Engineering Manager of Telecom & Fiber

Grant County Public Utility District•Ephrata, WA

1d•$154,144 - $269,032•Hybrid

About The Position

The Engineering Manager of Telecommunications and Fiber provides strategic leadership, technical direction, and operational oversight for the District’s telecommunications infrastructure supporting both enterprise and operational technology (OT) environments, including a wholesale fiber business. This role leads a multidisciplinary engineering organization responsible for the planning, design, implementation, and lifecycle management of critical communication systems, including fiber networks, transport systems, voice platforms, and utility communication infrastructure. Reporting to senior leadership, this position is accountable for aligning telecommunications and fiber engineering activities within the District’s operational, safety, and reliability objectives across power production, power delivery, and customer services. The Engineering Manager supports long-term strategy, capital planning, and modernization initiatives while ensuring adherence to engineering standards and compliance with regulatory and cybersecurity requirements. This role partners across departments to deliver reliable, scalable, and high-availability communication systems that support safe, efficient, and continuous operations across the District.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, Computer Engineering or closely related field; OR 2 additional years of relevant experience in lieu of degree.
Eight (8) or more years of progressively responsible experience in telecommunications, network engineering, or operational technology (OT) communications, including three (3) years of leadership or supervisory experience managing engineering or technical teams.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Engineering, Business Administration, or a closely related field.
Professional Engineer (PE) license
Industry certifications such as CCNP/CCIE, JNCIP/JNCIE, PMP, or equivalent.
Experience in electric utility, public utility district (PUD), or critical infrastructure environments
Knowledge of: Telecommunications systems (fiber, IP networks, radio, voice) and OT communications (SCADA/EMS).
Knowledge of: Network architecture, transport technologies (e.g., MPLS, DWDM), and high-availability design.
Knowledge of: Cybersecurity principles and applicable regulations (e.g., NERC CIP, FCC, IEEE).
Knowledge of: Engineering standards, lifecycle planning, budgeting, and vendor management.
Skills in: Leading and developing multidisciplinary engineering teams.
Skills in: Strategic planning, project and budget management.
Skills in: Problem-solving and implementing scalable technical solutions.
Skills in: Communicating effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Skills in: Cross-functional collaboration and vendor coordination.
Ability to: Provide technical leadership and align systems with organizational goals.
Ability to: Ensure reliability, resilience, and security of communication systems.
Ability to: Manage multiple priorities and make sound operational decisions.
Ability to: Interpret regulations and adapt to evolving technologies.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership and direction to a multidisciplinary telecommunications engineering organization spanning network, OT communications, voice, infrastructure, and systems/standards.
Establish priorities, allocate resources, manage performance, accountability, workforce planning, and succession development.
Oversee engineering practices, including standards, policies, design review, technical documentation, configuration control, and change management processes.
Lead long-term telecommunications and fiber strategy across IT, OT, Voice, and transport systems, including capital planning, lifecycle management, and modernization initiatives.
Ensure communication systems deliver high levels of reliability, performance, resilience, and cybersecurity, including redundancy, failover, and disaster recovery capabilities.
Manage budgets, capital programs, and large-scale infrastructure investments to ensure alignment with strategic and operational objectives.
Oversee vendor and contractor relationships, including contracts, procurement, pricing negotiations, and performance management.
Ensure compliance with regulatory, cybersecurity, and internal standards, including NERC/CIP and electric system reliability requirements.
Partner with compliance, security, and operations leaders to ensure communication systems support required security boundaries and critical infrastructure needs.
Serve as a technical advisor on complex or high-impact engineering issues affecting enterprise and operational systems.
Collaborate with leadership, Enterprise IT, Power Production, Power Delivery, Operations, Customer Solutions, Fiber, Shared Services, and external partners.
Provide oversight and direction for major programs and projects, ensuring effective coordination with project management, construction, and operational teams.
Promote a culture of safety, continuous improvement, innovation, accountability, and systems thinking across the engineering organization.
This position requires NERC CIP access, and incumbents must meet and maintain eligibility with the established criteria in the Grant PUD Personnel Risk Assessment Procedure.
Demonstrated commitment to Grant PUD’s mission, vision, values, strategic plan, and Grant PUD / IBEW Local 77 Code of Excellence. The incumbent should be familiar with these organizational priorities and behave in a way that aligns with these expectations.
Understand and adhere to compliance requirements for this position that may include laws, regulations, security guidelines, Grant PUD policies & Procedures.
In this position, if needed to operate a GPUD vehicle for business purposes, please refer to the Vehicle/Asset Usage Policy, IS-TA-POL-001.
Actively participate in all aspects of our safety program, including but not limited to: Following all safety policies and procedures. Alerting supervisors and coworkers to unsafe or hazardous working conditions. Reporting any unsafe incidents or close calls within 24 hours to your supervisor; and Accepting feedback from supervisors and coworkers regarding your own safety performance.
Actively support programs and actions that improve our Safety Culture by: Supporting the presence of safety in your department (e.g. include safety messages in business conversations; begin meetings as appropriate with a safety minute). Ensuring supervisors are monitoring the safety actions of their teams (such as completing safety training, reporting incidents timely, etc.). Being viewed as a safety champion by stopping work if necessary, promoting safety activities (Continuous improvement team processes, Safety & Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) activities, etc.). Acknowledging compliant safety behaviors and good safety performance from members of your team(s).