Jobs and Careers

Senior Distribution Operations Engineer

Sacramento Municipal Utility District

Sacramento, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 20 Jul 2026

💰 $206,606/yr($156,000/yr – $206,606/yr)

About the role

Minimum Pay Rate: $156,000.00

Maximum Pay Rate: $206,606.40

Apply by Date: 08/03/2026

Posting Type: Open

The intent of this job posting is to fill one (1) regular, full-time position and establish an eligibility list that may be used to fill permanent or limited-term vacancies for the next two (2) years.

SMUD is currently looking to fill one regular, full-time position in Distribution Operations Engineering at the Senior Distribution Operations Engineer level. Under the supervision of the Supervising Principal Distribution Operations Engineer, this position will provide real-time engineering support for the safe and reliable operation of SMUD’s distribution system. The ideal candidate will work in a fast-paced and dynamic environment where they will also be responsible for the troubleshooting, testing and maintenance of the Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), the Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) and other operational tools. SMUD’s ideal candidate for this position is a forward-thinking leader who has an extensive background in assessing the status SMUD’s distribution system and can utilize advanced tools to help resolve adverse grid conditions to ensure that the system is operating in its optimal state. The selected candidate will provide engineering support for system outages or emergencies during normal and after hours (including on-call support). They will also perform detailed analysis of power quality data and recommend solutions to improve customer experience by resolving the customer’s issues. The candidate will also review customer generation interconnection proposals to evaluate their operational impacts to the distribution system and evaluate system impacts from distributed energy resources like PV, energy storage, electric vehicles and demand response. The candidate will also support, configure and maintain real-time communication links to SMUD’s Energy Management System (EMS) and maintain communication with Remote Terminal Units (RTUs). The candidate will also support commissioning of new substation, generation and distribution automation devices while ensuring stable communications with the Distribution Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (D-SCADA). The ideal candidate will also be expected to act as a lead in all these areas and be able to train less experienced engineers to become proficient in these tasks.

Purpose

Provides real-time engineering support for the operation of the distribution system including troubleshooting, testing and maintenance of the Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), the Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) and other operational tools.

Nature and Scope

Serves as a subject matter expert and a lead; works on one's own on projects of high complexity; exercises one's own judgment and discretion; guides, trains, motivates, develops and evaluates the work of the junior personnel.

Duties and Responsibilities

Ensures that staff are trained and capable of meeting SMUD’s performance expectations; assists in developing the required employee competencies by assessing employee skills and training needs, evaluating, selecting, and modifying training programs, developing and presenting technical training, arranging for and coordinating training conducted by others, facilitating the exchange of expertise and knowledge within the work group and with other work groups, and providing coaching and mentoring as needed.
Utilizes distribution system modeling and analysis tools to determine optimum system configuration to maximize substation and circuit utilization. Obtains and analyzes system performance data to improve reliability, reduce losses and optimize the grid.
Provides engineering support for system outages or emergencies during normal and after hours (includes an on-call rotation).
Provide expert engineering guidance and oversight for power quality investigations. Perform detailed analysis of power quality data and recommend solution to improve customer experience and resolve complex power quality related problems.
Leads review of customer generation interconnection proposals and evaluates operational impacts to the distribution system. Evaluates system impacts from Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) such as customer sited PV, energy storage, electric vehicles, and demand response, under various deployment scenarios. Develops functional and technical requirements of DERs for grid management and optimization.
Provides engineering and technical expertise to lead the support, troubleshooting, testing, and maintenance of ADMS and DERMS and advanced applications such as Fault Locations Is