Grant County Public Utility District

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
Engineer V: $130,666 - $228,062
Midpoint: $$179,364
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
The EMS Engineer is responsible for the design, implementation, support, maintenance, security, and continuous improvement of systems supporting Grant County PUD's Bulk Electric System (BES), including EMS, SCADA, EAS, A ICCP, historian, and related control system infrastructure. Depending on experience and level, this role performs and leads activities involving system configuration, troubleshooting, integration, optimization, lifecycle management, and modernization of operational technology environments including servers, networks, firewalls, virtualization platforms, databases, storage, and communications systems.
This position supports reliable and secure utility operations through system monitoring, modeling, operational data management, custom applications, and advanced troubleshooting of complex operational and communication issues. Responsibilities include supporting and leading NERC compliance initiatives, system hardening, documentation, audit support, and operational risk management to maintain regulatory compliance and system resiliency.
The EMS Engineer collaborates with internal departments, vendors, regional utilities, and external partners to support operational reliability, data integrity, and continuous improvement efforts across the control systems environment. Depending on level, the role may provide technical leadership, mentor team members, lead projects and strategic initiatives, establish engineering standards and best practices, and contribute to long-term planning and modernization efforts that enhance operational performance, security, and situational awareness across the BES 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:
General (applies to all levels):

• 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.
• Support onboarding, mentoring, and training for less experienced team members
• 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.
• 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.
• Review engineering drawings produced internally and externally to verify compliance with current system capabilities.
• Represent Grant PUD to other utility companies as part of Inter-control Center Communication Protocol (ICCP) system. Support and administer changes with other utilities. Model effects of configuration inquiries, request, and implementations. Develop relationships critical to successful partnerships.
• Support custom interfaces with the energy accounting system.
• 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.
• In this position, if needed to operate a GPUD vehicle for business purposes, please refer to Vehicle/Asset Usage Policy, IS-TA-POL-001.

Engineer III:

• Maintain, configure, and repair the Utilities' Energy Management and Data Historian systems and user interfaces used by operations improving functionality, accuracy, engineering compliance, and user interface optimization. Update system layouts, visualizations, and fields providing users with clear, consistent, and complete information on critical infrastructure.
• Rebuild substation configurations by reviewing engineering documentation. Model EMS changes and configurations verifying all requirements are within established standards; update existing screens with new substation components; validate changes with controls vendor in point-to-point verification of control operations, analog data collection, and alarm operations.
• Represent Grant PUD to other utility companies as part of Inter-control Center Communication Protocol (ICCP) system. Support and administer changes with other utilities. Model effects of configuration inquiries, request, and implementations. Develop relationships critical to successful partnerships.
• Learn how to configure and troubleshoot issues with Automatic Generation Control (AGC).
• Become familiar with the applications supported by EAS or the Infrastructure/Cyber Security team members.
• Work with other team members 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.

Engineer IV:

• Oversee, direct, maintain, configure, and repair the Utilities' Energy Management and Data Historian systems and user interfaces used by operations improving functionality, accuracy, engineering compliance, and user interface optimization. Update system layouts, visualizations, and fields providing users with clear, consistent, and complete information on critical infrastructure.
• Rebuild substation configurations by reviewing engineering documentation and providing feedback to stakeholders. Model EMS changes and configurations by verifying all requirements are within established standards. Update existing screens with new substation components. Validate changes with controls vendor in point-to-point verification of control operations, analog data collection, and alarm operations.
• Design, configure and maintain Automatic Generation Control (AGC).
• Troubleshoot existing custom applications and customized vendor supplied software when necessary.
• 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++.
• Cross-train with team members in one other focus area.
• 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.

Engineer V:

• Lead the maintenance, configuration, and upgrades of the Utilities' Energy Management and Data Historian systems used by operations improving functionality, accuracy, engineering compliance, and user interface optimization. Update system layouts, visualizations, and fields providing users with clear, consistent, and complete information on critical infrastructure.
• Rebuild substation configurations by reviewing engineering documentation and providing feedback to stakeholders. Model EMS changes and configurations verifying all requirements are within established standards. Update existing screens with new substation components. Validate changes with controls vendor in point-to-point verification of control operations, analog data collection, and alarm operations.
• Design, configure and maintain Automatic Generation Control (AGC).
• Troubleshoot existing custom applications and customized vendor supplied software when necessary.
• 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++.
• Cross-train with team members in all other focus areas (GMS, EAS, Cyber-Infrastructure).
• Lead 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.
• Lead 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.
• Lead onboarding, mentoring, and training for less experienced team members

Required Qualifications (Education, Experience, Licenses & Certifications):

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Technology, MIS OR two (2) additional years of relevant experience in lieu of degree.
• Years of experience maintaining applications providing 24x7 support of critical operations.
  • Engineer III: 3+ years
  • Engineer IV: 6+ years
  • Engineer V: 10+ years

Preferred Qualifications (Education, Experience, Licenses & Certifications):

• A Washington State Engineering in Training
• Experience in electric utility operations, preferably supporting real-time control systems (e.g., EMS/SCADA)
• Professional Engineer
• Supervisory or team lead experience

Other Knowledge, Skills & 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
• Ability to independently interpret, adapt, and apply written guidelines, precedents, and standardized work practices to a variety of unprecedented and problematic situations
• Skill in written and oral interpersonal communication; workflow and time management
• Proficiency in 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 setting.
• Some field work that may require operation of a vehicle.
• Typical shift of employees in this position: 8 hours 9 hours 10 hours 12 hours

*For a full list of requirements, the 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
Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.