Manager, Operations - PA Operations

FirstEnergy; New Castle (PA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

FirstEnergy seeks a Manager, Operations to lead the region including New Castle, Clark, and Cranberry service centers. This role directs 24/7 electric utility operations to deliver safe, reliable power, while ensuring regulatory compliance and sustainable practices.

The position requires significant field and administrative responsibilities, leadership aligned with core values, and collaboration with directors, managers and staff to meet safety, reliability and customer service goals.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated safe operations excellence and people leadership.
• Ability to work independently or in a team and drive improvement.
• Learning agility and knowledge of distribution operations.
• 7+ years in electric utility with leadership preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Experience with collective bargaining agreements and HR policies.

Responsibilities

• Provide direction and leadership for safety culture and operations.
• Establish relationships with peers, staff and union leadership to promote safety and inclusion.
• Implement safety and environmental safeguards per regulations and practice.
• Participate in development of goals, priorities, policies, and budgets.
• Plan, organize, and evaluate the work of the operational group and staff.
• Engage employees and union leadership to achieve milestones and benchmarking measures.

Skills

Leadership

Safety culture

Communication

Team leadership

Problem solving

Learning agility

HR/policy experience

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

About the Opportunity

This position is for a Manager, Operations and will be responsible for New Castle, Clark, and Cranberry service centers. The selected candidate may report to any of these locations.

Job Description

The Manager serves as a leader for the area’s 24/7/365 electric utility operations, managing the lines organization. The position is responsible and accountable for the safe and reliable delivery of electricity, in compliance with regulatory requirements and with an eye toward ensuring future sustainability of operations. It will plan, organize, direct and review activities within a regional area, ensuring compliance with all applicable regulatory, operational, procedural, and budget guidelines. This position will provide leadership consistent with our core values, holding safety, DE&I, ethical and complaint behavior, stewardship and customer service as essential to success. It requires significant field and administrative responsibilities.

Job Duties

This position will provide direction and leadership from the following perspectives:

• Foster a high‑performing safety culture where employees own, promote, and reinforce safe behaviors and feel empowered to speak up.
• Establish and develop substantive working relationships with peers, staff and union leadership, and create an environment and implement changes where needed to enhance FirstEnergy’s culture of safety, compliance, inclusion, accountability, and innovation, fostering a learning organization in which employees feel empowered to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and think creatively.
• Initiate and monitor implementation of appropriate safety and environmental safeguards in accordance with applicable regulations and professional practice to ensure that employee, community and environmental hazards and impacts of operational activities are eliminated or reduced to acceptable risk levels.
• Serve as a member of the management team and participate in the development and implementation of goals, objectives, priorities, policies, procedures, project prioritization and problem resolution.
• Plan, organize, control, integrate and evaluate the work of the operational group. Compile and assess data to review progress of work. Review and advise staff at various phases of work and provide support as needed.
• Work with director, other managers, and supervisors to engage employees to establish and achieve milestones and appropriate benchmarking measures for safety, reliability, customer service, financial performance, and compliance.
• Interpret and apply collective bargaining agreements and company policies.
• Respond to customer complaints and formal regulatory authority inquiries.
• Oversee preparation and subsequent control of area budget for personnel, material, equipment, construction, operations and maintenance.
• Plan, organize, develop and monitor the performance of assigned supervisors and staff, establishing performance requirements and personal development targets, monitoring performance and providing direction for performance improvement and development.
• Engage with employees and union leadership to create a culture of inclusion and teamwork.
• Recommend appropriate staffing levels and actively promote developmental assignments for high‑potential employees to ensure adequate succession and career development opportunities.
• Coordinate response efforts and assist in the emergency outage restoration process.

Qualifications

• Highly motivated and approachable leader, with a demonstrated track record of safe operations excellence and people leadership.
• Functions both independently and as part of a team and can communicate, promote, and drive positive change and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated learning agility and ability to develop technical acumen and working knowledge of distribution operations.
• Seven (7) years’ experience in the electric utility industry highly preferred – distribution engineering, transmission, line construction, maintenance practices, including performance in a leadership capacity. Equivalent training and experience in progressive leadership roles will be considered in lieu of industry specific experience.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred. In lieu of degree, equivalent training/experience will be considered.
• Experience administering collective bargaining agreements and HR policies fairly and equitably for all employees is highly desirable.

Ability To

• Lead by example, facilitate and lead teams through change and promote the values of trust and integrity.
• Analyze difficult and complex issues and strategies, reach sound and logical fact‑based conclusions and recommendations.
• Evaluate departmental practices and make sound recommendations for improvements; develop and implement appropriate procedures and controls.
• Exercise sound expert independent judgment and political acumen within general policy guidelines.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of employees.
• Operate and learn various computer applications.

Benefits, Compensation & Workforce Diversity

At FirstEnergy, employees are key to our success. We depend on their talents to meet the challenges of our changing business environment. We are committed to rewarding individual and team efforts through our total rewards philosophy which includes competitive pay plus incentive compensation, a company-sponsored pension plan, 401(k) savings plan with matching employer contribution, a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs, as well as skills development training with tuition reimbursement. Please visit our website at https://www.firstenergycorp.com to learn more about all of our employee rewards programs. FirstEnergy proudly supports workforce diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with a disability. No recruiters or agencies without a previously signed contract. Unable to sponsor or transfer H‑1B visas at this time.

Safety

Safety is a core value for FirstEnergy and is essential to all of our business activities. We ensure employees have the tools, information, and processes to perform their duties in a manner that assures safety for themselves, their co‑workers, our customers and the public. Our goals are to provide a safe work environment, to maintain an accident‑free, injury‑free workplace, and to promote and maintain public safety. To meet these goals, we dedicate ourselves to achieving world‑class safety standards.

Position Classification

Exempt.

FirstEnergy Human Resources Team

Thank you for looking at this opportunity.