Summary:

The Project Specialist shall manage the requisite activities involving the establishment, operations, and oversight of new electricity accounts by leading interactions with electric utilities for the company. The responsibilities of this position shall include developing and maintaining contacts with utilities over the life cycle of the service including setting-up, coordinating, resolving issues and negotiating agreements, project scoping, rate schedule assessments, easement procurement and contracts review, among others.  This position requires adequate technical knowledge and experience to effectively collaborate with all effected parties on the integration of power service into capital projects.  The incumbent must be able to understand, navigate and communicate financial and regulatory circumstances to management and provide trouble-shooting skills as necessary. 

 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Prospective candidate should be able to:

Manage and coordinate utility service connections with all types of utility companies including account set-up, decommissioning, and orchestrating field activities and set-up schedules. Provide support to operating facilities during outages. Develop, grow, and maintain professional relationships with utility partners, internal customers, and other stakeholders. Demonstrate the capacity to lead and support energy infrastructure projects as needed. Evaluate financial impacts of rate schedules and determine best fit for the application. Ensure compliance and accuracy of account data necessary for the establishment of new service locations, review required data forms for accuracy and completeness. Review and critique project documents including service agreements, capital payments and financial surety. Become proficient with the in-house utility database, ETUC, for all utility services including electric, water, gas, and waste services. Understand the nuances of regulated and competitive power markets and the regulatory environment to which each utility must adhere. Develop a high-level understanding of power designs and practices. Effectively communicate utility outages, construction repairs, project statuses, and general information to engaged personnel. Analyze utility bills for accuracy. Develop basic proficiency in dataPARC/PARCView. Assist with departmental trainings. Comprehend the business implications of service schedules and devise alternative solutions as appropriate. Perform other duties as assigned. Ability to travel for internal/external meetings, as needed.

Required experience is commensurate with the selected job level:

This level requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 3-plus years of relevant job-related experience. Senior Project Specialist level requires a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience and 5-8 years of demonstrated relevant job-related experience.

Requirements:
Education and/or Experience, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. The requirements for this position are listed below:

Bachelor’s degree in in a quantitative field of study such as business, accounting, finance, or STEM fields of study. Experience working with electrical cooperatives, municipalities, regulated or unregulated electric utilities and the unique attributes and constraints of each. Exposure to basic accounting, treasury functions, and information system. Ability to develop data templates in spreadsheets and databases. Ability to code in visual basic or other common languages a plus. Proficient in using MS Office Applications more particularly, Excel, MS Word, Outlook. Must be comfortable presenting subject matter to audiences of 10 or more persons. Travel is about 20%, candidate must be willing and able to travel by air or on extended road trips. 

Working Conditions:
The work environment characteristics described herein are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Usually, normal in-office working conditions and schedule.  Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time due to prolonged periods of sitting or standing.  Occasional overnight travel may be required.  Occasional visits to industrial/manufacturing settings, which may include exposure to various materials and chemicals, extreme ambient conditions, and loud machinery.  Appropriate personal protective equipment may be required. As the position will require engaging senior executives periodically, the Project Specialist must be comfortable comporting to highly professional circumstances appropriately representing the company.