Senior Engineer Automation & Controls (SCADA) - American Water

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About American Water

American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across 14 regulated jurisdictions and 18 military installations. American Water’s 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders.

As one of the fastest growing utilities in the U.S., American Water expects to invest $30 to $34 billion in infrastructure repairs and replacement, system resiliency and regulated acquisitions over the next 10 years. The company has a long-standing history of executing its core operations, aligned with sustainable best practices, through its commitments to safety, affordability, customer service, protecting the environment, an inclusive workforce and strengthening communities.

American Water has been recognized on the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Indexfor the fifth consecutive year, ranked 18th on Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies 2023 List, earned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense® Excellence Award, among additional state, local and national recognitions.

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Primary Role

Responsible for implementing, maintaining and supporting the automation & process control infrastructure (SCADA). Provide expert assistance and collaborate in creating engineering plans, designs, monitoring, build and commissioning of automation & process control systems. Understand and apply new technological systems and multiple vendor products to develop and support innovative system solutions that match operational and business requirements. Assist in the development of standards, practices and policies related to the installation, maintenance and operations of automation & process control systems. Develop, deploy and maintain standard and custom programming and configuration code for the automation & process control systems. Provide second level support for maintaining the automation & process control infrastructure, which may include off hours and/or on-site support when required. Manage automation & process control system projects as required. Perform quality assurance checks of automation & process control systems as required. Manage system integration partners and relationships.

Key Accountabilities

Project Responsibilities:

• Work collaboratively with design engineers, operations personnel, and other internal staff on the design, review, information gathering, inspection, and commissioning / start-up of projects that include process control equipment, or SCADA systems.
• Ability to execute projects from conception to start-up within budget and project schedule.
• Develop programming and configuration code for process control systems, make changes to existing programs, review work performed by outside contractors, participate in factory acceptance testing, and coordinate control system issues between project engineering, the instrumentation contractor, and operations.
• Review control logic strategies and implement programming changes to optimize control strategies for treatment and pumping processes and automate where appropriate.

Support and Administration:

• Perform or coordinate maintenance activities on process control equipment or SCADA system.
• Perform upgrades, add new facilities, and provide replacement of hardware and software.
• Troubleshoot and resolve control system issues.
• Investigate new technological developments and processes.
• Research, recommend, and implement systems to enhance Systems functionality and reliability.
• Advise, instruct, and/or assist operating company personnel on proper operation and maintenance of Process Control equipment or Systems. Provide Technical instruction as required.
• Ensure compliance to policies and procedures.
• Make recommendations to change standards and methods to improve processes and results.

Vendor Relationships:

• Develop and maintain relationship with system integrators and other partners/vendors
• Review vendor specifications, report findings and make recommendations.

Knowledge/Skills

Experience/Education

• Minimum five (5) years of experience in the design, maintenance, troubleshooting, calibration, repair and installation of Process Control Systems (SCADA and DCS), configuration and programming of PLCs (Rockwell Automation) and HMIs (Ignition, Iconics, Intellution, Wonderware), control and instrument loops.
• Experience with data communications systems, protocols, wired and wireless network systems.
• Experience with OPC, and database/SQL applications
• Four-year (4) degree or equivalent experience and/or certifications or other education and training may be substituted.

Travel Requirements

• Travel, including overnight, as required

Work Environment

• Operating Facilities – Multi District/State Coverage Area.
• Requires “on-call” out of hours support during evenings, nights, holidays and weekends.

Competencies

Champions safety

Collaborates

Cultivates innovation

Customer obsessed

Drives Results

Nimble learning

Join American Water... We Keep Life Flowing

American Water is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and prohibits employment discrimination for employees and applicants based on his or her age, race, color, pregnancy, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, marital status, citizenship, or because they are an individual with a disability, protected veteran or other status protected by federal, state, and local laws.