Substation Engineer

This is a multi-level posting. Candidates may be considered for any of the posted levels, depending on education, years of experience and depth of expertise.

Opportunities exist on MidAmerican Energy’s Substation Engineering team to develop expertise in substation physical design, protection and controls integration, renewable energy interconnections, high-voltage transmission systems and project and technical leadership. 

As part of our Substation Engineering team, you will design and deliver critical infrastructure supporting transmission, distribution, renewable energy integration, large industrial customers and emerging technologies including digital substations and 765-kV transmission systems.

The successful candidate will support a diverse portfolio of transmission and distribution substation projects associated with system reliability, load growth, renewable energy integration and emerging customer demands.

Position is located in Davenport, Iowa, or Des Moines, Iowa

No remote work is offered for this role

Key Competencies:

• Demonstrated technical leadership
• Effective written and verbal communication for liaising with contractors, consultants, other MEC and BHE departments and executives

• Demonstrates initiative and applies sound engineering judgment in complex or ambiguous situations

• Effective at problem solving and conflict resolution

• Effective risk assessment and mitigation capabilities

• Strong decision-making capability
• Possess strong organizational and time management skills
• Ability to anticipate roadblocks before they occur

• Ability to manage and adapt to changing priorities, requirements, project objectives and project goals 

• Ability to prioritize and execute multiple tasks concurrently as well as competing deadlines

This is a multi-level posting:

Advancement opportunities are available based on demonstrated technical expertise, leadership capability, performance and business needs

Qualifications 

Engineer I 

• Requires a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from an accredited institution

  • Entry-level position requiring minimal or no prior electric engineering experience

  • Successful completion of internships, co-op programs or related utility experience preferred

Engineer II 

• Requires one to three years of industry experience as a practicing electrical engineer

Senior Engineer

• Five years of industry experience as a practicing electrical engineer. Professional Engineer (PE) licensure preferred 
• Eight years of industry experience as a practicing electrical engineer and Professional Engineer (PE) licensure required; 

Senior Engineer II 

• Eight years of industry experience as a practicing electrical engineer and Professional Engineer (PE) licensure required; 

OR

• Ten years of relevant engineering experience in lieu of Professional Engineer (PE) licensure

  • Leads complex substation projects

  • Provides technical guidance to junior engineers

  • Performs engineering reviews of design packages

Principal Engineer 

• Twelve years of industry experience as a practicing electrical engineer, including experience performing highly technical work of specialized nature and Professional Engineer (PE) licensure required; 

OR

• Fifteen years of industry experience as a practicing electrical engineer, including experience performing highly technical work of specialized nature in lieu of Professional Engineer (PE) licensure

  • Develops engineering standards and best practices

  • Provides technical leadership across multiple business units

  • Supports strategic engineering initiatives

  • Complex problem solving

Employees must be able to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without an accommodation. 

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion or religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status (except as required by law), gender (including gender identity and expression), sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, genetic information, physical or mental disability, veteran or military status, familial or parental status, marital status or any other category protected by applicable local, state or U.S. federal law. 

Position descriptions are developed as guides for the employees of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. The management team of Berkshire Hathaway Energy reserves the right to modify job responsibilities and position requirements to meet the corporate business goals and needs.

Primary Responsibilities and Job Duties (Essential Job Function): (40%)

• Develop electrical substation physical, protection and control design packages

• Apply company and industry standards such as NESC, IEEE, ANSI, NEC (where applicable) for electrical substation design

• Develop and review electrical substation equipment specifications 

• Perform engineering calculations related to electrical substation design 

• Initiate electrical substation relay protection and control integration activities in coordination with the Protection Department

• Scope and review Contractor and Consultant engineering deliverables 

• Support commissioning and energization activities

• Projects include greenfield substations additions, brownfield expansions, breaker replacements, transformer additions and replacements, transmission interconnections, thermal and renewable generation interconnections, large customer load additions and grid modernization initiatives

Additional Responsibilities:

Provide engineering services and technical input for applicable phases of a project including: (20%)

• Project scoping and deliverables

• Project planning support

• Estimating

• Substation design using applicable engineering standards and specifications 

• Creation and modification of physical drawings, AC/DC schematics, wiring diagrams, communications diagrams, plan and profile drawings, etc.

• Materials and equipment specifications technical expertise, review and implementation

• Construction contracts creation and review

• Technical support prior to and during project construction 

• Substation operations guide creation, review and updating

• Project related continuous improvement opportunities and execution 

• Quality assurance review of applicable engineered drawing packages and technical documents

• Knowledge and understanding of human performance improvement techniques

Provide engineering assistance to other departments and perform any additional responsibilities as requested or assigned. (15%)

Provide technical input to assist with engineering studies and investigations along with preparing oral and written reports. (10%) 

Provide engineering assistance during critical equipment failures and emergencies. (10%)

Performs additional responsibilities as requested or assigned. (5%)

Travel is typically less than 10% and consists primarily of site visits, field inspections and project support activities