Plant Electrical Engineer (Entry, Staff, or Senior)

Are you looking for an exciting job where you can put your skills and talents to work at a company you can feel proud to be a part of? Do you want a workplace that will challenge you and offer you opportunities to learn and grow?  A  position at Xcel Energy could be just what you’re looking for.

The job summary below and responsibilities reflect the entry engineer level role. The successfully chosen candidate will be placed at a level that is commensurate with their skills and experience as different skills and/or experience will be required at the staff and senior engineer levels.  

Xcel Energy has an exciting opportunity within its Energy Supply Power Generation team. Candidate will work with engineering staff to support the reliable and efficient operation of Xcel Energy’s generation assets.

As the site Plant Engineer with primary focus on mechanical system, duties would include technical support for equipment repairs, involvement in troubleshooting for operational issues, project management tasks for asset improvement and budgetary planning for the site. The candidate must demonstrate the unique technical skills and critical thinking required to support a complex operating environment. Candidate will work closely with departments within Xcel Energy such as Operations, Maintenance, Environmental and Projects to maintain safe and reliable operation of our Power Plants.

This position is located at Harrington Station in Amarillo, TX. The candidate must have the ability to reliably travel to this Power Plant as needed.

In this Role you will:

• Provide initial troubleshooting and problem solving to investigate, document and resolve operational issues and implement solutions.

• Provide engineering technical support for equipment repairs and coordinate offsite engineering services when required for complex problems.

• Quantify equipment risk and develop corrective action plans to mitigate risk

• Analyze equipment failure rates, failure causes and risk trends to prioritize maintenance and future investments

• Ensure implementation and optimization of equipment maintenance strategies for turbines, generators and auxiliary systems

• Support condition monitoring technologies (vibration analysis, thermography, oil analysis) for equipment.

• Identify project improvement opportunities to reduce failures and improve reliability. 

• Provide engineering support for capital projects, upgrades, and refurbishment of powerhouse equipment.

• Support Overhauls & Outages through planning, execution and close out stages

• Provide support for plant crews, including reviewing technical material specifications and ordering materials for plant projects

Position Summary
This is an entry level position designed to develop technical expertise in a particular area of specialty. Performs work that involves conventional types of plans, investigations, surveys, structures or equipment with relatively few complex features for which there are precedents. Activities are of limited scope requiring knowledge of principles and techniques commonly employed in the specific narrow area of assignments. May lead small-medium, non-critical projects and/or provide field oversight of critical projects under direction of higher level engineer or supervisor. Work is reviewed for soundness of technical judgment, overall adequacy and accuracy. As proficiency is gained, may work on portions of larger projects. Works under supervision and follows established procedures. May supervise or coordinate the work of interns, drafters, craft personnel, technicians and/or others.

Essential Responsibilities

• Uses and applies technical standards, principles, theories, concepts, and techniques to perform activities/assignments of limited scope.

• Supports the development of technical documentation (including but not limited to designs, testing, calculations, reports, standards, etc.) Utilizes and may assist with the development of procedures.

• Provides ongoing technical support for project activities within areas such as Operations, Maintenance, Testing/diagnostics, Regulatory, etc. May provide field engineering oversight for activities such as commissioning, testing, inspections etc. under direct supervision.

• Coordinates/leads projects or portions of projects (including phases such as research, design, equipment selection, procurement support, installation and commissioning), under the direction of a higher-level engineer or supervisor.

• Under the direction of a higher-level engineer/supervisor, supports bid/evaluation processes by performing basic analysis and calculations