Lead Engineer - Energy Control Sys

Iberdrola•Binghamton, NY

6d•$116,640 - $145,800•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Engineer provides technical support for AVANGRID Energy Control Systems (ECS) used to operate gas distribution systems, including SCADA, DSS, and back-office platforms. The role defines and maintains SCADA databases and definitions, maintains telemetry data, and ensures accurate ECS information. It also provides RTU configuration, software, testing, and commissioning support, and supports ECS specification, design, testing, and development to meet changing functional requirements. The position designs system enhancements, coordinates safe commissioning of new and redesigned PACs, RTUs, instrumentation, and related systems in gas facilities, and ensures components are designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained to operational, safety, and reliability standards. The engineer documents and reviews commissioning procedures, provides operational assistance and troubleshooting, supports Control Center operations and cybersecurity requirements, and maintains documentation to meet regulatory standards. The role requires in-depth understanding of ECS components, virtual environments, control-system architecture, security, data flow, and networking, as well as the ability to design and optimize system components and contribute to system design and standardization. As a lead, this engineer influences and guides department engineers, provides technical leadership on complex projects, mentors and develops the team, collaborates across departments, and directs contractors on company policies, standards, and best practices. The role may involve working safely at gas distribution stations, supporting 24x7x365 Control Room operations, and responding to storm or other emergency conditions outside normal working hours.

Requirements

Meet at least one education and experience pathway: BSEE degree with 7 or more years of technical experience, or a technical-related master's degree with 3 or more years of technical experience.
Knowledge of gas transmission and distribution systems and gas measurement fundamentals.
Experience configuring, commissioning, and testing RTUs; familiarity with field-testing methodology and developing test plans.
Ability to interpret control-system architecture drawings, P&IDs, electrical control and loop diagrams, and other engineering specifications.
Understanding of applicable regulatory and compliance requirements, including NERC-CIP and PHMSA Control Room Management requirements.
Understanding of databases such as Microsoft SQL and Oracle, including querying, configuring, and editing.
Understanding of networking, security, computer hardware, software applications, data communications equipment, network diagrams, firewall rules, ports, and services.
Strong written and oral communication skills.
Ability to make sound decisions in high-pressure situations and support operations outside normal working hours, including storm and other emergency conditions.
Ability to work independently and proactively and contribute to results.
Ability to develop effective business cases for system enhancements.
Ability to educate, assign tasks to, direct, and review the work of other engineers and ensure quality on complex work.
Ability to work safely in gas distribution stations and understand station devices and variables such as flow, pressure, and temperature.
Ability to create scripts or compiled applications that interact with SCADA application APIs and libraries.
Ability to influence and guide engineers, lead complex projects, mentor and develop team members, collaborate across departments, and direct contractors on company policies and standards.
Theoretical engineering knowledge in planning, operations, engineering design, analysis, modeling, calculations, and understanding the business model; values cross-functional collaboration and building organizational relationships.
Practical engineering experience in planning, operations, engineering design, and construction, including field experience and standardization; ability to analyze engineering alternatives, develop business cases, and defend them to stakeholders.
Ability to document and interpret engineering documentation.
Knowledge of local, state, and federal regulatory standards and requirements.
Computer operating system administration and support, such as Unix, Linux, or Windows.
ECS NERC-CIP compliance support, including CIP-005, CIP-007, CIP-009, CIP-010, and CIP-011.
ECS support across multiple environments, including databases such as SQL and Oracle; ECS applications such as OASyS DNA; access administration such as LDAP, Kerberos, and Active Directory; protocols such as DNP, ROC/ROC Plus, TCP/IP, and Modbus; environment navigation tools such as RDP, PuTTY, FTP, and VNC; and specialty calculation programming such as MATLAB or ABB Calc.
Gas field engineering and support, including programming RTUs and data concentrators at gas stations or customer facilities.
Advanced technical documentation skills, including operational procedure maintenance and control-systems standards.
Ability to work with other departments and working knowledge of other business areas.
ECS historian application support, including PI interfaces across multiple environments and application-server PI interfaces.
Understanding of control-system software, hardware, and network design, including application and hardware high availability and redundant networking.
Advanced troubleshooting skills and ability to independently troubleshoot control-system issues.
SCADA and DSS database administration, including systems and files such as CIM, SDM, DBNETD, SQL, and IDDUG.
Computer language programming and development environment experience, with examples including Java, C, C#, .NET, Perl, Python, VBScript, JavaScript, KSH, BSH, SqlPlus, HTA, HTML, NetBeans, and Visual Studio.
Gas SCADA RTU configuration.
Understanding of the requirement to support 24x7x365 Control Room operations.

Nice To Haves

Experience with the OASYS DNA SCADA system.
Experience with Emerson Fisher ROC and FloBoss RTUs.

Responsibilities

Support AVANGRID ECS platforms used to operate gas distribution systems, including SCADA, DSS, and back-office platforms.
Define and maintain SCADA databases and definitions, maintain telemetry data, and ensure accurate ECS information.
Configure RTUs and provide software, testing, and commissioning support.
Support ECS specification, design, testing, and development to meet changing functional requirements.
Design enhancements to ECS systems, including improvements to the user interface.
Coordinate safe commissioning of new and redesigned PACs, RTUs, instrumentation, and related systems and components in gas facilities.
Ensure systems and components are designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained according to operational requirements and safety and reliability standards.
Document and review commissioning procedures; provide operational assistance and troubleshooting.
Support Control Center operations and cybersecurity requirements.
Create and maintain platform and system documentation to meet regulatory requirements and standards.
Design, implement, and optimize control-system components; contribute technical input to system design.
Assist with creating time-saving standardization.
Apply knowledge of gas transmission and distribution systems, gas energy flow, circuit analysis, contingency analysis, state estimation, and billing.
Configure, commission, and test RTUs; conduct field testing and develop testing plans.
Interpret control-system architecture drawings, P&IDs, electrical control and loop diagrams, and other engineering specifications.
Support compliance with relevant regulations and policies, including NERC-CIP and PHMSA Control Room Management requirements.
Query, configure, and edit databases; work with networking, security, computer hardware, software applications, and data communications equipment.
Make sound decisions in high-pressure situations, including outside normal working hours and during storm or emergency conditions.
Work independently and proactively, and develop business cases for system enhancements.
Educate, assign tasks to, direct, and review the work of other engineers; ensure quality on complex tasks and projects.
Work safely in gas distribution stations and understand station devices and operating variables such as flow, pressure, and temperature.
Create scripts or compiled applications that interact with SCADA application APIs and libraries.
Use knowledge to influence and guide department engineers and provide technical leadership on complex, department-wide projects.
Mentor, develop, and support the team’s technical skills; collaborate across departments.
Liaise with and direct contractors regarding company policy, standards, and best practices.
Work independently with little supervision.
Review and approve engineering work by others for compliance with company standards, specifications, and contract requirements.
Troubleshoot control-system issues independently and support ECS historian applications and multiple system environments.
Support 24x7x365 Control Room operations.