Engineering Technologist III, Utilities Systems

This role will serve as an operator with responsibility for monitoring distributed energy resources (DERs), evaluates alarms and grid conditions, prepares dispatch actions, and executes approved actions under the direction of authorized distribution operations personnel. Test charge and discharge controls, active and reactive power functions, operating-envelope compliance, ramp rates, limits, default behavior, loss-of-communications response, recovery, and fail-safe operation, as applicable.

Primary Talent Partners has a 12 month contract opening for an Engineering Technologist to join a national energy & utilities company for a hybrid position operating out of Charlotte NC, Raleigh NC, or St. Petersburg, FL. 

Pay: $38.00/hr - $43.00/hr
Contract: 12 months, extensions likely, conversion possible
Type: W-2, cannot support C2C or provide visa sponsorship,
Hybrid: 50% onsite in either Charlotte NC, Raleigh NC, or St. Petersburg, FL
Additional: Contract; no PTO, no Benefits. ACA-compliant supplemental package available for enrollment. 

Position Summary

The DERMS Engineering Technologist supports the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of the company's Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) for Behind-the-Meter and customer-sited assets. This role will serve as an operator with responsibility for monitoring distributed energy resources (DERs), evaluates alarms and grid conditions, prepares dispatch actions, and executes approved actions under the direction of authorized distribution operations personnel. The role also maintains DERMS operational readiness, operational procedures, data quality, system interfaces, and accurate records.

This role will also providing coordination and support for technical testing and onboarding of battery original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to the company's distribution system. The operator works with OEMs and internal engineering, cybersecurity, interconnection, and distribution operations teams to validate communications, telemetry, controls, and operational behavior. This person is responsible for recommending acceptance or rejection; final production authorization remains with company engineering, cybersecurity, and distribution operations.

Key Responsibilities

DERMS Operations and Monitoring

• Monitor DERMS dashboards, alarms, communications status, DER availability, telemetry quality, operating envelopes, and distribution-system constraints.
• Assess thermal, voltage, power-quality, and equipment-limit indications and escalate abnormal conditions in accordance with approved operating procedures.
• Prepare DER dispatch, curtailment, charge, discharge, or program actions for review and approval by authorized distribution operations personnel.
• Execute approved commands, confirm receipt and response, compare expected and actual performance, and document outcomes in the operating record.
• Support demand-response events, scheduled DER tests, and restoration to normal operating status while maintaining situational awareness
• Battery OEM Testing and Onboarding
• Coordinate test schedules, prerequisites, test data, access, and readiness reviews with battery OEMs and company stakeholders. Testing is expected to be performed remotely or from an assigned company facility.
• Execute approved laboratory, integration, interoperability, and operational acceptance test procedures for battery energy storage systems and associated gateways or aggregators.
• Validate device registration, identity, certificate use, connectivity, telemetry, time synchronization, alarms, availability, nameplate and capability data, and command acknowledgement.
• Test charge and discharge controls, active and reactive power functions, operating-envelope compliance, ramp rates, limits, default behavior, loss-of-communications response, recovery, and fail-safe operation, as applicable.
• Capture reproducible evidence from DERMS, OEM, gateway, and interface logs. Record defects, expected results, actual results, severity, ownership, and retest status.
• Troubleshoot failed tests with OEM and internal technical teams. Distinguish between device, communications, configuration, data-model, certificate, and DERMS issues and coordinate corrective actions.
• Prepare an onboarding recommendation and supporting evidence package for review. The operator does not independently approve production interconnection or operational authorization.

System Maintenance, Data, and Integration

• Perform approved routine DERMS administration, configuration checks, health checks, release validation, and post-maintenance verification.
• Monitor and reconcile DER inventory, grouping, program enrollment, grid-model associations, device capabilities, and customer or service-point mappings.
• Identify stale, missing, inconsistent, or implausible data and coordinate corrections with GIS, ADMS/DMS, SCADA, OMS, CIS, integration, and data-governance teams.
• Monitor interfaces, message queues, APIs, protocol gateways, historian feeds, and user-interface connections. Escalate or coordinate recovery when integrations fail.
• Support user acceptance testing, regression testing, operating-procedure updates, training exercises, and post-implementation reviews.
• Maintain shift logs, test records, onboarding evidence, incident records, configuration documentation, and lessons learned in accordance with recordkeeping requirements.

Cybersecurity, Safety, and Compliance

• Follow company cybersecurity, change-management, access-control, certificate-management, and critical-infrastructure protection requirements.
• Verify that control actions remain within approved authority, operating envelopes, interconnection requirements, and distribution-system safety limits.
• Protect operational and customer information and promptly report suspected certificate, account, device-identity, communications, or cybersecurity anomalies.
• Stop testing or operational activity and escalate when conditions are unsafe, results are unexplained, required approvals are missing, or system behavior departs from an approved procedure.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Either a graduate from a college or university with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology (or equivalent), or 4 to 6 years of experience and Associate Degree in Engineering Technology (or equivalent), or 10 to 15 years equivalent experience with no degree.
• Relevant experience in utility operations, DERMS, SCADA, ADMS/DMS, energy storage, power systems, industrial controls, systems integration, or a related technical environment.
• Foundational understanding of electric distribution systems, distributed energy resources, battery energy storage, telemetry, alarms, and supervised control-room practices.
• Ability to interpret procedures, one-line diagrams, interface specifications, test scripts, logs, and technical requirements.
• Ability to work a standard business-hours schedule.
• Strong written documentation, structured troubleshooting, communication, and cross-functional coordination skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience testing or commissioning battery energy storage systems, smart inverters, DER gateways, aggregators, or OEM cloud interfaces.
• Exposure to IEEE 2030.5/CSIP, IEEE 1547, public key infrastructure (PKI), DNP3, Modbus, OpenADR, APIs, DER telemetry, or ICCP, where applicable.
• Experience with alarm management, incident response, defect tracking, user acceptance testing, regression testing, and operational documentation.
• Relevant NERC, IEEE, ISA, cybersecurity, networking, SCADA, industrial-controls, or battery-storage credentials.

Primary Talent Partners is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity, or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

If you are a person with a disability needing assistance with the application or at any point in the hiring process, please contact us at info@primarytalentpartners.com

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