Job Description

This position is a senior engineering technician position reporting to the Electrical Engineering Manager, the Substation and Engineering Technician is responsible for monitoring substation and VTES system performance. The Technician must have a thorough knowledge of the methods, principles, and practices of electrical transmission and distribution system design and operation; general knowledge of regulations governing the location and placement of electrical facilities and equipment; general knowledge of materials and methods used in construction of electrical systems; general knowledge of ordinances and policies pertaining to electric utilities. As such, this role requires considerable utility experience with electrical distribution equipment. Technician executes routine substation maintenance and basic VTES system maintenance as-needed. Technician performs basic wiring as-needed and has the ability to work from drawings. Capabilities include but is not limited to service equipment installations, substation wiring, and elementary drawings. Technician performs installation, configuration, and troubleshooting of various substation controls, SCADA equipment, networking, metering, and data collection equipment. Technician maintains power and communications systems that include SCADA, Ethernet, serial, DSL, and fiber. Installs and/or maintains configuration of data collection equipment including RTUs (Remote Terminal Units) and SCADA master station software. Technician may troubleshoot, install, and/or repair metering installations as-needed. Technician often coordinates work with multiple stakeholders including engineering, billing and metering various staff, power line workers, and customers. Technician will often verify that metering installations including PT and CT services are installed and functioning correctly. Utility planning and estimating for town and/or campus installations is often required. Technical knowledge and expertise is used to develop safe, cost effective, operational, and maintenance needs. The Technician must have the ability to communicate effectively in oral and written form; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with engineers, consultants, officials, business owners, customers, and the general public as the Technician will coordinate and/or communicate various permits, easements, and schedule-related issues between VTES and customers. Technician performs service inspections for switches, substation equipment, substation transformers, nitrogen blanket systems, cooling systems, oil systems, water pumps, and other system related equipment regularly and as-needed. Training of junior-level technicians and/or engineers may be required as-needed. Basic electrical and/or lighting repair work or installation for control rooms, vaults, or other locations as-needed. Role also performs routine inspections of grounding cables, AED’s, fire extinguishers, eye-wash stations, exit signs, and other varying forms of safety equipment. Role is critical, essential, and vital to the operational capabilities of VTES and during outage events. Other duties will be assigned as-needed.

Required Qualifications

• Associate degree in Electrical Engineering Technology or related field or equivalent experience in electric power systems.
• Notary public.
• Must have a valid driver’s license.
• Ability to safely move and handle heavy objects weighing 50 pounds or more; and stand, sit, bend and walk on uneven terrain.
• Ability to perform repetitive motion tasks such as keyboarding and use of tools.
• Must be able to work in all types of weather conditions, including extreme temperatures.
• This position is designated as Emergency Personnel.
• May be required to work additional hours/shifts to meet the needs of the department.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working around energized electrical equipment up to 600 volts.
• GPS experience.
• Programmable Logic Controller, SEL relay, or similar equipment programming experience.
• Experience with electric utility distribution systems.
• Electrician certification is preferred.
• CAD experience with AutoCAD preferred.