Engineer II/III

Yampa Valley Electric Association seeks a driven, ambitious Engineer II or III to join our team. This position will be filled at the Engineer II or Engineer III level, depending on the successful candidate's skills and experience.

The Role

You will build a working knowledge of YVEA's substation and distribution systems, including their design, specifications, and operating principles. Depending on level, you will assist with or lead engineering studies, technical reports, and development of the Cooperative's Construction Work Plan (CWP). The position sits in the Engineering Department and reports to the Engineering Supervisor.

Key Responsibilities

The responsibilities below apply at both levels; the next section describes how the scope differs between Engineer II and Engineer III.

• Use and apply engineering software for system planning, power flow, short circuit analysis, arc flash studies, and power quality investigation.
• Perform system planning and operational engineering, including power flow modeling, system protection and coordination, arc flash studies, and Power Quality (PQ) studies. Prepare technical reports and procedures based on the studies performed.
• Support the Engineering team in the design, construction, and maintenance of substation, distribution, and transmission facilities.
• Help develop design standards and equipment specifications for the Cooperative's facilities, SCADA systems, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system, and radio system.
• Help develop and maintain document control for protective relay, regulator, and capacitor settings, including technical settings sheets for devices.
• Perform engineering design and updates for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Distribution Automation (DA) systems, including graphic design, point mapping, communications troubleshooting, and the design, testing, and commissioning of new and existing controls. This may include programming the system to produce reports and graphs of YVEA's real-time operation.
• Assist with transformer sizing, review of metering requirements, and interconnection of distributed resources, including inspections as required.
• Assist with updates to and connectivity monitoring of the Outage Management System (OMS).
• Work with Engineering Management to develop 1-, 4-, and 10-year Construction Work Plans and Long-Range Plans, and develop budget information for recommended system improvements and modifications.
• Assist with evaluation and inspection of renewable energy interconnections, including net-metering and utility-scale facilities, as needed.

Engineer II vs. Engineer III

Area	Engineer II (intermediate)	Engineer III (advanced)
Engineering studies, reports and CWP	Assists with completion	Leads efforts to complete
Engineering software	Uses and applies	Uses, maintains and applies
System and engineering models	Assists in keeping models accurate	Responsible for keeping models accurate
Overall level	Works under general guidance	Works independently and guides others

 

Key Experience:

Engineer II

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent technical degree is required.
• Two years or more of progressive engineering experience. A focus on distribution utility power systems is highly preferred.
• Must have passed Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and be working towards Professional Engineer (PE) licensure. Will be required to obtain PE licensure within 4 years of hire.
• Some familiarity with Milsoft, NISC, Survalent, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), or MathCAD software suites is preferred.

 

Engineer III

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent technical degree is required.
• Five years or more of progressive engineering experience. A focus on distribution utility power systems and / or substations is preferred.
• Professional Engineer licensure is preferred. Must have passed Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and be working towards Professional Engineer (PE) certification. Will be required to obtain PE licensure within 1 year of hire.
• Familiarity of Milsoft, NISC, Survalent, or Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) software suites is preferred.

What we offer:

• Benefits: Medical, vision, and dental, and life insurance for you, your spouse, and your child.
• Time Off: We encourage you to enjoy your time outside work with a generous PTO plan and ten paid holidays.
• 401 (K) Retirement Plans: We will match your 401(k) contribution up to 4%
• Retirement Security Plan: 1.7% of your average salary x years of service x 1.19 = annuity
• Employee Assistance Plan: For you and your family at no cost
• Events: We love to have fun at work! We offer many opportunities and events. Anything from happy hour to a company-wide snow tubing.
• Training and Development: We provide both off-site and on-the-job training opportunities so you can keep up and advance in our ever-changing utility environment.
• Education Assistance: Enjoy learning? Our Education Assistance Policy will assist with your tuition.
• Health and Well-being: A healthy you is a healthy us. We will deposit extra cash into your checking or health savings account for each preventative exam you and your dependents complete.
• Safety: Never driven in the snow before? A course at Bridgestone Winter Driving School in Steamboat Springs is on us.
• Discounts Program: Local and national discounts on everything from travel to a new set of tires.

Candidates must pass a pre-employment drug screen.