Systems Engineer I

Essential Utilities, Inc. delivers safe, clean, reliable services that improve quality of life for individuals, families, and entire communities.

Operating as the Aqua (water and wastewater services) and the Peoples and Delta (natural gas) brands, Essential serves approximately 5.5 million people across 10 states. We are committed to sustainable growth, operational excellence, a superior customer experience, and premier employer status - including a competitive and comprehensive benefits package as well as a commitment to career growth opportunities.

We are advocates for the communities we serve and are dedicated stewards of natural lands, protecting more than 7,600 acres of forests and other habitats throughout our footprint.

Our company is one of the most significant publicly traded water, wastewater service and natural gas providers in the U.S.

Primary responsibility is to provide planning, implementation and support for SCADA, Gas Measurement, Low Pressure Monitoring, and compressor station systems and infrastructure.  Analyze business, operational, and user requirements to perform functional configuration and maintenance tasks according to those needs.

Duties:

• Design, implement, and manage the SCADA systems for a gas utility, including software, operator consoles, and communications equipment.
• Provide planning, implementation and support for IT infrastructure including servers, storage, operating systems, databases, networks; including security, system patches, upgrades, configuration changes and the maintenance of production and test configurations.
• Support field personnel for installation, testing, troubleshooting, and repair of field devices as well as update SCADA databases and displays to keep systems synchronized with changes made in the field
• Develop, test and implement application screen changes using a Visual Studio interface and Visual Basic backend.  This will include modifying existing code, as well as creating new.
• Support and manage device configurations and interfaces to/from the SCADA system and the Gas Measurement systems.
• Develop, test and implement reports utilizing existing reporting tools to provide necessary data to the business.
• Provide technical support on a 24 hour; 7-day basis. Debug and resolve problems; implement modifications to existing systems as required. (Shared)
• Manage and support SCADA projects.  Interface with the IT and Engineering department on to obtain project design and data flow information.
• Manage and support pipeline data as it traverses through three applications, from field to customer.  Understand the data flows from device layer through all of the business layers.
• Create and maintain comprehensive documentation as it relates to applications, databases, servers, storage and network topology.  Provide required documentation for operational handover from design and build phase of projects.
• Participate in disaster recovery planning, testing and execution of the disaster plan when warranted in a real time/life situation and by way of annual testing.
• Facilitate team environment via sharing of knowledge and information across organization.
• Develop and utilize departmental standards and procedures.

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent.  Demonstrated related experience may be substituted for preferred education.
• Minimum two years of experience working with Industrial Control Systems or Enterprise IT Systems.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• PowerShell and Python scripting experience
• SQL and Visual Basic programming experience preferred
• Proficiency with IT infrastructure including Windows server, Networking, Active Directory, DNS, Storage, Serial and TCP/IP communications.
• High attention to detail.
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Strong oral and written communication skills. Ability to research, develop and prepare documentation.
• Ability to take initiative and work independently on assignments.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team environment.

Working Conditions/Physical Demands:

• Perform sedentary work - exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, p