Director NERC Compliance

FirstEnergy • Akron, OH

3d • Onsite

About The Position

This is an open position with the FirstEnergy Service Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation This position will be ON SITE, and can be located within the FirstEnergy footprint - OH, PA, NJ, WV, and MD. This position is responsible for setting strategic direction and providing oversight of FirstEnergy’s compliance with the North American Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) Reliability Standards, including the NERC Critical Infrastructure Projection (CIP) Standards, the NERC Operations and Planning (O&P) Standards, and the PJM TO/TOP Matrix Assigned Tasks.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited university in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field preferred; degrees in Regulatory Affairs, Public Policy, or Legal Studies also considered.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in IT, engineering, operations, planning or compliance functions.
• Strong leadership skills to effectively work with FE Business Units and regulators on compliance matters.
• Ability to establish and maintain a high level of trust and confidence among peers and management, building consensus and effective teams.
• Superior written and oral communications skills to communicate effectively within all levels of the FE organization and with regulators.
• Effective negotiation skills, and ability to be diplomatic and persuasive.
• Exceptional teamwork and interpersonal skills to aid in the resolution of compliance issues.
• Strong organizational skills for planning, developing and performing assessments and coordinating resolution of compliance issues.
• Excellent work ethic with dedication to completing critical program requirements and meeting deadlines in a timely manner.
• Works with minimal supervision and guidance to handle a variety of complex issues and assignments.
• Ability to work independently or as part of a team to manage multiple priorities and see tasks through to completion.
• An initiative-taker that can tackle multidisciplinary challenges in coordination with various FirstEnergy teams and third parties.
• Must be able to clear a 7-year background check.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement strategic plans for NERC compliance to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and standards.
• Provide leadership, guidance, and support to the NERC compliance team, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Execute strategic planning for changes in NERC standards and guidelines, and ensure the organization is prepared to comply with new and evolving requirements.
• FirstEnergy’s (FE) primary compliance contact (PCC) for interactions with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), NERC, Reliability First (RF) and other regulatory entities on compliance matters related to NERC’s Reliability Standards.
• Direct FE’s program for compliance with NERC’s Reliability Standards. Includes, but is not limited to, providing oversight of FE Business Units compliance with applicable standards, preparing for and coordinating NERC and RF compliance audits, completing self-certifications of compliance and responding to requests for data submittals.
• Support VP – Office of Ethics & Compliance – to implement organization wide strategies, priorities, and documentation to meet reliability compliance requirements. Assist VP in preparing for and facilitating periodic meetings of the FE Executive Reliability Steering Committee (ERSC).
• Establish and maintain effective relationships with industry associations, regional entities and reliability agencies, and internal stakeholders to promote business goals and compliance with requirements.
• Direct development and implementation of FE internal controls program in accordance with NERC’s risk-based Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program (CMEP).
• Assess, identify, and prioritize NERC compliance risks for mitigation.
• Direct FE’s involvement with NERC’s Standards Development activities associated with NERC’s Reliability Standards by soliciting input from appropriate FE subject matter experts and effectively communicating FE’s position on proposed changes to NERC.
• Track modifications to Reliability Standards to ensure processes, procedures, internal controls, and training activities are completed in advance of the effective date for the modified/new standards.
• Direct FE’s activities associated with NERC Events Analysis (EA) Program related to the NERC Standards by ensuring EA reports are completed concisely and within applicable time requirements.
• Direct review of potential noncompliance related to NERC’s Reliability Standards by ensuring effective (1) mitigation actions are put in place and completed on schedule and, if appropriate, (2) extent of condition reports is prepared to avoid similar violations in future.
• Direct investigations related to events and/or potential violations related to the NERC Reliability Standards and ensure an understanding of primary and contributing causes.
• Direct FE’s compliance technology to assign, track and monitor compliance efforts.
• Direct FE policy, procedures and guidelines related to the FE NERC Compliance program. Work across FE to ensure expectations are clearly understood by FE business unit leaders.
• Maintain awareness of emerging utility industry issues through benchmarking and participation in appropriate utility forums/groups.
• Develop, maintain and inform leadership of meaningful NERC Compliance program KPI's and performance metrics.

Benefits

• 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
• skills development training with tuition reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director