SVP, Chief Operating Officer

United Power, Inc.; Brighton (CO); On-site; USD 250,000 - 400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K with employer match

Health, dental, vision benefits

Paid holidays and vacation

Job summary

United Power seeks a seasoned electric utility executive to lead Operations, Engineering, and Safety. The COO will drive strategy, budget management, and cross-functional initiatives while ensuring safety, reliability, and regulatory compliance.

The role requires strong leadership, collaboration with the ELT and Board, and a track record of improving operational performance in complex, union-influenced environments.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible leadership in electric utility operations, engineering, safety, or reliability.
• Experience overseeing compliance with NERC Reliability Standards and CIP requirements.
• Must hold a valid Colorado driver’s license or ability to obtain one.

Responsibilities

• Lead Operations, Engineering, and Safety with ELT and Board interaction.
• Oversee budgets, strategy, and transformational programs for reliability and safety.
• Ensure regulatory compliance, incident prevention, and safety performance across the organization.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration and continuous improvement across departments.

Skills

Leadership in utilities

Strategic execution

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or related field

Job description

United Power is seeking an accomplished and forward-looking electric utility executive with the breadth to lead Operations, Engineering, and Safety in a complex and changing environment. The ideal candidate will bring senior-level responsibility for multiple operational or technical functions and demonstrated success overseeing system reliability and resiliency, safety performance, emergency response, infrastructure and capital priorities, and applicable NERC Reliability Standards and CIP requirements.

This leader will be able to translate strategy into measurable results, strengthen compliance and accountability, develop senior leaders, and guide significant cross-functional initiatives involving technology, regulatory compliance, system capacity, and large-load interconnections.

Experience in a union environment and an electric cooperative or public power organization is highly valued. Equally important, the successful candidate will be a collaborative, credible, and engaging leader who communicates effectively with employees, the ELT, the Board of Directors, regulators, members, and external partners and inspires a culture of safety, inclusion, continuous improvement, and service to members.

The Position

The Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) works under the general direction of the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In collaboration with the CEO & Executive Leadership Team (ELT), the COO is responsible for the long-term transformational efforts for the utility’s Operations, Engineering, and Safety departments, and for implementing the overall strategy and direction for the organization. The COO leads strategic initiatives including, but not limited to, infrastructure construction, maintenance and upgrades, system reliability and resiliency; employee and public safety; regulatory compliance; and process and technology improvements while maintaining operational excellence. This position manages the overall Operations, Engineering, and Safety teams and their budgets, including promoting cross-functional collaboration, continuous process improvement, operational efficiencies, cost control, and a strong organizational safety culture. The COO is responsible for legal compliance with applicable operational, technical, safety reliability, security requirements, and regulatory standards, specifically, applicable North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reliability Standards including Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP). This position reports directly to the CEO and is a member of the ELT.

Essential Job Functions:

• Serves as a member of the ELT; participates in the formulation of strategies, company cultural norms, objectives, and policies for recommendation and dynamic presentations to the Board of Directors.
• Identifies a clear, motivating, and challenging vision for the Operations, Engineering, and Safety departments, with a focus on creating an aligned culture. Consistently demonstrates the ability to align team and department goals with company goals and achieve measurable results. Inspires a shared direction and encourages staff to question past assumptions and challenge the status quo.
• Conceives and leads implementation of the long-term transformational efforts in collaboration with the CEO, ELT, the Cooperatives Energy Risk Management Committee (ERMC) and Board of Directors.
• Develops and implements plans for the operational infrastructure of systems, processes, and personnel designed to maintain efficient operations.
• Provides strategic oversight of field and control center Operations, Engineering, and Safety programs supporting employee and public safety, system reliability, resiliency, capacity, regulatory compliance, and long-term infrastructure needs.
• Prepares the annual work plans and budgets for the Operations, Safety, and Engineering departments and makes recommendations to the CEO.
• Aligns all functional departments to operate together and with the larger organization, seamlessly and effectively to achieve goals and overall strategy.
• Directs the preparation of short-term and long-range operational, engineering, and safety plans and budgets; collaborates with the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on annual operating and capital budgets and oversees the prioritization, budget performance, resource allocation, and delivery of related programs and initiatives.
• Manages the financial aspects of the Operations, Engineering, and Safety departments with a focus on fiscal responsibility and cost-consciousness in accordance with applicable policies.
• Provides executive oversight of compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and industry operational, engineering, safety, reliability, and security requirements, including applicable NERC Reliability Standards and CIP requirements. Ensures appropriate accountability, governance, monitoring, documentation, reporting, training, internal controls, and corrective-action processes are established and maintained within assigned areas of responsibility.
• Provides executive sponsorship and oversight of the organization’s NERC compliance program within assigned operational and technical areas, ensuring clear ownership, appropriate resources, effective controls, timely reporting, cross-organizational coordination and accountability for compliance obligations.
• Maintains executive awareness of applicable and emerging NERC Reliability Standards and CIP requirements; evaluates organizational impacts and ensures required operational, technical, procedural, training, documentation, and system changes are implemented.
• Reviews significant NERC compliance risks, potential violations, audit or assessment findings, mitigation plans, and corrective actions; and ensures matters with material regulatory, reliability, cybersecurity, financial, or reputational implications are promptly elevated to the CEO and other appropriate stakeholders.
• Supports NERC registrations, audits, certifications, self-assessments, investigations, compliance monitoring, and regulatory reporting by ensuring assigned departments maintain complete, accurate, timely, and defensible records and evidence.
• Actively participates in the Energy Risk Management Committee (ERMC) and provides operational, engineering, safety, reliability, and compliance expertise to support enterprise risk evaluation and decision-making. Provides executive leadership, sponsorship, or subject-matter support for large-load interconnection initiatives and other significant cross-functional projects, as assigned.
• Establishes measurable goals and key performance indicators for Operations, Safety, and Engineering; evaluates performance, trends, and risks through operational and financial data and implements corrective actions as needed.
• Advices the CEO and the Board on Operations, Safety, and Engineering issues and strategies.
• Partners with Human Resources on the direction and administration of labor relations strategies.
• Identifies industry trends and participates in external groups to implement best practices in distribution, including advances in technology.
• Promotes safe, reliable, and high-quality execution within Operations, Safety, and Engineering and reinforces continuous improvement and accountability.
• Follows up on specific service complaints and outages; takes necessary action to maintain continuity and reliability of service as needed.
• Ensures the maintenance programs (i.e., tree trimming, pole line inspection, pole changeouts, OH/UG line patrol, substation inspection, etc.) are prioritized and functional.
• Ensures coordination between departments, including Systems Operations, Operations, Communications, and Member Services, is effective during outages and emergencies.
• Provides executive leadership for emergency preparedness, outage response, service restoration, and operational continuity; ensures plans are current, coordinated across departments, and regularly communicated and exercised.
• Provides executive leadership and oversight of the Safety Department, including organizational safety strategy, safety programs, regulatory compliance, employee training, incident prevention, emergency preparedness, performance measurement, and continuous improvement.
• Promotes a proactive and accountable safety culture throughout the organization by integrating safety considerations into operational planning, engineering, construction, maintenance, emergency response, resource allocation, and executive decision-making.
• Reviews significant safety incidents, trends, hazards, compliance concerns, and organizational risks; ensures appropriate investigations, root-cause analyses, corrective actions, and preventive measures are completed and communicated.
• Leads, develops, and holds accountable the Operations, Safety, and Engineering leadership teams; builds organizational capability, supports succession planning, and ensures appropriate workforce and resource planning.
• Creates, expands, and maintains professional and productive working relationships with peers and stakeholders. Works collaboratively with colleagues and fosters a spirit of cooperation and inclusion in the workplace.
• Performs other such duties as may be requested or assigned to fulfill the needs of United Power in the interest of good management practice.

Minimum Qualifications:

A bachelor's degree in business administration, engineering, construction management, or a related field is required, along with a minimum of ten (10) years of progressively responsible leadership experience in electric utility operations, engineering, safety, reliability, or a closely related function. Experience must include executive- or senior-level responsibility for multiple operational or functional areas. Candidates must also have demonstrated experience overseeing compliance with applicable NERC Reliability Standards and providing leadership or oversight for electric utility safety, regulatory compliance, incident prevention, investigations, corrective actions, and organizational safety performance. An equivalent combination of education and substantial directly related experience may be considered in lieu of the degree requirement.

Must have a valid Colorado driver's license or the ability to obtain one.

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a generous benefits package that includes an employee retirement plan, 401K with match, paid holidays, vacation & sick leave, medical, dental, vision, short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance. For a full list of benefits, please visit our careers page at https://www.unitedpower.com/careers.

Additional information about this recruitment can be found here: https://www.unitedpower.com/sites/default/files/Careers/COO_Brochure_UnitedPower_2026.pdf

United Power is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. United Power prohibits discrimination against applicants or employees on the basis of age 40 and over, race, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, color, religion, military or veteran status, national origin, disability, genetic information or any other applicable status protected by state or local law.

We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, this position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

NOTE: This position description is not intended to be all-inclusive; an employee will also perform other job responsibilities as assigned by the immediate supervisor or management.

Management reserves the right to change position descriptions, specifications or work schedules to accommodate individuals with disabilities or as the need arises.