Renewables M&D Engineer / Engineering Analyst

Southern Company • Birmingham, AL

19h • Hybrid

About The Position

This position will function as part of the Performance Monitoring & Diagnostic
Center, which provides remote monitoring and support to the Southern Power
Company (SPC) generation and storage fleet.  This position is responsible for
providing advanced condition monitoring and analysis of data important to the
safe, reliable, and efficient operation of SPC’s solar, wind, and energy storage
assets. Incumbents in this position will utilize advanced pattern recognition
software and other tools to identify and analyze potential failure and
degradation anomalies. They will also closely support and work with Renewable
Operations, M&D Analysts, Performance Engineers, third party developers, and the
SPC Technology Organization to further the development of SPC’s internal
automated issue identification tool, iSight, and lead the development of all
renewable monitoring processes.

This position will be located in Birmingham, AL. Though fully remote work is not
an option, the work schedule is currently four days in the office and one day
remote per week..

Requirements

• Hands-on experience building trends and analyzing data required
• Interest in Operations and the failure modes of assets (transformers, solar inverters, combiners, trackers, wind turbines, and batteries) and ability to verbally communicate these issues to business partners once identified
• Knowledge and experience in monitoring transformers highly preferred
• Experience in organizing and managing multiple projects at the same time. Proven ability to plan and prioritize work, including discerning problems that need immediate attention versus those that allow more time to resolve
• Experience with operations and maintenance in renewable energy technologies highly preferred
• Experience with AVEVA PI Systems preferred
• Experience with performance/reliability monitoring tools preferred
• Experience with AVEVA Predictive Analytics or similar predictive monitoring tools preferred
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, renewable energy, business administration, or a related field preferred; or relevant experience in power plant operations and equipment support
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret time-series data
• Proven interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to produce business cases to justify financial investment decisions, technology tools / upgrades, etc.
• Ability to think strategically and tactically
• Capacity to collaborate effectively with various technical teams
• Ability to lead developmental efforts and work on daily monitoring tasks simultaneously
• Proficiency in Excel, Visio, Word, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft applications
• Must be able to make timely decisions, apply seasoned judgment, and display personal responsibility
• Displays and models Our Values
• Be a team player and able to quickly build good, working relationships
• Staying current on relevant industry trends and technology developments
• Promote teamwork
• Creatively solve issues, think outside the box, find innovative ways to meet current & emerging fleet issues

Responsibilities

• Monitor SPC’s solar, wind, and energy storage assets with AVEVA Predictive Analytics, iSight, or other performance monitoring tools
• Monitor and communicate the health of SPC’s renewable fleet transformers
• Lead and improve the development of SPC’s renewable energy monitoring processes
• Collaborate with performance engineers to bring performance and reliability insights to customers
• Develop and improve the reliability portion of SPC’s internal automated issue identification tool, iSight
• Manage renewable model health of all renewable pattern recognition / predictive models
• Track and report KPIs and renewable observations for M&D and Renewable Performance
• Build strong working relationships with key customers

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees