Technical Leader Details

Technical Leader

Electric Power Research Institute - Knoxville, TN

Employment Type : Full-Time

Job Title:Technical Leader Location:Knoxville, TN Job Summary and Description: Leads research efforts in particular scientific disciplines or technologies and participates the development and application of products and services in those areas through contractors and departmental or cross-functional teams. Applies technical expertise, and has full knowledge of other related disciplines. Develops technical solutions to complex problems which require the regular use of ingenuity and creativity. Organizes the external and interdepartmental activities ensuring completion of the project/product on schedule and within budget. May conduct research directly in complex, high impact technical or scientific fields.

• Ability to apply technical knowledge to industry issues and gain input on needs from members/stakeholders and identify current and emerging technical issues.
• Develops research or services opportunities of value to EPRI members that fit EPRI’s mission and capabilities. This will include solving customer problems, producing insights and information vital to the members, and delivering information in a manner that members and customers can and will apply.
• May provide oversight of a project team to assure technical and financial milestones are met.
• Provides assistance to the EPRI sales staff in Member Services and EPRI International.
• Broaden technical expertise and interface with national and international technical networks with manufacturers, consultants, and academia and research organizations.
• Communicates strategies and results, written and verbal, to program members, potential members and external stakeholders through guidelines, reports, meetings, webcasts, workshops and conferences.
• Manages small or medium (less complex) projects including budgets and resources

Education: Bachelor’s Degree in a technical field or equivalent experience required. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• 5 -7 or more years of research and development project and promotional experience, including development of advanced concepts for internal research or equivalent experience.
• Shows technical expertise and assumes responsibility for highly specialized technical objectives using creative imaginative solutions.
• Experience in performing and/or managing research activities.
• Incumbents must be able to exercise judgment, diligence, and attention to detail and demonstrate an aptitude for carrying out responsible technical assignments.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Manages projects and may work in conjunction with a technical specialist.
• Developing technical depth in 1-2 areas
• Understand how work fits across EPRI programs
• Typically individual contributor, may begin handling supervisory activities for lower level positions.

Additional Job Information: The Position:
Technical resource to the grid operations, planning, and bulk system variable generation integration and system studies groups with excellent research and analytical skills, as well as communication and interpersonal skills, and willing and able to take guidance from senior staff. The position will also have an increasing responsibility for contributing to development of research plans and proposals, managing research projects, and communicating research results to members and external industry.
Performs advanced engineering/scientific analysis with minimal direction and supervision. Beginning to demonstrate creativity and ingenuity in providing technical solutions. Works directly with EPRI staff and high interaction with members and industry. Job Functions:
This position will provide technical expertise and analytical services for existing and new transmission, distribution, and grid operations simulation and modeling studies and research projects, including power system dynamic model development, validation, and simulation, variable generation integration, Distributed Energy Resources (DER) modeling for bulk system studies, risk-based system planning methods and tools, advanced power flow and contingency analysis methods, transmission protection, synchrophasor-based system assessment applications, and other operational system assessment functions. This position will take direction from senior staff to conduct grid operation and planning R&D project tasks and to complete modeling and simulation based power system studies.

• Supplies technical advice and counsel to other professionals within EPRI.
• Publish and present technical papers in areas of expertise.
• Communicate routinely with EPRI technical staff and may prepare and give presentations at customer advisory meetings.
• Conducts technical searches and analyzes information in support of the project team.
• Assists Project/Program managers in assessing customer needs, formulating technical approaches, preparing proposals, technical publications/papers, and making presentations.
• Reviews progress and evaluates results. Makes changes in methods, design or equipment where necessary.
• Works under general supervision, and follows established procedure. Work is reviewed for soundness of technical judgment, overall adequacy, and accuracy.

The Ideal Candidate:
This position prefers at least a MS in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis on power systems. This position requires excellent verbal and written communication skills. The candidate should have experience conducting power systems analytical studies and research with an emphasis on power system modeling and simulation. The candidate’s experience should include general system transient stability, voltage stability, steady-state analysis, assessments of wind and solar PV on system voltage and frequency performance, and utilization of distributed resources to support transmission voltage and frequency performance. The candidate must have experience with power flow and transient stability tools specifically such as DIgSILENT PowerFactory, GE PSLF® or Siemens-PTI PSS/E®, Python, MATLAB, and PSCAD. Experience with other power system simulation platforms is definitely a plus. Education Level and Years of Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a technical field or equivalent experience required with a MS Degree in Engineering or Sciences preferred
• Minimum of 2 years of related engineering experience or comparable work/educational experience required.
• Individuals with advanced degrees may qualify with fewer years of work experience.
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Required some supervision and guidance to recognize strategic issues and build collaborative projects
• Responsible for the success of individual projects
• Works closely with contractors or staff to complete project research
• May participate in multiple projects
• Individual contributor
• May present research results to advisors or technical staff/members
• Starting to develop technical depth in 1-2 areas

EPRI participates in E-Verify, an online system operated jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration (SSA). EPRI uses the system to check the work status of new hires by comparing information from the employee's I-9 form against SSA and Department of Homeland Security databases.Note: To ensure compliance with U.S. export controls, please indicate your U.S. citizenship or (for foreign citizens) your U.S. visa/immigration status in your resume or cover letter.EPRI is an equal opportunity employer. EEO/AA/M/F/VETS/DisabledTogether . . . Shaping the Future of Energy.www.epri.com