Operations Engineer - Wind Energy

Title: Operations Engineer

Location: Austin, Texas 78704.

Salary: $110,000 - $130,000 base salary

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Operations Engineer is responsible for providing technical support and analysis to system operations and field operations staff. In this role, the Operations Engineer will be responsible for responding to operational issues such as technical shift questions from system operators and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), equipment issues, and troubleshooting efforts. The Operations Engineer will also be responsible for modeling system outage requirements, updating operational models, developing standard operating procedures, and establishing collaboration protocols between internal and external stakeholders.

This position will be located in Austin, TX, and will report to the Operations Director.

DUTIES, FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

System Operations:

• Participate and assist system operators during real time events and emergencies.
• Provide technical shift support to system operators and operations field staff (i.e. system operating parameters and voltage analysis; relay operation review, system alarm investigation).
• Serve as technical lead/liaison between operations and company engineering/planning department.
• Assist with North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Transmission Availability Data System (TADS) reporting.
• Ensure staff understanding and compliance with ERCOT nodal protocols and operating guides.
• Lead ERCOT market notice reviews and response coordination.
• Assist with annual technical procedural reviews/updates and coordinate approvals with internal stakeholders.
• Support company's Network Operations Model Change Request (NOMCR) process / submit change requests to ERCOT as required.
• Assist company's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) team by investigating SCADA alarm functions, areas for improvement, and technical enhancements.
• Coordinate closely with company's internal compliance department to ensure compliance with NERC requirements.
• Assist in facility rating reviews.
• Assistance and management of department projects such as asset health monitoring and integrated tools for operations applications.
• Cross-coordination with multiple departments such as IT, planning, engineering, construction, regulatory, and compliance.
• Review relay event reports and relay setting adequacy during fault events
• Participate and provide input during new project design reviews - review and provide feedback on applicable new project drawings, relay setting requirements, and operational design requirements.
• Develop and present reports to department teams, leadership, and other company departments.
• Maintain company's internal Operations event and issues database and coordinate with stakeholder groups to seek resolution of operations issues.
• Support development of technical operating documents such as; outage request criteria for company specific lines and interconnecting lines/generators; voltage analysis prior to equipment energization, company reactor operation protocols.
• Assists in developing tools, processes and procedures that enhance system reliability and departmental efficiencies.
• Attend various working groups as company's representative (voltage profile working group, operations working group, network data support working group).

Outage Coordination:

• The Operations Engineer will be responsible for modeling all outage requests prior to submittal to ERCOT.
• Proficiency in ERCOT's System Operations Test Environment (SOTE) outage modeling platform.
• Coordinate with internal company stakeholders when submitted outages cannot be requested due to SOTE model issues with system overloads, contingencies, and other operational violations.
• Assist with neighboring Transmission Service Provider (TSP) and external stakeholder outage coordination efforts.
• Support identifying switching solutions for requested outages.
• Identify future outage limitations and criteria for company's transmission lines.
• Study overall system conditions to identify outage opportunities (i.e. low load cases, possible outage durations, overlapping outages).

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATIONS (enter as a bulleted list)

• Education:
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology is required.
• Skills and Experience:
  • Minimum 5 years work experience in transmission system operations is required.
  • Candidate must be familiar with ERCOT nodal protocols and operating guides.
  • Experience with ERCOT System Operations Test Environment (SOTE).
  • Experience with ERCOT Network Operations Model Change Request (NOMCR) process.
• Certificates & Licenses:
  • Professional Engineer (PE) in state of Texas is preferred.
• Computer Skills:
  • Ability to use and quickly comprehend computer based systems utilized for content management, data entry, data tracking, and work processes.
  • Ability to create presentations, charts, tables, and graphs for data illustration.
  • Microsoft Office (Excel, Power Point, Word, Outlook).
  • Experience with utilizing various ERCOT tools such as outage scheduling, SOTE, NOMCR.
  • Knowledge of PSSE or other similar power system modeling programs
• Competencies:
  • Organization of information, assigned tasks, communications, and data.
  • Documentation and tracking of critical information.
  • Time management.
  • Electrical schematic and control/protection circuit interpretation
  • Understanding of AC/DC diagrams
  • Understanding of GE and SEL relay logic / functionality
  • General understanding of SCADA systems

Benefits/PTO

• Annual Salary will be based on experience and credentials
• Generous paid time off (PTO), holidays, and many more
• A Hybrid Work Schedule
• Great health and wellness benefits including parental leave
• Matching 401k
• Collaborative team approach environment
• Only resumes that meet qualification requirements will be reviewed.