Technical Director, Engineering - Southwest Power Pool

Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is about more than power. We’re about the power of relationships. Our employees have the opportunity to work together to ensure electricity is delivered reliably and affordably to the millions of people living in our service territory. We have been voted one of Arkansas’ Best Places to work by Arkansas Business and we are looking for a member of our team who is passionate about our mission to keep the lights on!

We have a core ideology here at SPP that we stand by: Do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.

 We believe in supporting our employees through a fantastic benefits package:

• Competitive pay with bonus opportunities
• Excellent insurance package including three great medical plans to choose from, employer-paid short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
• Relocation assistance
• Flexible working environment for positions that are eligible where employees have the flexibility to work from home and come in where collaborative in person work is needed.
• Fantastic contributions to your retirement through a 401(k) savings plan with employer-match benefits and a defined benefit plan fully funded by SPP

Overview

The Technical Director, Engineering is a senior leadership role tasked with overseeing and supporting tariff production, planning, and Engineering initiative activities. Engineering processes include: Engineering Modeling, the Integrated Transmission Plan (ITP), Resource Adequacy, Generator Interconnection, Transmission Service, Planning Coordinator Assessments (PCA), and Planning Policy & Research.

Key Responsibilities:

• Engage and support multiple stakeholder working groups fostering collaboration within and across departments to drive the creation, balanced prioritization and achievement of strategic objectives.
• Provide expert technical and policy support in developing study scopes and processes.
• Represent SPP in industry and regulatory technical and policy settings, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Work closely with SPP members to address key issues and share results.

This position demands a highly experienced individual capable of navigating complex technical and policy landscapes, influences collaboration among stakeholders, and driving continuous improvement in SPP’s engineering processes.

Essential Functions

 Governing Processes

• Develop and maintain a deep level of understanding with the governing documents for Tariff and NERC activities including: SPP Tariff, FERC & NERC standards, SPP Business Practices, SPP Planning Criteria, Seams Agreements and SPP Market Protocols and understand their relationship to the various SPP organizational groups and SPP business functions.
• Stay abreast of the latest FERC, NERC, and EPA orders and rulemaking activities and SPP organizational group initiatives that impact Engineering processes and initiate and assist in the development of innovative change to processes, including drafting revision requests, maximizing value beyond compliance requirements, and integrating new technologies into SPP processes.
• Consults and communicates with SPP stakeholders, transmission owners, affected systems, consultants and stakeholders in support of Engineering’s technical study activities and processes.
• Prepare and present technical testimony and represent SPP as a subject matter expert in support of Engineering legal and regulatory needs.
• Lead, review, and/or support Engineering technical data in support of regulatory changes, study processes, and special projects.

 Engineering Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain a strong level of familiarity with the SPP transmission system, transmission planning concepts, power system analysis tools, and processes in order to provide technical and process guidance and support as needed.
• Facilitate and implement development, maintenance, and improvement of technical engineering processes, procedures and documentation used in Engineering.
• Participate in or lead special projects as assigned.
• Facilitate productive discussions and meetings, internally, and externally, to drive timely and quality decisions
• Develop positive and productive relationships with internal teams and peers

 Stakeholder Relationships

• Develop positive stakeholder technical, supervisory, leadership and management level relationships as necessary to accomplish SPP objectives and assigned directives.
• Develop and maintain necessary relationships with internal and external technical staff and customers to collect data, collaborate on analysis, and share results of work products.
• Drive stakeholder feedback discussions to reach a positive stakeholder consensus.
• Fulfill staff secretary role (Meeting minutes, action items, Robert’s Rules of Order, etc.) for technical and policy working groups if called to do so.

 SPP Culture and Core values

• Embrace and promote the SPP Culture, Mission and Core Values in attitude toward stakeholder relationships, current work assignments as well as long term goals and strategic initiative of the organization.
• Incorporate a fundamental working understanding of the SPP Culture Drivers, Mission and Core Values and apply this directly to all engineering assignments and any SPP related effort, not necessarily limited to engineering.
• Understand and comply with SPP Policies and Procedures.

Qualifications:

Education

• Bachelor of Science

Experience 

• 15 years’ of relevant Engineering experience; OR
• 13 years’ of relevant Engineering experience with an advanced degree

Other requirements:

• Advanced proficiency with most power systems analysis tools with a solid command of several tools and/or processes

Working knowledge of the Open Access Transmission Tariffs, as well as FERC & NERC governing documents

• Experience in multiple functions/departments
• Knowledge of federal and state regulatory policies and procedures
• Develop and maintain excellent working relationships with all parties to ensure accomplishment of SPP mission
• Ability to recognize technical and policy issues, develop solutions, and promote efficiency
• Ability to work in an environment characterized by a rapid pace, stringent deadlines, and a large volume of information
• Excellent organization skills and ability to prioritize
• Strong inter-personal and team work skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Understanding of and compliance with SPP Policies and Procedures

Preferred

• Advanced degree in related field of study
• Experience with FERC and energy policy

Work Environment: 

• This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment. 

  Position Type and Expected Hours of Work: 

•  This is a full-time position. Days and hours of workweek are Monday through Friday; 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Working extended hours may be required. 

Travel Requirement: 
This position requires 20% or more travel.

SPP is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and is committed to excellence. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us at HR@spp.org and let us know the nature of your request. We will only respond to messages left that involve a request for a reasonable accommodation in the application process. We will accommodate the needs of any qualified candidate who requests a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

At SPP we value Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Visit our website to learn more: LINK

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)