SCADA Systems Administrator

Pedernales Electric Cooperative•Johnson City, TN

22h•Onsite

About The Position

This position is responsible for developing, monitoring and maintaining the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA/EMS) System to ensure 24/7 system availability for Operators to monitor and operate the electric system in support of the Cooperative’s Strategic Initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical, Computer, or IT Engineering field. Directly related experience may substitute for education.
Five years of directly related work experience in utility-scale SCADA, EMS, or ADMS administration.
Valid driver’s license.
Knowledge of electrical process control strategies and systems.
Knowledge of Power Grid Apparatuses: Substation Equipment, Distribution Protective Equipment, RTUs, HMIs, and associated Communication Gear.
Knowledge of Engineering Standards: Substation Relaying Schemes, IEEE Nomenclature, Electric Utility Construction Standards.
Knowledge of Regulatory Frameworks: Compliance standards for NERC, and ERCOT.
Knowledge of and working experience with computer hardware/software configurations, database design concepts, application development, EMS systems (AMI, OMS, GIS), and systems testing.
Knowledge of business and management principles including strategic planning, resource allocation, leadership techniques and budgeting.
Skilled in anticipating, identifying, and analyzing and resolving conflict and problems.
Skilled in cross-function coordination between vendors, IT networks, and field operations for system upgrades.
Ability to perform objective analyses and re-engineering of business processes to maximize quality service and cost-effectiveness.
Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing.
Ability to communicate clear performance expectations and alignment metrics across teams.

Responsibilities

Support 24/7 real-time control system integrity to ensure the highest operational reliability and system availability.
Oversee the daily operation, health monitoring, and preventative maintenance of the enterprise SCADA/EMS platform.
Implement and maintain SCADA features to support advanced Distribution Automation (DA) systems, infrastructure components, and topology maps.
Execute system programming, database administration, graphical one-line display design, point checkouts, and related control logic design.
Build, edit, verify, and maintain data points, alarm parameters, and relational databases within the SCADA network of servers and databases.
Design, build, edit, verify, and maintain dynamic SCADA/EMS network one-line graphical user displays for grid operators.
Perform data maintenance, archiving, and advanced retrieval routines utilizing the operational historian and SCADA systems.
Improve SCADA system performance, scalability, and efficiency by leveraging progressive operational technologies.
Monitor system states and perform advanced power calculations as applied to modern SCADA and energy management platforms.
Install, test, and commission SCADA, EMS, and critical operational hardware infrastructure.
Install, test, configure, and troubleshoot the SCADA related Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN) across the utility distribution network.
Familiar with multiple complex technologies, and software applications into a cohesive OT ecosystems.
Maintain robust and continuous data links with remote terminal units (RTUs), IEDs, and down-line distribution automation devices.
Troubleshoot and maintain communication mediums (radio, cellular, fiber) between the SCADA host, substations, and intelligent line devices.
Identify, investigate, and resolve performance anomalies to ensure high availability and optimal system metrics.
Securely create, reset, delete, and maintain SCADA user accounts and permissions.
Administer, patch, and monitor isolated, secure SCADA networks to ensure safe, controlled data transfer between corporate IT and operational control domains.
Enforce system hardening standards on all SCADA servers, workstations, switches, and firewalls by disabling unnecessary ports, protocols, services, and default credentials.
Execute continuous vulnerability management, active threat monitoring, and centralized security log analysis to identify and mitigate malicious network behavior.
Control and restrict remote access vectors to the control network using multi-factor authentication (MFA) and strict role-based access rules to align with NERC CIP requirements.
Respond immediately to emergency situations and participate in scheduled after-hours call-out rotations for SCADA/EMS issues.
Respond to SCADA system operational failures, anomalies, or performance degradations and recommend decisive corrective actions.
Perform and validate manual or automated SCADA/EMS host failovers to redundant backup systems when operational needs dictate.
Develop, test, and document system provisions for continuous control room operations during disaster recovery or emergency scenarios.
Execute regular, automated backups and validation routines for the SCADA/EMS system and all associated peripheral databases.
Develop, configure, and maintain the utility Load Shed program and associated emergency curtailment schemes.
Assist grid operators directly with active load shed activities and system recovery steps during power grid emergencies and 4CP VVR tools.
Assist control room operators with day-to-day SCADA operations, advanced troubleshooting, and specialized grid switching procedures.
Communicate and coordinate actively with external vendors, consulting engineers, and internal technical teams.
Analyze and validate real-time data streams to ensure absolute system telemetry integrity and accuracy.
Continually monitor for environmental, network, or hardware conditions that could negatively impact grid control reliability.
Conduct, document, and actively participate in mandatory safety meetings and comply with all utility safety standards.
Maintain the security of confidential information.
Stay abreast of advances in technology.
Demonstrate regular and prompt attendance.
Performs other related duties as necessary or assigned.
Provide senior technical guidance and system oversight to operators and technicians.
Mentor and train junior team members on SCADA, DA, and OT cybersecurity practices.