Superintendent South Dakota Power Generation
About The Position
The Superintendent, South Dakota Power Generation directs all operation and maintenance activities and capital upgrades for NorthWestern Energy’s wholly owned generation assets in South Dakota, including future additions. The role ensures plants comply with applicable safety, environmental, regulatory, and power-generation requirements and have the manpower, tools, equipment, consumables, and spare parts needed for safe and efficient operation. The Superintendent leads plant operations and personnel, manages budgets and projects, oversees outages and maintenance, and supports long-range and strategic planning. The position also handles regulatory and stakeholder communications, including testimony and rate-case support; manages fuel and other contracts; and assists with integrating South Dakota generation assets into the Southwest Power Pool ISO-RTO. The role is based in Aberdeen, South Dakota, with travel of up to 25% to other plant locations and company meetings. Extended working hours, including weekends and holidays, may be required, and the Superintendent is expected to be available as needed.
Requirements
- High school degree or equivalent.
- Bachelor’s degree or 8–10 years of equivalent experience, including 5 years of plant experience.
- Demonstrated good safety record.
- Valid driver’s license and satisfactory driving record.
- Strong oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to testify and meet challenging deadlines.
- Demonstrated leadership and motivational skills with supervisory, technical, and administrative personnel.
- Ability to meet the physical requirements, including regular sitting and standing, some stair and ladder climbing, and working at heights; some work may be outdoors in extreme weather and involve travel to remote plant locations.
- Ability to work extended hours and, as required by schedules, workload, and plant conditions, weekends and holidays.
Nice To Haves
- 10 years of power generation experience.
- At least 5 years of experience supervising technical, professional, and administrative personnel.
- Get Into Energy - Energy Industry Fundamental 2.0 certification.
Responsibilities
- Lead South Dakota generation operations and maintenance to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable operation of wholly owned thermal and wind assets.
- Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, FERC/NERC, permitting, and company requirements and procedures.
- Manage employee engagement, productivity, training, qualification programs, and personnel certification status.
- Develop and monitor capital and expense budgets and control expenditures.
- Lead special projects and apply change- and project-management practices.
- Provide long-range planning for South Dakota generation assets, including development of new concepts.
- Manage planned and unplanned plant outages to minimize impacts on capacity requirements and coordinate outages with Market Operations.
- Manage natural gas and liquid fuel supply contracts.
- Review maintenance schedules and practices and conduct periodic reviews of plant policies and procedures.
- Oversee environmental and compliance reports and ensure personnel comply with environmental permits and applicable NERC standards.
- Direct sourcing, screening, and hiring of personnel as needed.
- Engage in strategic planning, develop aligned department goals, and communicate expectations to employees.
- Communicate with internal and external stakeholders, including executives, board members, regulators, and federal and state agency personnel, through written and oral communications and testimony.
- Support development of long-term service agreements and assess machinery suppliers and repair companies for value.
- Assist with implementation and integration of South Dakota generation assets into the Southwest Power Pool ISO-RTO.
- Represent NorthWestern Energy on operating committees for South Dakota power purchase providers.
- Negotiate and develop contracts that meet company objectives for safety, environmental compliance, operations, maintenance, and cost effectiveness.
- Assist with development of generation facilities and energy supply tracker and rate-case filings; prepare testimony, respond to inquiries and data requests, and testify in rate-case proceedings.
- Follow company safety standards, including requirements for personal protective equipment, and the Code of Business Conduct & Ethics.
- Maintain regular, reliable, and punctual attendance and be available to address problems and other issues as needed.
Benefits
- 401(k) with company match up to 4% and non-elective contribution up to 7%.
- Healthcare and wellbeing programs, including dental and vision coverage for employees, spouses, and dependents.
- Health Savings Account (HSA) and healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSA).
- Employee Assistance Programs, including up to six free counseling sessions per person, per issue, per year for employees, spouses, and dependents.
- Company-paid basic employee life insurance, with spouse and dependent insurance also available.
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Scheduled performance-based wage increases and annual incentive opportunities.
- Paid company-endorsed volunteer opportunities.
- Paid parental leave.
- Paid bereavement leave.
- Paid training opportunities.
- Paid time off starting on the first day and 11 paid holidays.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
High school or GED
