Supervising Principal Distribution Operations Engineer

Minimum Pay Rate: $146,806.40 

Maximum Pay Rate: $194,438.40 

Civil Service Status: Civil Service 

Apply by Date: 11/04/2025 

Posting Type: Open 

This position is a supervisory position on the Distribution Operations Engineering team. The successful candidate will provide leadership, supervision, and accountability over real-time operations engineering staff and support the operations of SMUD's electric distribution system; ensure the safe, reliable and efficient operations of SMUD's distribution and sub-transmission assets; assists in the development, implementation and management of department goals, objectives, policies and priorities. Supervising Principal Engineer is responsible for training, motivating, evaluating and developing sub-ordinate personnel and ensuring that department strategic objectives and priorities are achieved and coordinated with other departments.

Purpose

Performs and leads specialized professional technical and analytical functions in analyzing the performance of an assigned distribution system area and identifying corrective actions needed to ensure that the distribution system is configured to meet SMUD’s short-, medium- and long-range needs in an efficient, cost-effective and safe manner and is in compliance with SMUD’s guidelines and applicable laws and regulations.

Nature and Scope

Serves as a technical or functional expert or consultant providing expertise and/or direction in one or more areas of a professional discipline and assumes responsibility for resolving complex problems and overseeing complex projects. May also serve in a Lead role and assist in planning, coordinating, prioritizing, monitoring, and evaluating the work results in assigned area and in selecting, training, motivating, evaluating, and developing lower-level personnel.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides leadership and participates in assigned tasks of a work unit in order to meet defined unit goals and schedules and comply with SMUD schedule, quality, quantity, safety, and performance standards; plans, coordinates, prioritizes, monitors, and guides work activities with work-unit employees to meet established task objectives and deadlines by following established policies and precedents; communicates with team members and incorporates their input to processes and techniques; provides staff training; promotes staff safety and a safe work environment; assists in selecting and orienting new personnel; assists in evaluating work performance results; participates as a team member in accomplishing objectives; refers problems to supervisory staff when solutions are not readily achievable.
• Ensures a safe, reliable, and economic power service to customers and to meet SMUD’s power needs; leads and performs complex distribution system planning and design including to monitor system planning and design; develops the philosophy, methodology, criteria, and standards for system analysis and design; develops, maintains, and revises related policies, rules, regulations, and programs; develops and oversees planning and analysis performance measures, work methods, procedures, and training programs.
• Ensures that SMUD’s distribution system is configured and operated to provide the maximum output and the maximum operating flexibility within contractual, emissions and other limits; conducts complex analyses of system performance and projected systems demands by forecasting electrical load growth, modeling and analyzing system impacts, identifying system deficiencies, recommending cost-effective corrective actions, performing work justification studies, producing annual work plans for capital and O&M expenditures, assisting in accident/incident investigations and reviews, evaluating new technologies, and reviewing safety trends to identify areas for improvement.
• Provides inter-utility and intra-utility coordination and ensures the implementation of SMUD’s strategic business objectives; ensures that SMUD is represented in technical discussions with city, county, state, and federal regulatory agencies and in professional organizations developing industry technical standards and guidelines for electrical safety and distribution system planning by providing high level expertise and guidance; investigates and provides conceptual service design and performance documentation for special facilities agreements with very large and critical customers; prepares and presents program and policy initiatives and change proposals to SMUD executives and the Board of Directors; specifies distribution system modeling requirements and procedures; develops service requirements for customers that may generate and/or operate in parallel with SMUD’s distribution service; reviews relevant SMUD programs, projects, reports,