Electric Utility Network Administrator

A Hiring Company; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 149,409 - 190,462; Full time

Job summary

A municipal electric utility in Santa Clara seeks a skilled Network Administrator to design, implement, and maintain network infrastructure. The role emphasizes Cisco technologies and requires five years of operational experience, including security compliance. Duties include monitoring network performance and documentation, while supporting business continuity. Candidates must have a Bachelor's in Computer Science or related field and valid California driver's license. Competitive salary offered in the range of $149,409.84 - $190,462.92 annually.

Qualifications

• Five years of network operations experience in utility environments.
• Experience with synchronous optical networking (SONET) equipment.
• Possession of a valid California Class C driver’s license.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and support network infrastructure.
• Administer and monitor network services for performance and security.
• Collaborate on infrastructure projects and upgrades.

Skills

Network operations

Cisco technologies

Cyber security

Troubleshooting

Documentation

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Cisco firewalls

VMware

SONET equipment

Job description

Overview

As a community owned, not-for-profit municipal electric utility, Silicon Valley Power (SVP) has been providing dependable electric service to the City of Santa Clara residents and businesses since 1896. SVP is the only full service, vertically integrated publicly owned utility in Silicon Valley owning generation, transmission and distribution assets. SVP is not driven by profits, reflected in its significantly lower utility rates when compared to other private sector utilities. SVP is dedicated to our community, customers, and employees, providing safe, reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy services with exceptional customer focus.

Today, SVP owns, operates, and participates in more than 2,000 MW of electric generating resources delivering 4,800 GWh of electricity. SVP is growing due to data center expansion, high density developments and electrification initiatives. SVP’s peak load will be increasing from 700 MW to 1300 MW in the next 5-10 years. To accommodate future growth, SVP is implementing a $400 million system expansion and aging infrastructure replacement plan.

The Position

This is a professional position in the classified service assigned to the City of Santa Clara’s Electric Utility Department, Silicon Valley Power (SVP). This position works directly for SVP’s Systems Support Group (SSG), the technology backbone of SVP. SSG is a growing division that directly supports a large range of technology projects and modernization efforts within SVP, including activities in support of the unprecedented load growth of the Utility.

Responsibilities

We are seeking a highly skilled Network Administrator to design, implement, and support both enterprise and utility-specific network infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on Cisco technologies. The incumbent plays a critical role in ensuring the availability, performance, and security of the organization’s overall network environment, including SVP’s utility communication and control systems.

In this role, the Network Administrator is responsible for administering and monitoring network services, managing a variety of advanced network and security products—including Cisco firewalls and intrusion prevention systems—and maintaining compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requirements as well as applicable state and local mandates. This position involves supporting and maintaining complex infrastructure components such as enterprise-grade Cisco firewalls, routers, switches, wireless controllers (e.g., HP Aruba switches), and RSA Authentication Manager, while also managing secure VPN access and routing protocols and future state zero trust network access initiatives.

The incumbent will oversee DNS infrastructure, support VoIP systems to ensure call quality and reliability, and proactively monitor network performance to detect and resolve issues related to connectivity, latency, or system failures. The role also requires accurate documentation of network configurations and changes, collaboration with internal teams on infrastructure projects and upgrades, and participation in organizational capacity planning.

In addition, this position supports business continuity by ensuring high availability and disaster recovery capabilities across all network components, investigates and reports on security incidents in accordance with departmental policy or direction from senior management, and provides technical leadership and mentorship to others.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university with coursework in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.

Minimum Experience Requirements:

• Five (5) years of network operations and administration experience in Utility Operations and/or Electric Scheduling or the equivalent, including experience in utility cyber security and facility security.
• Three (3) years of the required experience must have been in a lead position; and
• Three (3) years of the required experience must include operations and maintenance level experience with Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) equipment installed in utility applications.

Acceptable Substitution:

Additional qualifying experience may be substituted on a year-for-year basis for the required education, up to a maximum of four (4) years.

License/Certifications:

Possession of a valid California Class C driver’s license is required at time of appointment and for the duration of employment.

Desirable Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Engineering is highly desirable;
• Training in electric utility substation safety standards is highly desirable;
• Specific experience with the General Electric JungleMUX product is highly desirable;
• Experience with any of the following systems is highly desirable:
• Virtual machine VMware environments;
• Configuration and administration of networks, firewalls, routers, switches ACL policies;
• Cisco Access Control Systems (ACS) 2-factor authentication; and
• Lightweight Directory Authentication Protocol (LDAP).

Other Requirements

• On call for 24/7 support of all critical networking structures, perform troubleshooting and maintenance in active electric substations and taking action to ensure the Electric Utility meets the CIP Reliability Standards in its communication and control systems at all times;
• Incumbents will have to pass an initial and periodic comprehensive background checks, which may include fingerprinting, to meet Federal, State and/or industry security requirements;
• Incumbents will be required to obtain and maintain any license or certification mandated by Federal or State requirements; and
• Must be able to perform all of the essential functions of the job assignment.

Additional Information

Follow this link to view the entire Class Specification, which includes more information on Typical Duties and Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

Candidates must attain a passing score on each phase of the examination process to qualify for the Eligible List. A department interview may be required prior to appointment.

Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. The City of Santa Clara will not sponsor, represent, or sign documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

VETERAN’S PREFERENCE POINTS: This position qualifies for Veteran’s Preference Points. Applicants who have separated from service (Active Duty Status) must submit proof of honorable discharge (Form DD214) with their application at time of filing or will be ineligible to have points added to their final score.

The City of Santa Clara is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants for all job openings will be considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful under any federal, state or local laws. The City of Santa Clara is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at 408-615-2080 or [e-mail].

Compensation details: 149,409.84-190,462.92 Yearly Salary