Team Lead, ROCC

AES•Salt Lake City, UT

10d•Onsite

About The Position

AES Clean Energy is seeking a Team Leader for the Remote Operating Control Center (ROCC) to provide primary leadership support to the 24/7 ROCC team in Salt Lake City, UT. This role involves monitoring a large renewable power portfolio, primarily in RTOs in the Western Interconnect, especially CAISO. The AES Clean Energy portfolio includes 6,000 MW of Wind, Solar, Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), and Solar + Battery systems. Reporting to the ROCC Manager, the position's goal is to ensure safe operations, superior customer service, regulatory and environmental compliance, high productivity and reliability, and industry-leading efficiency. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in renewable assets, remote operation centers or control room operations, a proven track record of supervisory skills, and the ability to develop high-performing teams. This position is based at AES’ Salt Lake City Control Center.

Requirements

Demonstrated leadership and training abilities with a team of operators, ensuring the safe and compliant management of generation assets.
Deep understanding utility-scale PV, wind, and battery storage operations including during times of emergency conditions.
Familiarity with electrical substation safety protocol, equipment, and operations.
Ability to interpret procedures, instructions, and schematic wiring/single-line diagrams.
Experience working in/with multiple ISOs or RTOs and experience communicating with Balancing Authorities, Transmission Operators, Reliability Coordinators, and/or Scheduling Entities.
Knowledge and understanding of cybersecurity principles and policies.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.
Experience with developing, writing or editing operational procedures.
Knowledge of NERC standards and relation to operations (VAR, COM, EOP, PER, PRC, TOP) and capable of developing procedures that adhere to NERC standards.
Experience managing a 24/7 shift rotation to ensure continuous 24/7 coverage.
Ability to work as part of a shift rotation as needed.
Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially Word, Excel, Teams, Project.
Demonstrated proficiency in data analysis and conducting root cause investigations.
Capable of performing ad hoc data analysis to support real-time operations and data requests.
B.S in engineering or related discipline preferred or equivalent military (i.e. Navy Nuclear) and/or industry experience.
Minimum of 4-5 years of experience working in control room/power plant operations, preferably for renewable energy assets. This combination of experience can come from working for a utility scale generator operator, utility, market participant, distribution provider, manufacturing, or military service.
At least three years of experience in utility scale power production or energy management is preferable.
3+ years of experience working with SCADA systems. This includes, but is not limited to wind turbine OEM SCADA systems, solar SCADA systems, substation SCADA systems, and SCADA data aggregation/historian platforms.
At least [3+] years of experience holding a leadership role managing at least 3 direct reports preferably in the power industry is preferred.

Responsibilities

Oversee an industry-leading AES CE Operations team, driving toward excellence and innovation.
Lead a team of 10-12 people (expected growth to 15+) including Control Room Operators, Lead Operators, Trainers, Outage Coordinators, and Team Leads.
Cultivate a strict culture of compliance while overseeing the implementation of applicable NERC reliability standards with Compliance support.
Act as the main driving force for continuous improvement initiatives, ensuring their success and on-time delivery/execution.
Oversee the DG ROCC Operators and AES’ Distributed Generation portfolio.
Lead ROCC day-to-day operations, providing direction, resources, clear communications, and establishing priorities across all shifts.
Manage time-off requests for ROCC staff and ensure 24/7 coverage of the operations desk.
Serve as a control operator as needed to assure adequate shift coverage.
Provide hands-on training for Operators and ensure they are progressing through their training and understanding Operator levels.
Review/approve time and submit to payroll a minimum of every two weeks.
Assume accountability of team performance and drive transparent metrics.
Coordinate for, or provide coverage, for all vacant shifts.
Create, maintain, and enforce work policies and standard operating procedures associated with day-to-day operations of our facilities.
Responsible for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and assisting in the new hire selection process.
Execute all maintenance and upgrades to the physical ROCC facility.
Ensure all monitors, computer equipment, telecommunications equipment, and voice communications are optimized for ROCC Operator use.
Provide recommendations to the ROCC Manager for upgrades and improvements to ROCC equipment.
Manage the ROCC server and server room.
Ensure secure communications to all site networks and company systems.
Assign Operator “side-work” in support of operational needs.
Audit logbook entries for consistency and accuracy and audit phone calls for proper use of task execution, general communication and use of 3-way communications.
Ensure compliance with using all human error prevention techniques (procedure use, peer check, 3-part comms, etc.) are utilized in real-time operations performance and provide coaching as needed.
Ensure compliance with NERC standards for VAR, COM, EOP, PER, PRC, TOP during real-time operations.
Conduct periodic reviews of alarm monitoring practices and ensure timely responses to critical alarms.
Oversee the design, preparation, revision, and maintenance of all ROCC policies and procedures.
Serve as the primary approver for all ROCC-developed test procedures, outage procedures, and any newly developed specialized procedures utilized for real-time operations.
Offer assistance to the Operator on Shift through phone, email, or alternative communication channels during night shifts and weekends as needed.
Coordinate, assist, lead or conduct site testing including: MOD testing, capacity testing, D-Curve testing, ICOT, BESS capacity testing and any other required testing.
Ensure thorough understanding and compliance with NERC requirements, power purchase agreements, interconnection agreements, and other relevant contractual obligations and regulations.
Train ROCC team on various policies, new/updated standards, new/updated procedures and updates to monitoring and reporting tools & systems.
Coordinate updates, and approvals with the SCADA vendors for all SCADA related updates, improvements, and customizations.
Serve as the SCADA account administrator: Create, modify, and manage SCADA access for all ROCC users as required.
Ensure proper Management of Change process is being utilized for any modifications to controls, SCADA HMI’s, alarms, etc.
Provide leadership, assistance, and troubleshooting expertise for SCADA-related concerns, including the resolution of communication issues.