationships to collect data and share results. In these cases, facilitate stakeholder feedback discussions to reach a positive stakeholder consensus, to the fullest extent possible
• Develop basic staff secretary skills (Meeting minutes, action items, Robert’s Rules of Order, etc.) for technical working groups by providing technical & logistical support to active staff secretaries
• Be prepared to be a staff secretary for an SPP task force, if called to do so

Engineering Judgment:

• Exercise advanced decision making skills for technical studies and services to adapt between standard and non-standard techniques
• Develop advanced project management skills by taking responsibility for the completion of any assigned independent projects
• Develop necessary skills by working with and observing more experienced engineers as they make technical and project management level decisions

Teamwork and Leadership Skills:

• Provide key technical support in a teamwork environment
• Independently handle several SPP technical processes, studies or tasks with limited scope and minimum supervision
• Assist more experienced engineers with advanced studies and technical process with appropriate supervision
• Maintain awareness of more experienced engineering decision-making behavior in anticipation of future development of fundamental leadership abilities

SPP Culture and Core Values:

• Embrace and promote the SPP Culture, Mission and Core Values in attitude toward stakeholder relationships, current work assignments as well as long term goals and strategic initiative of the organization
• Incorporate a fundamental working understanding of the SPP Culture Drivers, Mission and Core Values and apply this directly to all engineering assignments and any SPP related effort, not necessarily limited to engineering

Qualifications

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering, this degree should:

  • Be from a university that meets the requirements to sit for the Professional Engineering exam (in Arkansas, that is most typically a degree from an ABET accredited university or a graduate degree from a college that has an ABET accreditation),
  • Degree should be in a calculus-based engineering field and preferred degree programs are Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Systems Engineering

Experience Requirements:

• Level II – Two (2) years of job-related work experience
• Level I - no experience required

Required:

• Competent with the administrative and communication tools for word processing, spread sheet development and time keeping, as a minimum
• Intermediate proficiency with most SPP power systems analysis tools with a solid command of several SPP tools and/or processes
• Practical understanding of the SPP Open Access Transmission Tariff, FERC & NERC governing documents, SPP By-Laws, SPP Criteria and the SPP Committee structure
• Good knowledge of several power systems analysis tools applicable to power system steady state, dynamic, short circuit, or database management systems
• Good inter-personal and team work skills along with good written and verbal communication skills
• Good working skills with communication and data handling software such as Microsoft Office© Word, Excel, Access
• Understanding of and compliance with SPP Policies and Procedures

Preferred:

• A Professional Engineer License
• Advanced degree in related field of study
• Electric Utility Industry experience

Work Environment:

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Physical Demands:

The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to perform the essential functions of this job successfully.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to make decisions, interpret data, and problem solve.
• The employee frequently is required to stand or sit for extended periods; use hands to operate a computer keyboard and standard office equipment.
• The employee must occasionally lift and move up to 10 pounds.
• Requires the ability to work and collaborate with managers and employees at all levels to exchange ideas, information, and opinions to facilitate the task.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work:

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of workweek are Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Working extended hours may be required.

Travel Requirement:

This position requires minimal travel (approximately 10%)

Should you elect to apply for this position SPP will review your qualifications. If after reviewing the qualifications and experience of all applicants, your skills and credentials meet our needs, someone from our organization may contact you. Please be advised that the time required to complete the applicant review process typically takes between 30 and 90 days, but could extend beyond that. Once the position has been filled, all applicants will be notified via email. 

 Southwest Power Pool is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age or any other protected category.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines “reasonable accommodation” as a change or adjustment to a job or work environment that allows a qualified individual with a disability to satisfactorily perform the essential functions of a particular job, and does not cause an undue hardship for the employer.  SPP adheres to the ADA and reasonable accommodations may be made to enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)