Electrical Engineer

Southwest Generation Valmont Facility; United States; On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Onward Energy is seeking an Electrical Engineer to join our corporate Electrical Engineering group. You will provide operations engineering support across solar, wind, and thermal assets, focusing on protection, safety, maintenance, and NERC compliance.

The role involves diagnosing plant trips, offering real-time event support, performing root-cause analysis, and aiding outages with contractors. A PE license is preferred; US work authorization is required; travel up to 20%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent.
• Minimum four (4) years in power generation, transmission, or distribution; renewable generation preferred.

Responsibilities

• Reviews plant trip events using relay records and reports to diagnose issues and restore availability.
• Provides real-time technical support during events, including fault location and protective relaying recommendations.
• Determines root causes of electrical events and recommends corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
• Provides on-site support during outages, overseeing contractors and resolving issues in real time.
• Performs relay settings optimization and develops relay setting recommendations.
• Performs power system studies (short circuit, load flow, coordination) using ETAP.
• Supports sites and safety with electrical hazard identification and mitigation.

Skills

ETAP

Protection relaying

NERC compliance

Root cause analysis

Troubleshooting

Arc flash

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

PE license preferred

Tools

ETAP

SKM Power Tools

EasyPower

Job description

Reports To: Manager - Electrical Engineering

Direct Reports: No Functional Unit: Operations

FLSA Status: Exempt Position Type: Full-Time

Office Location: Remote, US only

THE COMPANY

Onward Energy is an independent power platform that owns and operates over 7 GW of utility-scale wind, solar and natural gas generation projects across the U.S. Our Vision is to reliably power a sustainable future. Our Mission is that as North America’s premier independent power generator, we will deliver renewable and reliable power to our customers, opportunities to our associates, sustainable returns to the families who invest in us, and a better world to the next generation. Based in Denver, New York and Charlotte, Onward Energy is a company where people and power are always on. We are where renewable meets reliable. See www.onwardenergy.com for more information.

The Electrical Engineer is a member of Onward Energy’s corporate Electrical Engineering group, providing operations engineering support across the company’s entire fleet of solar, wind, and thermal generating assets. The scope of support spans system protection, electrical safety, maintenance and reliability, NERC and regulatory compliance, and event diagnosis and restoration, while also providing operations engineering input on development and M&A activities. This position reports to the Manager – Electrical Engineering. Engineers in the group are challenged to develop and apply broad knowledge across all the group’s technical domain.

WORK AUTHORIZATION

To be considered for this position, applicants must have full-time authorization to work in the United States. Onward Energy does not offer visa sponsorship now or in the future.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Reviews plant trip events using relay records, COMTRADE files, and plant reports to diagnose the cause of the issue and recommends actions to restore availability.
• Provides real-time, interactive technical support to sites during events, including fault location and protective relaying recommendations.
• Determines root causes of electrical events and recommends longer-term corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
• Provides on-site support during outages, overseeing contractors performing electrical work and helping resolve issues in real time.

System Protection

• Performs relay settings optimization and develops relay setting recommendations. Reviews and approves settings developed by third-parties.
• Develops relay upgrade designs and reviews third-party protection and control designs.
• Performs power system studies (short circuit, load flow, coordination) using ETAP.

Electrical Safety

• Performs arc flash hazard analysis and supports arc flash and other electrical hazard mitigation across the fleet.
• Optimizes protection and coordination to reduce arc flash incident energy where practical.
• Reviews switching, isolation, and lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures.
• Supports sites and the safety department with electrical hazard identification and mitigation.

Maintenance, Reliability & Operations Support

• Performs contingency planning for critical assets such as main power transformers and high-voltage breakers.
• Assists in developing substation and electrical distribution maintenance scopes.
• Reviews maintenance and test results and provides recommendations.
• Assists with troubleshooting electrical issues affecting day-to-day operations, such as transformer alarms, relay alarms, and breaker issues.

NERC & Regulatory Compliance

• Performs NERC PRC-019, PRC-024, PRC-025, and PRC-027 studies, and assesses PRC-002 and PRC-028 compliance.
• Reviews power system events for mis operations and unexpected changes in output under NERC PRC-004 and PRC-030.
• Performs MOD-025 testing and oversees contractors performing MOD-026 and MOD-027 testing.
• Performs FAC-008 studies and develops the PRC-005 Protection System Maintenance Plan, including identifying plant equipment covered under PRC-005.
• Reviews MOD-032 data prior to submittal.
• Assists with responses to stakeholder and regulatory RFIs, periodic data submittals, self-certifications, and audits, and prepares technical reports and evidence packages.

Development & M&A Support

• Provides operations engineering input on development and M&A activities, including technical review of electrical systems and identification of operational and reliability considerations for prospective and new assets.

General

• Develops and applies broad knowledge across all of the group’s technical domains, learning and performing studies as workload requires.
• Supports the development and improvement of group processes, procedures, and tools.
• Provides plant support when events occur.
• Other duties as assigned.

THE PROFILE TO SUCCEED

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. A PE license is preferred; in lieu of a PE license, a minimum of five (5) years of experience as a practicing engineer is required.
• Minimum of four (4) years of related experience in power generation, transmission, and/or distribution; utility-scale and renewable generation experience preferred.
• Working knowledge across multiple electrical engineering domains, including system protection, arc flash and electrical safety, maintenance and reliability, and NERC compliance, with the ability and willingness to develop competency across all of them.
• Experience executing power system studies (short circuit, load flow, coordination, arc flash) using ETAP, SKM Power Tools, EasyPower, or similar modeling software.
• Knowledge of protective relaying, including settings development and review, and familiarity with relay configuration and event record analysis.
• Strong working knowledge of NERC reliability standards relevant to generation, including the PRC, MOD, and FAC families of standards.
• Experience supporting NERC audits, self-certifications, RFIs, and periodic data submittals.
• Extensive knowledge of major power plant electrical equipment, controls, and protection systems, along with root cause and risk analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and lead root cause analysis of technical issues.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication and presentation skills.
• Self-starter able to make decisions and take action without specific direction.
• Effective time management and organizational skills, with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities.
• Ability to work well independently and as part of a cross-functional team.
• Valid U.S. driver’s license with acceptable MVR history.

THE PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Must be able to accomplish physical requirements with or without reasonable accommodation.

• Ability to stand, walk, talk, hear, and close and distance vision capability.
• Ability to sit, climb or balance, stoop, kneel, and/or crouch.
• Ability to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• While supporting work at generating sites, may be required to work at heights, climb ladders and stairways, work off platforms, and wear personal protective equipment (PPE), including a hard hat, safety glasses, hearing protection, safety vest, gloves, and steel-toe boots.
• Ability to travel up to 20%.

THE TEAM

The Onward Energy team is comprised of industry professionals who embrace our values of accountability, adaptability, collaboration, and excellence.

THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

The position functions in a smoke and vaping-free professional office environment. The role routinely utilizes standard office equipment such as laptop computer, phone, and scanner/photocopier. Noise levels can be moderate to high when visiting job sites, and may contain light to heavy equipment vehicles, small to large equipment, materials, communication equipment and tools.

Onward Energy total rewards philosophy is motivated by a key tenet of People First, and offers associates a comprehensive total rewards package which includes market-competitive compensation, health, life insurance, and retirement savings benefits.

Onward Energy is an Affirmitive Action Employer, Females/Minority/Veterans/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.