Electronics Engineer

Principal Engineer

Power the future of the Pacific Northwest grid as BPA's lead telecommunications authority.

As a vital contributor to Bonneville Power Administration's mission of delivering reliable, clean, and affordable power across the Pacific Northwest, your expertise keeps our region moving forward. Take the next step in your professional journey and elevate your impact across our agency.

This principal engineer role offers an extraordinary career advancement opportunity. In this high-visibility position, you will serve as the premier technical authority driving the strategy, design, and execution of the sophisticated communications networks that monitor and control our high-voltage transmission grid.

Leverage your deep familiarity with our grid infrastructure and agency values to lead high-impact capital projects, champion modern technologies, and mentor the next generation of technical talent.

Key Responsibilities & Highlights

• Drive enterprise technical strategy: Serve as the primary technical authority on critical telecommunications architecture, establishing long-range technology roadmaps and enterprise-level requirements that ensure power grid security, resilience, and operational excellence.
• Lead flagship capital initiatives: Direct complex engineering scoping, design, and execution for major, high-visibility modernization projects-such as control center upgrades, next-generation communications rollouts, and large-scale equipment replacements.
• Champion emerging technologies & R&D: Evaluate and pioneer the integration of state-of-the-art technologies-including advanced fiber optics, high-speed packet networks, radio frequency/microwave systems, and smart grid communications-into existing utility infrastructure.
• Represent the agency in key partnerships: Serve as the primary technical liaison in collaborative initiatives with regional power utilities, federal agencies, and leading equipment manufacturers to solve complex, grid-wide communication challenges.
• Shape standards and governance: Formulate technical policies, design standards, and construction guidelines across the agency, providing authoritative counsel to executive leadership and technical governance boards on critical program decisions.
• Master cross-functional integration: Partner closely with internal engineering groups, field operations, system planners, and external vendors to streamline project delivery from initial concept and prototyping through final field commissioning.
• Spearhead mentorship & talent development: Lead internal technical training and professional development programs, coaching junior and senior engineers to elevate team capabilities and strengthen engineering best practices.
• Mitigate risk & upgrade system reliability: Perform technical feasibility studies and delivery risk assessments for legacy-to-modern network migrations, ensuring full compliance with national utility reliability standards and cybersecurity regulations.