Summary

This position is located with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), in the Transmission Infrastructure Development Planning (TPPC) organization, Transmission Planning (TPP), System Planning (TP), Transmission Services (T).

Lead engineers planning the future of the Northwest power grid. You will guide technical studies and strategies to ensure our transmission system remains reliable and efficient for decades, strengthening the grid to meet the region's complex energy demands.

Duties

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Shape the Future of Energy: Lead a Premier Engineering Team at BPA

This position is supervisor of TPPC, Infrastructure Development Planning, responsible for Load Interconnection and project development. Major emphasis on the overall Line and Load Interconnection Request (LLIR) study product, including ensuring studies are executed with high quality and in a timely manner. Ensure product is well coordinated with other BPA departments, including customer service, account executives, and operations. Provide guidance to TPPC technical lead to ensure both high quality and continuous improvement of the LLIR study product and process. Major emphasis on overall project development includes ensuring high quality project requirement diagrams, as well as working with other BPA departments to ensure an efficient and effective project initiation process for expansion projects and applicable sustain projects. This position works across a matrix organization. Other groups in the matrix organization include TPPA, Transmission Reliability Planning, which focuses on NERC, WECC, and BPA planning standards requirements, TPPB, Transmission Services Planning, which focuses on commercial planning including BPA's Grid Access Transformation effort, and TPPD, Transmission Capabilities Planning, which focuses on Generator Interconnection.

As a Supervisory Electrical Engineer, you will be responsible for a range of high-impact duties, including:

• Strategic Vision and Long-Range Planning: Develop and implement the long-term strategic vision for the Pacific Northwest transmission grid, creating a comprehensive plan to meet regional energy obligations for the next decade and beyond, with particular focus on large load integration including data centers.
• Team Leadership and Mentorship: Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of highly skilled electrical engineers, fostering their professional growth while guiding them to achieve critical organizational goals and solve complex engineering problems.
• Innovation and Grid Modernization: Champion the integration of cutting-edge, non-wire solutions-including demand response, distributed energy resources, and energy conservation-to enhance grid efficiency and performance.
• Industry Leadership and Representation: Represent BPA as a subject matter expert in influential industry groups such as NERC, WECC, and EPRI, particularly in the highly dynamic and evolving area of large load integration.
• Advanced System Analysis: Direct sophisticated power system simulations and analytical studies to diagnose and resolve complex issues related to power flow, voltage stability, and transient stability on a large-scale power system.
• Regional Collaboration and Problem Solving: Act as a key partner with interconnected utilities and regional stakeholders to collaboratively develop innovative, cost-effective solutions for shared transmission challenges, strengthening the entire regional power network.
• Overall Line and Load Interconnection Request (LLIR) study product: Ensure studies are executed with high quality and in a timely manner; product is well coordinated with other BPA departments, including customer service, account executives, and operations; and provide guidance to TPPC technical lead to ensure both high quality and continuous improvement of the LLIR study product. The LLIR study product is an exciting role that has a major impact on economic development for the Pacific Northwest, including data center integration.
• Overall Project Requirement Diagram (PRD) product within TPP: Ensure PRDs are executed with a high quality and within a timely manner; PRD policies and methodology reflect best practices, and staff is well informed of these policies and methodology; and PRD product is well coordinated with other BPA departments. PRD products are the origin of all transmission expansions!

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answer to these questions is not scored or rated. Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration.

When you apply you will be asked a series of questions to determine your eligibility for employment and your qualification for this position specifically. You must answer all of these questions completely and truthfully.

Key Requirements:

• You must be a United States Citizen.
• This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
• Males must abide by Selective Service registration requirements.
• You will be required to report in person to the official duty location.

Conditions of Employment:

• Selectee will be required to complete the Office of Government Ethics Standard of Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OFGE450e) within 30 days of employment and annually.
• First time supervisors will be required to serve a 1 year probationary period.
• After employment, this position may be subject to periodic physical examinations, as prescribed by competent medical authority and at BPA expense, if exposed to health hazards.
• A preliminary background check must be completed before a new employee can begin work. Current Federal employees or other individuals with an existing completed background investigation may not be required to undergo another background check.

Qualifications

BASIC REQUIREMENT:

A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

-OR-

B. Combination of Education and Experience college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:

1. Professional Registration or Licensure Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. -OR-
2. Written Test Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. -OR-
3. Specified Academic Courses Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. -OR-
4. Related Curriculum Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.)

For more information on how to meet the Basic Requirements please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf

In addition to meeting the basic requirements, you must also meet the specialized experience requirements as listed below.

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:

A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-13) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as 1) serving as a senior engineer and technical specialist responsible for a variety of activities involved in transmission systems; AND 2) Provide guidance or direction to electrical engineers to ensure organizational compliance with reliability standards and regulatory tariffs; AND 3) applying expertise in advanced electrical engineering theories, principles, concepts, standards, and methods sufficient to serve as a senior engineer and technical specialist.

"Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills; and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Time-in-Grade: Current Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement to receive consideration.

CTAP/ICTAP candidates: To be considered "well qualified" you must meet all of the requirements as described in this section.

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Education

This vacancy has a positive education requirement. In order to be rated as qualified, you must provide copies of your college transcripts. Education must be obtained from an accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. See Department of Education Accreditation Search to verify school accreditation.

Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website.DO NOT email or mail in any of your application documents. Documents will not be accepted outside of the online application system.

Failure to provide copies of your college transcripts may result in a rating of "Ineligible".

Additional information

• The salary is based on a Special Rate Table, Number 0754: https://apps.opm.gov/SpecialRates/
• This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies across DOE

Hiring incentives may be authorized for a highly qualified candidate based on budget availability and in accordance with federal regulations.

BPA strives to ensure a safe and positive work environment.

We also understand the importance of work/life balance and offer a variety of programs and policies designed to create more flexible, responsive work environments supportive of commitments to community, home and family members. BPA also supports employees' overall wellness through its Be Well program, which helps employees adopt healthier lifestyles and feel better about their work/life balance. The program supports five key areas of life: career, community, financial, physical and social.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal gove