Sr. Operations Engineer

About the position The Senior Operations Engineer (Engineer) is responsible for providing technical support and analysis to system operations and field operations staff. In this role, the 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 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. Lastly, the engineer will provide direction and oversight for WETT’s synchronous condenser assets as a primary job function. This position will be located in Austin, TX, and will report to the Operations Director.

Responsibilities

• Lead WETT’s synchronous condenser program as operations engineering subject matter expert.
• Provide real time monitoring, predictive and preventative maintenance, and overall operations and troubleshooting support for WETT synchronous condenser assets.
• 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 WETT engineering/planning department.
• Lead ERCOT market notice reviews and response coordination (i.e. GMD, voltage profile, HITE list).
• Perform annual technical procedural reviews/updates and coordinate approvals with stakeholders.
• Support WETT’s Network Operations Model Change Request (NOMCR) process with ERCOT.
• Assist WETT’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) team by investigating SCADA alarm functions/limits, areas for improvement, and technical enhancements.
• Coordinate relay event reports review with WETT’s protection and control engineers and field technicians.
• Participate and provide input during new project design reviews - review and provide feedback on applicable new project drawings and operational design requirements.
• Support development of technical operating documents.
• Attend various working groups as WETT’s representative (voltage profile working group, operations working group, network data support working group).
• The Engineer will be responsible for modeling outage requests prior to submittal to ERCOT. Real time outage modeling will also be required on an as needed basis.
• Proficiency in ERCOT’s System Operations Test Environment (SOTE) outage modeling platform.
• Proficiency with Power System Simulator for Engineering (PSSE).
• Coordinate with internal WETT stakeholders when submitted outages cannot be requested due to 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, contingencies, and other system limits.
• Study overall system conditions to identify outage opportunities (i.e. low load cases, possible outage durations, overlapping outages).

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology is required.
• Minimum 7 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.
• Experience with Power System Simulator for Engineering (PSSE).
• 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
• Power systems.
• Protection systems.
• Synchronous and induction machine technology.
• Electrical schematic and control/protection circuit interpretation.
• Understanding of AC/DC diagrams.
• Single line diagrams.
• General understanding of SCADA systems

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with rotating equipment and synchronous machine technology is preferred.
• Prior technical experience working in power plant environments is preferred.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license in state of Texas is preferred.
• Familiarity with control systems such as Siemens T3000.

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