Supervisor Substation Work Management - Akron, OH

FirstEnergy•Akron, OH

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This full-time, on-site supervisor position with FirstEnergy Service Company is based in Akron, Ohio, and supports substation construction, maintenance, testing, commissioning, and protective relay operations within the Transmission Operations organization. The supervisor collaborates with the Manager, Work Management to establish and monitor organizational goals, policies, plans, forecasts, standards, performance objectives, operating and financial targets, budgets, and resource requirements. The role leads short- and long-range planning, scheduling, and work-readiness processes for substation and relay activities. It analyzes performance, removes execution barriers, and implements improvements to increase safety, productivity, schedule attainment, and equipment reliability. The supervisor leads planner/schedulers and oversees readiness coordinators and administrative support personnel, while coordinating with operations, relay, engineering, project management, system operations, contractors, customers, and other stakeholders. The position also supports employee development and performance management, including staffing, coaching, feedback, succession planning, and administration of human resource policies. It supports storm restoration and emergency response, and makes financial and business decisions that balance safety, reliability, compliance, schedule, and cost.

Requirements

An Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree and five years of related experience are preferred; alternatively, a high school diploma or equivalent and seven years of related experience are required.
Related experience may include substation construction or maintenance, protective relaying and controls, apparatus testing, commissioning, project management, or planning and scheduling complex utility work.
Demonstrated project management experience as both a team leader and team member; substation, relay, or transmission project experience is preferred.
Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives, implement change, and improve work management processes.
Ability to manage competing priorities, provide high-quality service to internal and external customers, and communicate effectively in writing and verbally.
Leadership capability to provide direction, coach sound decision-making, resolve execution barriers, and facilitate cross-functional meetings.
Highly driven, self-motivated, and committed to safe, reliable execution.
Strong analytical skills, including attention to safety, schedule, productivity, cost, compliance, and reliability metrics.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate with field personnel, relay technicians, engineers, system operators, contractors, and leadership.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and CASCADE.
Awareness of applicable NESC, NEC, OSHA, and company safety requirements, as well as relevant NERC, regional reliability, and protection-system compliance obligations.

Nice To Haves

Prior leadership experience.
Knowledge of applicable work management, GIS, outage, scheduling, document-control, and enterprise asset-management systems.
Familiarity with substation construction methods, maintenance practices, testing, relay settings implementation, commissioning, energization, and outage coordination.

Responsibilities

Lead planner/schedulers responsible for forecasting, planning, and scheduling substation construction, maintenance, testing, commissioning, and protective relay work.
Supervise daily activities of planner/schedulers, readiness coordinators, and administrative support personnel, promoting consistent processes and continuous improvement.
Prioritize substation and relay projects and maintenance work according to safety, reliability, equipment condition, regulatory commitments, outage requirements, and available resources.
Maintain a firm two-week work plan and one-month projection, including outage, switching, resource, and contingency requirements.
Direct long-range planning to optimize labor, contractor support, materials, test equipment, outage windows, and completion of high-priority work.
Partner with Substation Operations, Relay, Engineering, Project Management, System Operations, and other stakeholders to support safe and reliable execution.
Ensure work packages satisfy planning, design, constructability, testing, pre-job readiness, clearance, and scheduling requirements before field execution.
Develop scheduling strategies coordinating crews, relay technicians, contractors, outages, switching, and commissioning activities.
Lead continuous improvement using Work Management MDT systems, performance metrics, lessons learned, and standardized work practices.
Coordinate work requests and project interfaces with customers, contractors, engineering groups, operations personnel, and internal organizations, including after-hours contacts when appropriate.
Oversee requests for outages, switching, clearances, equipment access, utility locates, traffic control, permits, and operational approvals.
Ensure availability of major equipment, relay and control panels, materials, test sets, special tools, drawings, settings, procedures, and permits; expedite critical items as needed.
Support storm restoration and emergency response, including substation damage assessment, relay support, material coordination, and resource deployment.
Demonstrate and direct commitment to safety, Leading with Safety principles, Human Performance tools, and safe work practices.
Make sound financial and business decisions balancing safety, reliability, compliance, schedule, and cost.
Encourage open, direct, and ongoing communication across operations and corporate support groups; communicate organizational initiatives and updates to the team.
Champion employee self-development and lend expertise to internal teams or task forces when needed.
Support company views and policies and provide strategic direction to customers and employees.
Plan and facilitate team meetings.
Develop the team’s technical, safety, work management, and leadership capabilities.
Coach employees on corporate and regional goals and drive achievement through performance and safety.
Maintain appropriate staffing levels and update staffing plans as operating conditions change.
Communicate company and team goals, involve the team in goal development, encourage innovation, and delegate responsibility effectively.
Prepare short- and long-range development plans addressing changing technologies, relay systems, testing practices, compliance requirements, and workforce needs.
Prepare succession plans, identify promotional paths, and integrate employee professional goals into development plans.
Provide routine performance feedback, recognize accomplishments, coach for improvement, and conduct regular check-in conversations.
Administer human resource policies and regulations fairly and equitably.