Manager, Distributed Energy Resources Operations

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Position Summary

Duke Energy is building a smarter energy future, and this position will be key to making that happen.

The Manager of DER Operations is a manager within PGO's Distribution Control Center (DCC) with a focus on providing leadership and accountability of the work of the Distributed Energy Operations Center (DGOC) team. The DGOC supports all distribution-tied distributed energy resources (DERs), including Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), solar, and microgrid facilities. The DGOC team monitors, operates, and troubleshoots potential issues or alarms of DER facilities. DER facilities are located throughout the Duke Energy regions.

The Manager of DER Operations is accountable for DGOC work processes and procedures and has operational responsibility, including site generation, site operational scheduling, generation reporting, regulatory and environmental compliance, and day-to-day operation of the Distributed Generation Operations Center (DGOC). The Manager of DER Operations supports environmental, health, and safety objectives and compliance, as well as being responsible for emergency response, when needed, of DER facilities. This may include afterhours work.

The Manager of DER Operations works closely with the Distributed Energy Operations and Maintenance (DEOM) group, who has maintenance responsibility and provides engineering support for DER facilities. The position also supports the DEOM Operations model and plays a critical role in ensuring compliance and work activities are completed in accordance with DEOM's strategic vision. The Manager of DER Operations works with DEOM's Manager of Distributed Energy Maintenance to ensure that barriers to efficient work practices are identified and addressed.

This position has direct reports and provides leadership and direction to the team and is responsible for selecting, supervising, evaluating performance, and developing organizational talent. The position manages communications across several internal departments in addition to external stakeholders and is responsible for developing and implementing business plans, budgets, and training initiatives to meet Company and business goals.

Responsibilities

• Provides leadership and direction to the DGOC staff to ensure accomplishment of overall site performance goals and objectives.
• Provides leadership and direction in the development/implementation of best practices, routines, work process improvements, and operational procedures.
• Ensures regulatory, internal, and external reporting requirements are met.
• Reviews performance and budget data for improvement opportunities or noticeable deviations for correction.
• Develops and maintains positive working relationships between departments and internal customers.
• Communicates and supports the commitment to the DEOM Operating Model.
• Supports Company and business goals.

• Motivates direct reports by clearly defining responsibilities, providing training and development opportunities, and by providing a positive atmosphere for individual and team growth. Practice techniques, behaviors, and interpersonal skills necessary to obtain support and accomplish defined goals.
• Counsels, trains, evaluates, develops, guides, and assists assigned personnel relative to job performance and duties.
• Develops and maintains internal training modules for the DGOC team, DCC personnel, and Line Ops personnel for DER sites.

• Serves as a member of the on-call emergency response team (which includes after-hours operations, when needed).
• Acts as a liaison with business, political leaders, organizations, and other external stakeholders of the DER sites and emergency operations.

• Represents the team to various other units to encourage collaboration and works on special assignments and projects. Evaluates requests for information, reports, additional services, etc. consistent with the vision of the section and makes decisions based on resource availability and priority of existing work.

Required/Basic Qualifications

• Bachelors degree or a four (4) year technical degree
• In addition to bachelor's degree, eight (8) years minimum of related work experience

Additional Preferred Qualifications

• Previous maintenance experience
• Electric Utility project experience
• Field experience
• Testing/Commissioning experience
• Financial acumen
• Working knowledge of the overall operating fundamentals and principles of DER systems, equipment, and processes
• Negotiation, evaluation/decision making, problem solving and presentation skills
• Previous experience managing small group of engineers or technical resources
• Strong interpersonal and analytical skills and the ability to work collaboratively across organizations
• Strong understanding of operational and maintenance activities associated with DERs
• Strong financial knowledge and skills including ability to manage budgets and schedules

Working Conditions

• Performs work in an office environment; required to observe work in all areas of Distributed Energy facilities which are operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, which includes exposure to heat, cold, noise, dust, and humidity.
• May be required to climb ladders and stairs at various heights; enter vessels or equipment with limited access; walk, stoop, bend, or squat.
• Must be able to read, comprehend, inspect, calculate, count, retain and make sound decisions.
• There is potential exposure to high stress situations and requirement to be available for emergency response as required by the needs of service.

Specific Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Technical 4-year degree and eight (8) years minimum of related work experience
• Experience in Renewable Energy, Power Generation, and/or Energy Storage systems
• Strong expertise in procedure writing and emergency action plan development

Travel Requirements

5-15%