Power Systems Operations Advisor

Summary

This position is part of the WAPA-RMR-Rocky Mountain Region. As a Power Systems Operations Advisor, you will serve as a senior technical and policy advisor to the Rocky Mountain Region's (RMR) Power Systems Operations Manager. You will deliver expert guidance and addresses complex policy considerations across power systems operations, reliability contracting, transmission system design, balancing area operations, and transmission rate recovery methodologies

Duties

As a Power Systems Operations Advisor, you will: Design, develop, and coordinate the relevant policy guidance and implements the associated programs for the operation and real-time sale of transmission. Lead and coordinate region-wide efforts to formulate and implement strategies related to power systems operations in response to regulatory and legislative changes created by either state or federal administrative, executive, and/or legislative actions. Serve as a Senior operations expert and negotiator for all Reliability-related contracts involving the sale or purchase of ancillary services; reliability; interconnections, and settlements. Coordinate financial and operational issues related to the operation, performance and maintenance of power systems, the transmission system, as well as balancing area operations with regional customers and electric utility industry stakeholders. Serve as a project manager for special and continuing projects, Forms teams and groups to develop organizational policies and procedures to comply with regulatory and utility industry changes. Provide leadership in meeting customer needs and in establishing regional policies and procedures in collaboration with other managers, represents the organization on committees and in meetings of the WECC, Bureau of Reclamation, customer groups, and other organizations. Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National. This employer participates in the e-Verify program. Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service. Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation. May be required to successfully complete a probationary/trial period. Employees serving on a probationary or trial period may be terminated at any time during the probationary or trial period for performance, conduct, or business-related reasons in the interest of Federal service. Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications. In accordance with Executive Order 14170, applicants are encouraged to respond to the four short, free-response, essay questions in the questionnaire. Answers to these questions are not scored or rated. Your answers will be reviewed by the hiring manager and agency leadership if you are referred for selection consideration. You may be required to complete a financial disclosure (OGE-450). Security clearance and associated requirements- High Risk . Employee may be required to work other than normal duty hours, to include evenings, weekends and/or holidays. Total salary varies depending on location of position. Qualifications

In order to be qualified for this position, you must meet the basic requirement AND minimum qualification requirements for the grade level(s) in which you apply. BASIC REQUIREMENT: You must meet one of the following: Degree: A bachelor's or higher degree in behavioral or social science, or a related discipline appropriate to the position. OR Education and Experience: Combination: Courses equivalent to a major (typically 24 semester hours) in behavioral or social sciences, plus appropriate experience or additional coursework that gives you knowledge equivalent to a full 4-year degree OR Experience Only: Four years of appropriate experience demonstrating a knowledge of behavioral or social sciences equivalent to what is learned through a major in that field. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0400/general-natural-resources-management-and-biological-sciences-series-0401/ SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: A qualified candidate's online application and resume must demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-13) in the Federal service. Specialized experience for this position is defined as: Experience formulating and implementing regional power system operation policies, transmissions strategies in response to regulatory, federal, or state legislative changes. Experience negotiating, executing, and administering complex contracts for power reliability, interconnections, transmission settlements, and customer-funded projects and collaborating with various stakeholders to resolve issues. Experience serving as a project manager leading cross-functional teams of technical experts; has established project charters, budgets and performance plans. Time-in-Grade: Current career or career-conditional GS employees of the Federal government, or former career or career-conditional GS employees, who have a break in service of less than one year, are required to meet the time-in-grade restriction of one year of Federal experience at the next lower grade, with few exceptions outlined in 5 CFR 300.603(b). Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to current career or career-conditional federal employees applying for a Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. "Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills; and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Limit your resume to no more than two (2) pages. If more than two pages are submitted, only the first two pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility and qualifications.

Education

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements: Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Foreign education must be reviewed by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For special instructions pertaining to foreign education and a list of organizations that can evaluate foreign education, see the Department of Education website. DO NOT email or mail in any of your application documents. Documents will not be accepted outside of the online application system. Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating. How You Will Be Evaluated

The Department of Energy uses an application tracking system to evaluate the scores provided from the USA Hire Assessment to place you into an initial quality category via OPM's rating procedures. These categories are "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified." Minimum Qualifications: Once the application process is complete, the Human Resources Offices or Subject Matter Expert (SME) will review the first two pages of your resume and supporting documentation to determine whether you meet the minimum job qualifications. If your resume is incomplete or does not support the responses you provided in your online questionnaire, or if you fail to submit all required documentation before the vacancy closes, you may be rated 'ineligible', 'not qualified', or your score may be adjusted accordingly. Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics): Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Influencing/Negotiating Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork All qualified Non-competitive applicants and the best qualified Merit Promotion applicants will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. Career Transition Assistance Programs: To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet the eligibility criteria; and 2) be rated "well-qualified". You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (09/17/2026) of this announcement. USAHire: To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and application questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Reasonable Accommodation Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended, that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a reasonable accommodation in your online application. Requests for Reasonable Accommodations for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for Reasonable Accommodation must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for Reasonable Accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a Reasonable Accommodation, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments here. To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13059432. Other Information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional similar vacancies across DOE. For general information on government-wide Telework polices visit: www.telework.gov. Applicants may request Reasonable Accommodation (RA) when applying or competing for a job due to a medical condition or to exercise religious beliefs. If you need reasonable accommodation in the application or selection process, please contact the Agency Contact listed on this vacancy announcement. Promotion Potential: This position is at the full performance level. Upon reporting, and annually thereafter, the selectee may be required to file one or more financial statements and/or a procurement integrity certification. These certifications may be subject to public disclosure. The selectee for this position may be eligible to receive a relocation incentive. You will need to sign an employment agreement to be eligible for this incentive. Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs are not authorized. Salary: The salary range indicated in this announcement will be adjusted to include locality payment for selected duty location. General Schedule locality pay tables may be found under Salaries & Wages.