Engineer II, Sr. Engineer or Sr. Engineer II – Operational Planning - 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 Operations Engineer is tasked with providing engineering analysis, performing engineering studies and data analysis in support of all Operations related responsibilities within the SPP Regions.  The Operations Engineer additionally coordinates these analyses and studies, as appropriate, both within the SPP Regions and inter-regionally.  Both real-time and forward engineering support is provided to the following functions:  Reliability, Market Operations, Tariff Administration, and Scheduling. The operations engineer may also provide coordination support for the necessary SPP organization committees, working groups and task forces.

This position independently performs assignments with minimal guidance from the Manager.   Approval is required for all expenses.

Essential Functions

• Provide engineering support, analysis, and training for all assigned Coordinated Operations related functions.
• Lead special projects based upon experience and qualifications.
• Assist the Manager, Operational Planning or more senior engineers with any special projects
• Demonstrate a high level of comfort in utilizing tools such as Alarming, Real-time Contingency Analysis, real-time powerflow, offline powerflow, constraint manager, curtailment manager, and market flow calculator to perform analysis and ensure reliable system operation.
• Be active in mentoring and training more junior staff members.
• Be able to independently request and collect information, prepare and validate data, and execute computer runs for real-time, current-day, next-day, and other operational assessments of the transmission network. Only in unusual/exceptional cases would direction need to be given by more senior staff.
• Independently collect information, prepare and validate data, execute computer runs for coordination and approval of generation and transmission maintenance outage requests. In occasional situations, the incumbent may need to seek advice or direction of more senior staff.
• Be practiced in updating SPP network model data and other information for the IDC and related load flow models and tools (e.g., SDX application).
• Make recommendations to management on long-range coordinated operations goals and objectives.
• Lead in the development, maintenance, and support of Operations related applications and processes.
• Be fully proficient in their understanding of and compliance with SPP Policies and Procedures.
• Be practiced in understanding and comply with NERC and FERC standards and/or policies.
• Demonstrate understanding of system operations and/or planning principles and studies.
• Be active on any assigned SPP or NERC committees, working groups, or task forces.
• Be recognized as a subject matter expert in relevant areas.
• Advanced knowledge of tools that perform Voltage/Transient Stability analysis.
• Development and application of RAS scenarios in performing contingency analysis.
• Exercise strong decision-making skills for technical studies and services to adapt between standard and non-standard techniques.
• Exercise firm project management skills by taking responsibility for the completion of any assigned independent projects.
• Demonstrates ability to make technical and project management level decisions with leadership.
• 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
• Understanding of and compliance with SPP Policies and Procedures

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:

• Engineer II -Two (2) years of job-related work experience
• Senior Engineer - Five (5) years of relevant Engineering experience; Professional Engineer License may satisfy one year of experience requirement.
• Sr Engineer II - Nine (9) years of relevant Engineering experience; Professional Engineer License or Advanced degree in related field of study may satisfy one (1) year of experience requirement. Two (2) years of experience may satisfy both a Professional Engineer License and Advanced degree in related field.

Required:

• Competent with the administrative and communication tools for word processing, spread sheet development and time keeping, as a minimum
• Strong knowledge of several power systems analysis tools applicable to power system steady state, dynamic, short circuit, or database management systems
• Strong inter-personal and team work skills along with good written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent working skills with communication and data handling software such as Microsoft Office© Word, Excel, Access
• Understanding and comply with compliance with SPP Policies and Procedures

Preferred:

• A Professional Engineer License
• Advanced degree in related field of study
• Electric Utility Industry experience
• Proficient with most SPP power systems analysis tools with a solid command of several SPP tools and/or processes
• Sound understanding of the SPP Open Access Transmission Tariff, FERC & NERC governing documents, SPP By-Laws, SPP Criteria and the SPP Committee structure

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 (0-10%) travel

Should you elect to apply for this position SPP will review your qualifications and 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.

Education

• Bachelors or better

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)