The California Independent System Operator (ISO) manages the flow of electricity across the high-voltage, long-distance power lines that make up 80 percent of California's power grid. We safeguard the economy and well-being of 30 million Californians by "keeping the lights on" 24/7.

As the impartial grid operator, the California ISO opens access to the wholesale power market that is designed to diversify resources and lower prices. It also grants equal access to 25,865 circuit-miles of power lines and reduces barriers to diverse resources competing to bring power to customers.

The California ISO's function is often compared to that of air traffic controllers. It would be grossly unfair for air traffic controllers to represent one airline and profit from allowing that company's planes to go through before others. In the same way, the California ISO operates independently—managing the electron traffic on a power grid we do not own—making sure electricity is safely delivered to utilities and consumers on time and reliably.

Operations Engineer provides engineering support to  Reliability Coordination as well as Real-Time Grid  Operations and  Market Operations.  Responsible for establishing and updating the operating limits to the Grid, documenting the associated operating procedures to support the safe and reliable operation of the system and modeling the market impacts of transmission constraints. Participates in the development of ISO policies and methodologies associated with the reliable operation of the transmission grid and the efficient operation of the ISO market. This is a 24x7 rotating shift position.

What You Will Be Doing:

• Providing on shift engineering support in 24X7 control room environment. Act as a point of contact for Operations Engineering, providing direct feedback to daily operational matters. Attend operations planning meetings to communicate current day plan and the next day plan.
• Develop  operating requirements and instructions in the outage plans and operating procedures to adhere to the NERC Reliability Standards, other requirements in accordance with pre-established guidelines and system's physical limitations, as well as pre-existing policies, practices and procedures. Prepares and conducts operating studies and contingency analyses, including power flow, short circuit, stability, and post-transient analyses, to maintain reliable operation of the Grid.  
• Models transmission constraints in the ISO market to ensure efficient market operations as well as reliable grip operations. Provides engineering support on model validation and abnormal market price investigations.
•  Provides operations engineering support to ISO Divisions, and Departments as appropriate.  Provides specific and essential details relating to the ISO controlled grid and the control area to ISO management.
•  May represent ISO Operations Engineering interests in applicable WECC and and other industry meetings as assigned.  
•  Assists in developing, implementing and documenting automated computer programs/tools, and other advanced analysis methods, to allow for comprehensive monitoring of operational performance of the transmission system and detection of transmission system problems.

We will hire at Associate Level through Senior, based on experience.

What You Need:

Level of Education and Discipline:

A Bachelor's degree (BA, BS) required in Electrical Engineering; concentration in  Power  preferred.  Master?s degree and/or Ph.D. preferred.

Amount of Experience:

Two (2) or more years related experience. Associate level requires no experience. Senior level requires 5 or more years.

Certifications:

NERC Reliability Authority (or System Operator) Certification required or must be able to obtain NERC Certification within six months of employment. 

Type of Experience:

Experience conducting simulation and analytical studies of electric power systems including harmonic, transient stability and load flow analysis. Knowledge or experience with simulation programs such as EMTP, PSCAD/EMTDC, PSS/E, PSLF or SuperHarm desired. Electric utility industry experience including emphasis in any combination of the following: Operations Planning, Real Time Operations, Transmission Planning, Electricity Markets, Renewable Integration, protection relays, EMS. Familiarity with California Electric System or other portions of the WECC system desired.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.