Technical Support Specialist 2

Kids for the Future; Birmingham (AL); On-site; USD 45,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

Southern Company is seeking a Technical Support Specialist 2 – Energy Management Systems (EMS) in Birmingham, AL. You will join a 24x7x365 operational support team providing frontline diagnostics and incident response for EMS and OT environments.

The role requires day and night shifts, weekends, and holidays, with a focus on reliability, cybersecurity compliance, and precise communication in a high-stakes power system context. A 2-year degree is required.

Qualifications

• Formal education in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Approximately 3–5 years of relevant technical support, IT, OT, systems support, or related experience.
• Previous help desk or service desk experience in an IT/OT environment is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting business-critical or continuously operating technology environments is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Monitor SCADA, EMS, and related systems for health, performance and availability.
• Identify system abnormalities, alarms, outages, and issues requiring investigation.
• Provide frontline diagnostics and technical support for computer systems and applications.
• Troubleshoot incidents remotely when possible and coordinate repairs with EMS teams.
• Maintain incident records and ensure accurate documentation throughout the lifecycle.
• Support Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery systems to keep critical operations online.

Skills

IT/OT support

SCADA

Incident management

Troubleshooting

Windows

UNIX

Networking

BC/DR

Documentation

ITIL

Education

2 Year Degree

Job description

• Location 600 18th Street N,Birmingham, AL, 35203,United States
• Base Pay $33.00 - $35.20 / Hour
• Required Degree 2 Year Degree

Contact information

• Name Kevin Lewis
• Email [e-mail]

Position Overview

BLOC Resources is seeking an experienced Technical Support Specialist 2 – Energy Management Systems (EMS) to support our client, Southern Company, in Birmingham, Alabama.

This position is part of a critical 24x7x365 operational support team responsible for frontline computer system and application diagnostics, monitoring, incident response, and technical support for Energy Management Systems and associated Operational Technology (OT) environments.

The Technical Support Specialist serves as a primary point of contact between customers, control center personnel, technical support teams, and management. The successful candidate must be comfortable operating in a highly regulated, mission-critical environment where system reliability, accurate communication, cybersecurity compliance, documentation, and rapid incident response are essential.

This position requires rotating day and night shifts, weekends, and holidays.

Requirements

Key Responsibilities

• Perform day-to-day monitoring of primary SCADA, EMS, and ancillary systems for system health, performance, and availability.
• Identify system abnormalities, application issues, alarms, outages, and other conditions requiring investigation.
• Provide frontline diagnostics and technical support for computer systems and applications.
• Troubleshoot incidents remotely whenever possible.
• Coordinate system repairs and problem resolution with EMS Department personnel and other appropriate technical teams.
• Monitor and support Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery systems.
• Help maintain the availability and reliability of systems supporting critical power-system operations.

IT/OT Service Desk & Incident Management

• Serve as a single point of contact for inbound Operational Technology incidents.
• Receive technical support requests through phone, email, and other approved communication channels.
• Create and maintain incident records within the designated ticketing system.
• Perform Level 1 troubleshooting and resolution when appropriate.
• Escalate incidents that require additional technical expertise.
• Track incidents from initial report through final resolution.
• Maintain complete and accurate case documentation.
• Prioritize incidents based on criticality, urgency, and potential operational impact to the Bulk Power System.
• Ensure customers receive appropriate status updates throughout the incident lifecycle.

Communication & Coordination

• Serve as a primary communication channel between customers, technical support personnel, and management.
• Communicate effectively with transmission control center personnel, coordinators, EMS professionals, and management.
• Notify key customers of planned or unplanned system outages and events that may affect critical systems.
• Coordinate technical activities during system events and outages.
• Maintain professionalism and accuracy when communicating during high-pressure operational situations.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with key customers and technical teams.

Change Management & Procedures

• Apply knowledge-based procedures accurately when troubleshooting incidents.
• Follow established escalation procedures and operational protocols.
• Provide feedback to supervision regarding recurring issues, customer concerns, and opportunities for process improvement.
• Support continuous improvement of technical support and incident-management processes.

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Formal education in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related technical field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Approximately 3–5 years of relevant technical support, IT, OT, systems support, help desk, or related experience.
• Previous help desk or service desk experience in an IT/OT environment is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting business-critical or continuously operating technology environments is highly desirable.

Technical Skills

Candidates should possess experience or working knowledge in several of the following areas:

• IT/OT technical support
• SCADA systems
• Incident and ticket management
• Level 1 technical troubleshooting
• Windows-based operating systems
• AIX and/or other UNIX-based operating systems
• Distributed computer networks
• Business Continuity systems
• Disaster Recovery systems
• Technical documentation
• System and application monitoring

Experience supporting electric utility, power generation, transmission, grid operations, industrial control systems, or other critical infrastructure environments would be particularly valuable.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong customer-service orientation.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to troubleshoot technical problems with limited initial information.
• Ability to work effectively in a high-pressure operational environment.
• Ability to prioritize multiple incidents based on operational impact and criticality.
• Strong documentation and organizational skills.