Director Distribution Planning And Operations

Under the direction of the Chief Operating Officer, has management responsibility of the Distribution Planning, Distribution System Operations, Distribution Operations Engineering, Transmission and Distribution Standards and Maintenance Planning, and Geographical Information System. Provides management leadership and technical expertise/oversight in the development of the following: SMUD's short- and long-term distribution system plans and asset strategy for a safe, reliable and cost-effective electric grid; compliance efforts and planning SMUD's distribution systems in a manner consistent with mandatory safety and reliability standards; leadership and technical expertise with real-time operations platforms including Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), and Outage Management System (OMS).

This position provides leadership for the development and management of the Distribution Planning and Operations Department. The incumbent must be a strong leader and visionary providing direction in strategic imperatives, operations, services, and enterprise-wide projects.

• Manages, organizes, oversees, and coordinates a united approach for the development of a comprehensive long-term and short-term distribution system plan that will safely and reliably maintain SMUD's electric system, and identify future improvements to meet load serving needs and regulatory requirements.
• Oversees all asset management planning activities and develops an asset strategy for SMUD's substation and distribution infrastructure to optimize asset life; develops a prioritized multi-year asset maintenance and replacement plan, and partners with internal departments for the safe and efficient execution of these plans.
• Promotes the safety of SMUD employees, contract staff, and customers through adherence to established SMUD policies and goals, and development of specific goals for the process segment, monitoring, and responding to safety concerns.
• Oversees generation, distributed generation, and other electric system interconnection studies to identify operational issues and cost-effective solutions; ensures management of coordination with all planning activities.
• Provides technical oversight in the assessment of existing reliability metrics and recommends future targets for SMUD's key system reliability metrics; oversees the development of strategies and projects to align system performance with reliability targets, including assessment of outages for cause, trends, duration, and frequency.
• Employs prudent utility practices and provides leadership to interpret, implement and comply with CPUC safety and reliability general orders, and with mandated FERC, NERC, Peak Reliability, and WECC Reliability Standards.
• Coordinates the active participation of the appropriate work units in the NERC, Peak Reliability, and WECC Reliability Standards Development Process.
• Develops and manages applicable work segment budgets, costs, contracts, and projects related to department and SMUD strategic directives and requirements.
• Anticipates and resolves multiple, diverse, and complex problems and challenges; evaluates and delivers effective decisions and solutions regarding system planning issues, often without entirely established or defined answers to critical criteria
• Supports and leads operation and restoration efforts during storms and emergencies.
• Performs other related duties as needed to include working outside of typical business hours when necessary.

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.

• At least seven (7+) years of progressively responsible relevant combined work experience in distribution planning, distribution operations, and maintenance of electric utility systems; at least five (5+) years of supervisory and/or managerial experience over professional engineering and represented personnel; and progressively increasing knowledge and experience in managing an O&M and Capital budget greater than $15M.

Fundamentals of electric utility distribution system capacity and reliability planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operations; practices related to managing the electric system to contractual agreements; fundamentals of load growth, peak demand forecasts, and system utilization; electrical equipment ratings and limitations; equipment maintenance concepts, practices and techniques; operating procedures, concepts and techniques; load flow and stability calculations; electrical theory; fundamentals of economic analysis; safety and construction practices, standards and applicable codes including CPUC General Orders 95, 128, 131D, 165, and 174; fundamentals of strategic/business planning; fundamentals and practices related to root cause analysis; current utility industry practices and policies; procedures for interacting with local, state and federal authorities, agencies and regulatory bodies; the Western United States transmission and generation system; fundamentals of effective management and leadership; fundamentals and practices of work process design, project development and planning, budget development, administration and forecasting, and contract management.

Oversee, plan, manage, and review the work of a multi-disciplinary professional technical and represented personnel in the performance of complex planning, engineering and operating assignments under significant time constraints; interpret and apply SMUD policies, procedures, applicable IBEW and OSE MOUs and/or other special agreements; apply relevant personnel laws, codes and regulations; initiate, maintain and oversee adherence to safety policies and procedures; interview, select, evaluate, coach, mentor, motivate, influence, challenge, and develop staff; identify training needs for staff; align expected outcomes and related processes with corporate strategy and enterprise planning and risk; ensure business segment processes are transparent, measurable and consistent with best practice for cost, quality and cycle time; effectively resolve customer concerns to a successful conclusion; establish and maintain effective working relationships internally/externally; effectively communicate highly technical information and recommendations to a variety of audiences and explain complex or controversial policies, regulations, procedures, and activities, both internally and externally and orally or in writing; compile and prepare technical, statistical and/or analytical reports and presentations; establish and manage an O&M and Capital budget; effectively oversee the development, planning and prioritization of projects, and negotiate with internal and external management on projects; provide technical evaluation and support in the reliable integration of intermittent resources into SMUD's distribution systems; respond quickly and effectively to changing priorities; proactively anticipate problems and apply innovative, creative and logical techniques in resolution.

• Professional Engineering License in Electrical Engineering with the State of California.
• Experience with Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), Outage Management System (OMS), Geographic Information System (GIS), and Load Study platforms.