Electrical Engineer II

Silicon Ranch is a fully integrated provider of customized renewable energy, carbon, and battery storage solutions for a diverse set of partners across North America.

We are known for putting community partnerships first, and are the only renewable energy company in the U.S. that owns and operates all of its solar ranches and has a 100% track record for successful delivery.

• We have the largest utility scale agrivoltaics portfolio in the country under Regenerative Energy®, our nationally recognized holistic approach to project design, construction, and land management. Our model incorporates regenerative ranching and other regenerative land management practices to restore livelihoods and soil health, biodiversity, and water quality.

Through our subsidiary, Clearloop, we are able to help businesses of all sizes reclaim their carbon footprint with a direct investment in building new solar projects while also helping bring renewable energy and economic development to distressed communities.

By joining Silicon Ranch, you will be joining a team of experienced and dedicated individuals who have proven time and again that it is indeed possible to not only “make solar do more”, but to make the promise of carbon-free, renewable energy that benefits people right where it comes from a tangible, measurable, and replicable reality.

Silicon Ranch is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace that is reflective of the communities in which we work and serve. We are an equal opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.

Job Description

Position: Electrical Engineer II

Location: Remote

Overview: As the Electrical Engineer II you will oversee and manage all electrical aspects of our utility-scale solar energy projects. Responsible for managing a growing team of engineers in support of project execution, construction and operations and maintenance. Responsible to work with the Vice-President of Engineering and Asset management/O&M to develop design standards, and process flows for the electrical engineering department to deliver high-quality, cost-efficient designs in support of our power plants.

Main Responsibilities

• Leadership role in continuous improvement opportunities to drive down cost and improve efficiency in the EPC functions.
• Will be responsible for driving positive culture and strategic vision to prepare the engineering organization for significant growth in work.
• Continuous drive for innovation to decrease capital and life-cycle costs through inclusion of material costs, field labor and cost of O&M activities will be a critical, ongoing responsibility.
• Provide leadership for cross function collaboration and provides influence from initial design through to project close out.
• RFP support services, including proposal design reviews.
• Participate in major equipment selection and technical vetting.
• Help manage relationships with outside consultants to integrate into the available capacity of the team.
• Forecast and develop staffing, assess needs, and communicate resource requirements to management. Work closely with the Manager, Project Engineering and VP of Engineering to understand priorities and assignments to project teams.
• Mentor engineers to produce high quality engineering deliverables.
• Guides employee improvement, and disciplines employees, recommending development procedures, methods and policies as needed.
• Provides leadership and day-to-day supervision of the electrical engineering teams. Will be responsible for fostering an atmosphere within the groups that is conducive to teamwork and career development.
• Review and advise on complex engineering, design, analysis or other technical tasks within the electrical discipline utilizing current technology, available standards, calculation software, templates and cataloged products.
• Provide technical direction to engineers and contractors in the execution of PV design scope on medium and large sized PV projects.
• Review electrical system specifications and drawings to ensure compliance with applicable codes and contracts.
• Ability to perform standard electrical systems analysis using SKM or equivalent electrical analysis software including short circuit, load flow, protective device coordination, and arc flash.
• Ability to read and understand plans, specifications, drawings, and documents related to engineering and construction, including but not limited to one-line diagrams, three-line diagrams and wiring diagrams.
• Create technical specifications for PV plant electrical equipment.
• Provide PVSyst training for the electrical team to support energy models.
• Energy production and performance modeling for PV and PV+BESS systems.
• Assessment of model accuracy including meteorological assessment and P-50/P-90 analysis Engineering Support.
• Maintain electrical design and engineering standards.
• Ensures engineering standards meet project execution and O&M requirements.
• Minimizes project design schedule delays by expediting critical paths and preemptively removing issues that delay project execution.
• Work with consultants for design/construction. Ensure final documentation is accurate and complete.
• Continuous drive for innovation to decrease capital and life-cycle costs through inclusion of material costs and field labor will be a critical, ongoing responsibility.
• Interface with the project management and operations teams leading up to and through project commercial operations.
• Support technical design reviews for Solar Plants and Substations including reviews of drawings, calculations, and reports.
• Conduct site visits to support project execution teams.
• Coordinate with internal Contract and Procurement teams as well as Project Execution teams.
• Identify and execute value engineering opportunities. Take supporting ownership of company engineering specifications.

Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Professional Engineering License required.

Experience:

• 15 years minimum of engineering/management experience, with associated expertise in electrical, power/substation/utility interconnect and related disciplines.
• Experience in AC and DC system engineering and design for Large Scale Photovoltaic Power Generation.
• Experience in High Voltage/Substations a plus.
• Proficiency in MS Office suite, AutoCAD, Power System Modeling Software, databases and other discipline-related design programs. Knowledge of MS Project desirable.
• Experience and skills relating to Electrical Systems Analysis including Short Circuit, Load Flow, Protective Devise Coordination, Harmonic Analysis, and Arc Flash. Knowledge of SKM/ETAP Software is preferred.
• Experience in PVSyst reports, solar plant DC array design, dc voltage drop, fuse sizing and cable sizing calculations.
• Must have experience in reviewing 30/60/90/IFC design phases, responding to RFI’s and submittals.
• Prior experience in developing and reviewing technical specifications and design for power plants, including selection of power equipment.

Technical:

• Successful candidate shall be proficient in MS Office Suite, BlueBeam, Procore and PVSyst. Experience in ETAP or equivalent analysis tools is a plus.

A typical interview process at Silicon Ranch might include the below stages. Please note that we may make changes to these steps as needed, and details will be provided to you early on in the process.

1. Introductory Interview with our recruiter
2. Hiring Manager Interview to dive into technical skills and behavioral questions
3. Panel Interview to assess cross-functional skills and dive deeper into technical skills
4. Executive Interview to answer high-level questions about SRC and the team