Career Opportunity

Electrical Engineer Distribution Engineering – Power Enterprise – SFPUC (5241) (155779)

Recruitment: RTF0155778-01152422

Published: May 06, 2025

Apply using SmartRecruiters, the City and County of San Francisco's application portal.

About:

• Application Opening: 5/6/2025
• Application Filing Deadline: 5/23/2025
• Recruitment ID:  RTF0155778-01152422

APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary Exempt: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. The duration of the appointment shall not exceed 36 months.

WHO ARE WE?
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC)
Headquartered in San Francisco, we have 2,300 employees operating across eight counties serving more than 2.7 million customers in the San Francisco Bay Area – 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Our Mission: To provide our customers with high quality, efficient, and reliable water, power, and wastewater services in a manner that values environmental and community interests and sustains the resources entrusted to our care.

Our Vision: We are an innovative utility leader, recognized for excellent results in service, safety, stewardship, and inclusiveness.

We are an award-winning and industry-leading utilities organization committed to our customers, community interests, and the environment. To learn more about our organization, please visit our website at https://www.sfpuc.gov.

We are proud of our infrastructure and programs, but most importantly, we value our highly qualified and dedicated workforce which ensures that this vision becomes a reality.

To learn more about working at the SFPUC, visit our career site at https://www.sfpuc.gov/about-us/careers-sfpuc

Division description:

The SFPUC's Power Enterprise Division is responsible for providing clean, renewable electricity to San Francisco residents and businesses. It operates through two main programs: Hetch Hetchy Power, a publicly owned utility, and CleanPowerSF, a Community Choice Aggregation program, says the SFPUC. The Power Enterprise also manages San Francisco's street and pedestrian lighting

Role description

Under general direction, the 5241 Electrical Engineer works in the Distribution Engineering group and performs engineering tasks and assignments related to electric service interconnections.

The group is focused on providing good customer service and resolving technical and contractual issues to meet customer needs.

The Grid planning engineer will play a crucial role in the design, analysis, and optimization of SFPUC’s owned electric utility grids.

This role requires expertise in power analysis, capital improvement planning /construction, as well as the ability to create system coordination studies and arc flash reports.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in electrical engineering, with a focus on electric utilities and system coordination.

Project name: Grid Planning and Analysis 

Essential Functions:

• Create and maintain SFPUC’s electric system models

• Perform engineering analysis of requested interconnections to SFPUC’s infrastructure

• Provide good customer service. Be able to clearly communicate SFPUC’s grid requirements with internal and external stakeholders.

• Keep a record and track interconnection agreements (solar, grid, etc.)

• Perform power quality investigations. Conduct site assessments. Perform Field Inspections

• Prepare analysis, planning and engineering design documents, cost estimates, and construction drawings for customer interconnection to the City-owned electric distribution system

• Assure compliance with good utility practices and applicable codes and standards

• Provide technical assistance, operational guidance, and engineering support for the maintenance of existing City-owned and operated transmission and distribution systems and facilities;

• Other duties as assigned.

Working Relationships:

The position will not be supervising people initially, but the plan is that once the workload increases, the position will assist with supervising the following job classes 5207, 5203, 5201.

The position will also work with other Power Enterprise divisions as needed.

Nature of the work:

The grid connections engineer play a crucial role in integrating new interconnection projects (whether distributed energy resource or loads) to SFPUC’s owned and operated electrical system.

It includes tasks such as

1. Grid Feasibility Studies
   1. Analyze whether the grid can accommodate a new connection (generation or load).
   2. Evaluate voltage levels, fault currents, and capacity constraints.
2. Interconnection Design
   1. Design and review the interface between the customer’s installation and the grid (e.g., substations, transformers, protection systems).
   2. Specify equipment and ensure it meets technical standards and safety codes.
3. Regulatory Compliance
   1. Ensure connection proposals comply with national grid codes, utility requirements, and safety regulations.
4. System Planning
   1. Periodically review the aggregate load on the system and plan system improvements

How to qualify

Experience and Training Guidelines

Five (5) years verifiable professional electrical engineering work experience, which includes two (2) years experience equivalent to the 5207 Associate Engineer level or higher;

AND

Possession of a Certificate of Registration as a Professional Engineer in the State of California in electrical Engineering.

Desirable Qualifications:

1. Working knowledge of
   • Power system analysis (load flow, fault level, stability)
   • Grid codes and interconnection standards (e.g., IEC, IEEE, PG&E)
   • Protection systems, SCADA, and automation
2. Proficient in Power system simulation tools
   • Systems Analysis Inc (SKM Power*Tools for Windows), Electrical Transient Analysis Program (ETAP), etc
3. Experience in renewable interconnections

The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection.

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications. 

Verification of Education and Experience:

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications. 

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications. Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

What else should I know?

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@careers.sf.gov that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and updated. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@careers.sf.gov that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Job Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the job analyst, Rocio Mendoza at rmendoza@sfwater.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.