JOB TITLE: Director Substation and Relay Construction & Maintenance
REQUISITION ID: TRA00TN
DEPARTMENT: Substation and Relay C&M – Topeka Operations Center – Open to Locations within Evergy Kansas Central
LOCATION: Topeka, KS
PAY RANGE: $121,000 – $161,300 (Min-Mid)
Scheduled Work Hours: Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (Other hours as required)
Summary of Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
Responsible for providing leadership and guidance in the execution of Substation and Relay Construction and Maintenance activities while maintaining the highest level of safety standards for employees and the public. Establishes and maintains good working relationships with employees and develops a highly engaged team. Develops leaders and creates sustainable talent. Directs and monitors preparation of related O&M and construction budgets, and expenses throughout the budget year. Duties include managing a team of Evergy substation and relay supervisors, engineers, specialists, and technicians. Duties also include managing activities such as construction, maintenance, and repair of all types of equipment associated with substation and relay equipment within Evergy Transmission, Distribution, and Generation substations. Responsibilities include:
• Ensuring the reliability of the substation and relay equipment through long-term planning, prudent oversight of the C&M programs and associated budgets.
• Actively provides leadership and guidance toward efforts to improve system reliability, NERC compliance, predictive maintenance, root cause analysis, Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) improvements, planning & scheduling, and sets high expectations for precision work and documentation.
• Forecasting and managing department maintenance and capital budgets ensuring the timely completion of targeted work.
• Effectively manages substation and relay personnel to manage workload and provides forecasting and reporting.
• Ensures thorough and documented safety and human and organizational performance investigations are completed timely with learnings shared with affected workgroups.
• Provides leadership, input, and feedback in the development of Evergy construction standards for substation equipment.
• Ensures all work activities are performed and documented consistently in accordance with Evergy work practices. Also ensures substation records and work orders are accurately processed and completely entered into the CMMS, Powerbase and RTS as required.
• Continue the integration of mature planning & scheduling concepts into substation construction and maintenance.
• Provide leadership and coaching to develop direct reports and other Evergy employees.
• Developing and maintaining process documentation for Evergy substation and relay and commissioning personnel.
• Ensuring fair administration of the labor agreement
• Ensuring the accurate and timely documentation and recordkeeping of equipment testing and maintenance efforts to achieve expected regulatory compliance.
• This position is ultimately responsible for oversight of the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee for Substation and Relay Apprenticeship programs.
• Ensuring timely response and coverage plans for after-hours emergencies related to substation equipment are implemented per department guidance to minimize customer outage durations.
• Becoming familiar with personnel, systems, and operations of the Evergy Substation and Relay C&M, Large T&S Construction, P&C Engineering, Generation, Operations Technology, and Distribution Construction departments.
Education and Experience Requirements: A degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, or the equivalent is preferred. Select candidates must demonstrate at least 8 years of related functional experience and at least 5 years of demonstrated leadership experience. Related functional experience includes knowledge of planning and scheduling, construction phasing and sequencing, commissioning of new equipment and specific knowledge of substation equipment, system protection and control equipment, and SCADA. Proven leadership experience in leading, coaching and mentoring teams through project deliverables, complex situations and demonstrating the ability to keep teams engaged while meeting performance expectations is critical.
Experience including at least two years in a supervisory role in a union work environment and proven leadership skills to strategically lead a larger work group across multiple locations is preferred.
Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities Required: The candidate must have strong interpersonal skills and a well-rounded knowledge in the theory of and experience with the operation of substation and protective relaying equipment. Must be able to make sound, clear, time sensitive decisions including recognition of flawed information as it is received. Verbal and written communications skills required for leading the workforce and communicating with senior management and be a team player. Must be a self-starter with excellent multi-tasking skills. Must be able to recognize and shift priorities to meet system and labor requirements. Must have excellent software skills and be willing to learn. Other requirements: • Knowledge of the electrical operating system as it applies to generation, transmission and distribution substation equipment and relaying. Eagerness and ability to learn operating procedures is required. • Knowledge of repair and maintenance of substation or industrial equipment such as transformers, circuit breakers, switches, fuses, capacitors, voltage regulators, etc. • Detailed knowledge of safe electrical work practices • Ability to maintain effective working relationships with other personnel including subordinates, peers, managers, vendors, contractors and other contacts • Ability to handle multiple priorities and work effectively in a highly demanding team atmosphere • Excellent organizational and time/priority management skills • Excellent interpersonal skills • Must possess the initiative and innovation to effectively implement new programs • Strong project management skillset • Transmission related competencies include knowledge of commissioning, testing and maintaining the following items: transformers with primary voltages from 345 kv through 34kv; transmission line relaying, breakers, coupling capacitors, and line relaying communication equipment. • Distribution related competencies include knowledge of commissioning, testing and maintaining relays, breakers, reclosers, and regulators. • Knowledge of the SCADA system and components, and responsibility for commissioning, testing maintaining RTU’s and their components • Knowledge of test equipment and procedures for testing the above-mentioned equipment. • Ability to identify and mitigate potentially hazardous working conditions.
Licenses, Certifications, Bonding, and/or Testing Required: None
Working Conditions: Position will require travel in the Evergy territory on a regular basis in the office and field environment. Must have a satisfactory work record including good attendance and safety record. Response to abnormal operations is required outside of normal hours.
Evergy has a clear mission – To empower a better future. Evergy chooses to live this mission by valuing People First. We know that to lead the responsible energy transition and provide affordable, reliable, and sustainable service to our customers and communities, we need a team with a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and skills. So, our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. We are committed to celebrating diversity and building a team where everyone – regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status – has a voice and can bring their best every day. We know that the more diverse and inclusive we are, the better we will be. Evergy is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.
Disclaimer: The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.