Control Systems Engineer III - IV, Energy Accounting Specialty

Closing Date to Apply: This position is open until filled. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. The position may close at any time once a sufficient pool of qualified candidates has been established.

Salary:

Engineer III: $104,822-$177,107
Midpoint: $140,964

Engineer IV: $112,585 - $192,317
Midpoint: $152,452

Grant PUD posts the full salary range for each position. The midpoint is provided as a reference point and is not a guaranteed starting pay. Starting pay is based on job-related factors such as qualifications, experience, skills, internal alignment, and organizational needs. Most new hires are typically placed between the minimum and midpoint of the range.

Benefits: This link below will provide you with Grant PUD’s benefit that may be available if hired, different employee types are eligible for different benefits.

Grant PUD — Unified Insurance Program (uip-wa.org)

Grant County PUD will administer a background check as part of the hiring process, if selected for this position. 

Applicants meeting minimum qualifications may be further evaluated based on preferred qualifications and job-related criteria. Only the most qualified candidates will be referred for further consideration.

The District may use the applicant pool and results from this recruitment to fill additional vacancies in the same classification for up to six (6) months following the recruitment closing date, consistent with District policy and applicable law.

Position Summary

Be part of the Control Systems Engineering team responsible for designing, developing, implementing, and maintaining the control systems that support Grant County PUD’s operation.  This role will primarily focus on supporting our Energy Accounting Systems (EAS), custom application & interface software and databases.  The control systems department is also responsible for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), energy management (EMS), GMS, data historian, and other supporting applications. The infrastructure includes firewalls, switches, servers, storage arrays, workstations, and all tools required to manage and secure the environment.

Essential Functions

Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include any of the following representative duties, knowledge, and skills. This is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and duties performed by incumbents of this class; employees may be assigned duties which are not listed below; reasonable accommodations will be made as required. The job description does not constitute an employment agreement and is subject to change at any time by the employer. Essential duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Engineer III:

• Maintain, configure, and repair the Utilities’ Energy Accounting and Water Accounting systems. Maintain and customize user interfaces used by operations improving functionality, accuracy, and user interface optimization.  Update system layouts, visualizations, and fields providing users with clear, consistent, and complete information.
• Work with regional utility companies and marketers in supporting of EIDE communications.
• Support internal and external inquiries and request with EAS data.
• Develop relationships critical to successful partnerships with internal and external partners.
• Respond to and resolve user-reported data issues in a timely manner, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations.
• Plan, coordinate, and execute updates, patches, and upgrades for locally hosted energy accounting applications and systems while minimizing downtime and ensuring data integrity.
• Develop an understanding of the relationship between operational data with the hourly accounting systems.
• Perform configuration and support for OATI’s WebSmartTagging, WebScheduler, WebTrader, WebSmartOASIS, WebTrans and WIT.
• Become familiar with the source applications for energy accounting including, EMS, Data Historian, Third-party data exchanges and our OATI applications and interfaces.
• Become familiar with the applications supported by GMS, EMS or the Infrastructure/Cyber Security team members. 
• Work directly with other team members to learn how to diagnose and resolve communications and data issues related to application communication, telemetry and infrastructure. This includes capturing and/or analyzing network traffic with Wireshark and other similar tools.
• Learn to collect, store, and report on data required to prove Grant PUD is meeting relevant regulatory requirements; complete Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and other compliance reporting requirements including documenting system failovers, generating change control documentation, assisting with patch management, upgrading system firmware, and testing configuration changes for security risks; run SQL queries providing evidence of compliance.
• Create and maintain comprehensive documentation, including troubleshooting guides, standard operating procedures, and best practices.
• Perform related duties as required or assigned.
• This position requires NERC CIP access, and incumbents must meet and maintain eligibility with the established criteria in the Grant PUD Personnel Risk Assessment Procedure.
• Demonstrate commitment to Grant PUD’s mission, vision, values, and strategic plan. The employee should be familiar with these organizational priorities and behave in a way that aligns with these expectations. Understand and adhere to compliance requirements for this position that may include laws, regulations, security guidelines, Grant PUD policies and procedures.
• Actively participate in all aspects of our safety program, including but not limited to:
  • Following all safety policies and procedures.
  • Alerting supervisors and coworkers to unsafe or hazardous working conditions.
  • Reporting any safety incidents or close calls within 24 hours to your supervisor.
  • Accepting feedback from supervisors and coworkers regarding your own safety performance.

Engineer IV:

• Oversee, direct, maintain, configure, and repair the Utilities’ Energy Accounting and Water Accounting systems. Maintain and customize user interfaces used by operations to improve functionality, accuracy, and user interface optimization.  Update system layouts, visualizations, and fields providing users with clear, consistent, and complete information.
• Work with regional utility companies and marketers in supporting of EIDE communications.
• Support internal and external inquiries and request with EAS data.
• Maintain relationships critical to successful partnerships with internal and external partners.
• Respond to and resolve user-reported data issues in a timely manner, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations.
• Plan, coordinate, and execute updates, patches, and upgrades for locally hosted energy accounting applications and systems while minimizing downtime and ensuring data integrity.
• Develop an understanding of the relationship between operational data with the hourly accounting systems.
• Diagnose issues with source applications for energy accounting including EMS, Data Historian, third-party data exchanges and our OATI applications and interfaces.
• Utilize and maintain source code repositories Subversion, Git and Visual Source Safe.
• Lead configuration and support for OATI’s WebSmartTagging, WebScheduler, WebTrader, WebSmartOASIS, WebTrans and WIT.
• Lead code reviews, support testing efforts at all levels, and collaborate with other team members to solve problems efficiently.
• Support custom applications where off-the-shelf solutions are not available. Applications could be in several different languages including: VB.Net, Java, JavaScript and CSS, HTML, and C++. Frequently used APIs and platforms used include ASP.Net and WCF.
• Cross-train with GMS, EMS or Infrastructure/Cyber Security team members.
• Oversee diagnosing and resolving communications and data issues related to application communication, telemetry and infrastructure. This includes capturing and/or analyzing network traffic with Wireshark and other similar tools.
• Collect, store, and report on data required to prove Grant PUD is meeting relevant regulatory requirements; complete Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) and other compliance reporting requirements including documenting system failovers, generating change control documentation, assisting with patch management, upgrading system firmware, and testing configuration changes for security risks; run SQL queries providing evidence of compliance.
• Create and maintain comprehensive documentation, including troubleshooting guides, standard operating procedures, and best practices.
• Support procurement and contract management processes to obtain hardware, software, and contract labor support. Facilitate vendor support by onboarding contractors with our processes and addressing needs to keep work flowing.
• Support onboarding, mentoring, and training for less experienced team members
• Perform related duties as required or assigned.
• This position requires NERC CIP access, and incumbents must meet and maintain eligibility with the established criteria in the Grant PUD Personnel Risk Assessment Procedure.
• Demonstrate commitment to Grant PUD’s mission, vision, values, and strategic plan. The employee should be familiar with these organizational priorities and behave in a way that aligns with these expectations. Understand and adhere to compliance requirements for this position that may include laws, regulations, security guidelines, Grant PUD policies and procedures.
• Actively participate in all aspects of our safety program, including but not limited to:
  • Following all safety policies and procedures.
  • Alerting supervisors and coworkers to unsafe or hazardous working conditions.
  • Reporting any safety incidents or close calls within 24 hours to your supervisor.
  • Accepting feedback from supervisors and coworkers regarding your own safety performance.

Required Qualifications: (Education and Experience, License, and/or Certification)

Engineer III:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, technology, or 2 additional years of relevant experience in lieu of degree.
• Three (3) to Six (6) years of experience in maintaining applications providing 24x7 support of critical operations.

Engineer IV:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Technology or 2 additional years of relevant experience in lieu of degree.
• Six (6) or more years of experience in maintaining applications providing 24x7 support of critical operations, with at least three of those years supporting energy accounting applications (energy tagging based applications)

Preferred Qualifications: (Education and Experience, License, and/or Certification)

Engineer III:

• A Washington State Engineering in Training
• Utility experience.

Engineer IV:

• Professional Engineer (PE).
• Knowledge of energy markets.

Other Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of NERC standards and regulations
• Knowledge of concepts, principles, theories, and methods surrounding electrical engineering industry standards and best practices
• Knowledge of data processing sufficient to be able to review program specifications, design programs and write or modify software code
• Knowledge of common application development patterns, including, but not limited to, Software Engineering best practices for all applicable technology, client-server architecture, service applications, object-oriented, and object-based software design
• Skill in problem-solving and thinking critically
• Independently adapting, interpreting, and applying written guidelines, precedents, and standardized work practices to a variety of unprecedented and problematic situations
• Written and oral interpersonal communication; workflow and time management
• Utilizing MS office products; specialized software, tools, and applications

Physical Requirements

• Position may be eligible for partial hybrid work arrangement: ☒Yes ☐No
• Majority of work is performed in a standard office
• Some field work that may require operation of a
• Typical shift of employees in this position: ☒8 hours ☒9 hours  ☒10 hours  ☐12 hours

*applicant/incumbent should refer to the Physical Capacity Evaluation (PCE)

The statements contained herein reflect general details as necessary to describe the principal functions for this job, the level of knowledge and skill typically required, and the scope of responsibility, but should not be considered an all-inclusive listing of work requirements.  Individuals may perform other duties as assigned, including work in other functional areas.