RELAY ENGINEER

JOB OPENING

CITY OF FARMINGTON

JOB POSITION #21 - RELAY ENGINEER

NUMBER OF VACANCIES: 1

DEPARTMENT: Electric Utility / Engineering

WORK LOCATION: MOC

HIRING RANGE: $83,652 - $146,068 / Annual

PAY GRADE: Q / R - Exempt

TYPE OF POSITION: Regular / Full-Time

DAYS WORKED: Monday - Friday

HOURS WORKED: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

APPLICATIONS WILL BE RECEIVED UNTIL: Until Filled

JOB DUTIES

The City of Farmington reserves the right to hire at either the Engineer or Senior Engineer level, depending on experience and qualifications.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Follows established safety protocols and policies as set forth by the Utility and as required for the job at hand. Must embrace and work with a "safety first" mentality. Attendance at certain safety training will be mandatory.

Perform administrative and field supervisory work necessary to coordinate and supervise the development, installation, and maintenance of existing and new construction of the Electric Department's SCADA, communications, and relay and control equipment.

Work under the general supervision of the Electric Engineering Manager,

Assist the relay technicians in the installation and maintenance of substation equipment.

Develop relay testing plans, offer technical assistance, and review the completed test reports.

Identify needed capital improvements and develop projects to correct those needs related to system protection, SCADA, and communications. Manage those projects through the budgeting, planning, procurement, installation, and commissioning phases.

Provide reports on the status of project milestones. Coordinate schedules with system capabilities and resource availability.

Responsible for maintaining and reporting NERC/WECC Compliance requirements appropriate to system protection, acting as the subject matter expert.

Review contingency plans to restore service under emergency conditions.

Collect and verify engineering data from substations and other specific locations for relay operations.

Create reports from relay, SCADA, or metering data as needed.

Assist in updating and revising contingency plans for the electric utility.

Run fault studies for the transmission system and recommend necessary equipment upgrades. Provide fault current quotes on the transmission system as required.

Develop protective relay settings using software such as ASPEN Oneliner and SynchroGrid SARA, document settings using software such as PTC Mathcad, and enter relay settings using software such as SEL AcSELerator and GE MICOM S1 Agile.

Review relay settings developed by co-workers, consultants, and neighboring utilities for coordination and proper operation.

Create oneline, 3-line, AC, DC, and network wiring diagrams for protective relays in substations, switching stations, and generation stations.

Design communication schemes for high-speed relay tripping.

Coordinate relays with distribution reclosers, sectionalizers, and fuses on the distribution system.

Analyze relay oscillography and sequence of event records to evaluate relay operation and system model validity.

Review proposed switching procedures to avoid unintentional protective relay operation and to maintain system protection and worker safety.

Participate in root cause analysis processes.

Design and modify existing energized control and relay circuits with technique and precision to avoid outages or damaged equipment.

Offer technical assistance in restoring service to the Electric System following protective equipment operation, failure, or malfunction.

Assist in coordinating the maintenance of protective equipment with system needs, neighboring power utilities, and power producing customers.

Perform other duties as assigned by Electrical Engineering staff, including calculations and designs for distribution system substations, system protection, transmission, and capital improvements.

NON-ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Occasional travel is required to attend manufacturer's schools.

Assist in diagnosing malfunctioning relay equipment.

Inspect wiring on protective relay panels and substation electrical equipment.

Inspect and, on rare occasions, may assist with installing cables for relaying, SCADA, and controls in conduits, cable trays, and troughs.

Substation and transmission design work

May serve on various employee committees as required and assigned.

The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position.

QUALIFICATIONS

This position is subject to the City of Farmington's Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy, which includes pre-employment testing, post-accident testing, random testing, reasonable suspicion testing, return-to-duty testing, and follow-up testing.

Senior Relay Engineer: Graduate from an accredited university with a minimum of a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. Senior engineer position shall require registration as a professional engineer in the state of New Mexico or registration with another state with reciprocity with the State of New Mexico and a minimum of five years previous experience within an electrical utility working with relays, SCADA, and/or substation controls, or similar setting. Additional years of experience may be considered instead of professional registration.

Familiarity with NERC/WECC Compliance requirements is required for the Senior position.

Relay Engineer: Graduate from an accredited university with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. Three years of experience working with relays, SCADA and/or substation controls, or similar settings in an electrical utility.

Some experience with relays, SCADA, controls, and/or communication garnered from other industries may be used as a substitute for electric utility experience.

A minimum of two years of experience is required in using electrical schematic diagrams, manufacturer's instruction books, contractor-submitted plans and drawings, and control wiring diagrams, where relays and remote terminal units (RTUs) are applied.

Knowledge of electrical protective devices and SCADA is required.

Knowledge of coordinating protection on breakers, reclosers, sectionalizers, and fuses.

Knowledge of using fuse curves with computer programs such as ASPEN Oneliner.

Familiar with relay testing methods and equipment.

Must possess and maintain a valid New Mexico driver's license.

Must demonstrate ability to communicate with others through oral and written media.

Must possess the ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with co-workers, supervisors, contractors, customers, other outside entities, and the public.

Must be willing to drive to remote uncrewed locations over unimproved roads and work alone around high-voltage equipment.

Willingness to accept assignments in all phases of Electric Utility operation to develop a well-rounded background.

Extensive Background Check Required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that an employee must meet to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to walk and will occasionally be required to walk over rough, undeveloped, heavy brush and rocky ground.

The employee is frequently required to stand, use hands to finger, handle, feel, or operate objects, tools, or controls, and reach with hands and arms. The employee is also frequently required to sit, talk, or hear and occasionally stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. The employee will be viewing a computer screen for several hours at a time.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those encountered by an employee while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

Work is performed inside/outside in all types of weather conditions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee occasionally works in outside weather conditions and is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions.

The noise level in the work environment is moderate while in the field and quiet in the office.

Salary : $83,652 - $146,068