Senior Reliability Engineer

Overview

Be a Part of Something that Matters. At WECC, we enhance the lives of 90 million people by identifying and mitigating risks to the bulk power system in the West. We are seeking a Senior Reliability Engineer to help us further our mission and achieve our business goals.

The Senior Reliability Engineer is a technical expert who leads WECC’s efforts in conducting technical analyses and studies of disturbance events within the Western Interconnection. This position is responsible for performing and leading this work in collaboration with others, identifying root causes, conducting trend analyses, and promoting lessons learned and other activities to help treat risks to the interconnection.

The Senior Reliability Engineer actively engages with WECC’s diverse stakeholder community and supports NERC committees in advancing initiatives that safeguard the reliability of the electric grid. This role demands a high level of technical acumen, collaborative spirit, and a commitment to operational excellence in support of a resilient and secure power system.

While WECC’s headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, this position is remote-eligible for candidates based in the lower 48 U.S. states, excluding New York. Occasional travel, approximately 15%, is expected for this role.

• Lead and provide expertise in WECC’s efforts to fulfill our delegation for event analysis; leading WECC’s involvement in the NERC ERO Event Analysis process and the NERC Cause Coding process.
• Lead efforts and provide technical expertise to identify performance trends, develop lessons learned, create other event analysis-related technical studies, and lead and support efforts to promote industry outreach.
• Propose, lead, and help conduct activities with others, both internal and external, that focus on treating key emerging and prioritized risks that affect, or may affect, the reliability of the Western Interconnection.
• Serve as a technical expert for WECC and perform duties as a liaison to NERC and other groups by providing technical leadership, direction, and support.
• Provide technical input to the WECC management team to support strategic planning and operational decision-making.

• Hold a bachelor’s degree in engineering, an operations-related education, or an equivalent combination of education and electric utility operations experience resulting in a demonstrated ability to perform major duties.
• Have eight or more years of electrical utility experience that includes experience in protection and control systems.
• Possess comprehensive knowledge of electrical theory and BPS grid operations.
• Have experience in BPS protection engineering, including relay protection philosophy, relay settings development, fault analysis, and detailed evaluation of protection system performance and misoperations.
• Have an understanding or awareness of different root-cause analysis theories.
• Have a demonstrated understanding of NERC and WECC Reliability Standards.
• Have excellent organizational skills with an ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Enjoy facilitating groups of industry technical experts and work well in a team environment.
• Deliver clear, concise presentations or written documents to a variety of technical and non-technical audiences.
• Enjoy collaborating and sharing knowledge with peers.
• Are able to teach others, sharing expertise with staff and other departments at WECC.
• Possess strong computer literacy and proficiency using PCs, including a working knowledge of common applications such as those in the Microsoft Office Suite.
• Understand and adhere to sound principles of cybersecurity, including protecting sensitive information, using secure passwords, and following organizational cybersecurity protocols.
• Have the ability to perform other activities as needed.

• Our people and our work matter;
• Everyone is invited to be a leader;
• Independence, perspective, and partnership are how we add value;
• Intellectual curiosity, empowerment, and accountability fuel meaningful results;
• Continuous improvement and innovation are essential; and
• We act with intention and focused urgency in everything we do.