Engineering & Operations Director, Electric

The Energy Cooperative, headquartered in Newark, Ohio, serves over 72,000 electric, natural gas and propane members throughout east-central Ohio. As a non-profit cooperative, we are member-owned and controlled by the members we serve. We are committed to serving our members safe, high quality energy services at a reasonable price. We believe in our employees and strive to provide fair, honest and equal treatment with a commitment to training, education, and opportunity for advancement in a safe and secure environment.

At The Energy Cooperative, we take pride in offering competitive benefits and want our employees to have what they need to be their best.

Here’s a glimpse of the programs we offer our employees:

- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

- Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance

- Supplemental Life Insurance Programs for Employee, Spouse and Children

- Disability Insurance

- Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

- Paid Time-Off (PTO)

- Paid Holidays

- Traditional 401(k) and Roth 401(k)

- Retirement Pension Plan

- Education Assistance

- Employee Assistance Program

We are currently looking to fill the position of Director of Engineering & Operations, Electricbased at ourUtica, OH Service Center. This exempt position is responsible for leading and managing the cooperative’s engineering, operations, and right-of-way functions. This role ensures safe, reliable, and efficient delivery of electric service to members, while aligning with the cooperative’s strategic goals and regulatory requirements. The Director cultivates a strong safety culture and serves as a key advisor to the COO on infrastructure, system performance, and capital planning.

# Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

- Leadership & Strategy

- Support and incorporate the Cooperative’s Mission, Vision and Values in professional behavior and decision-making.

- Comply with Cooperative policies, procedures, goals and objectives and meet attendance and punctuality guidelines.

- Develop and implement operational and engineering strategies aligned with long-term cooperative goals.

- Engineering Management

- Oversee system design, load forecasting, and long-range planning for distribution and transmission infrastructure.

- Ensure compliance with industry standards, safety codes, and environmental regulations.

- Manage engineering studies, system modeling, and integration of new technologies (e.g., DERs, AMI, SCADA, FLISR).

- Oversee and ensure that our metering and measurement systems are accurate and reliable for billing purposes.

- Oversee right-of-way acquisitions and easement procurements for new and upgraded facilities.

- Operations Management

- Direct daily operations including line construction, maintenance, outage response, and system reliability.

- Monitor system performance metrics and implement improvements to reduce SAIDI/SAIFI indices.

- Ensure workforce safety and compliance with OSHA, NESC, and cooperative safety policies.

- Analyze system performance and implement strategies to improve reliability, resilience, and operational efficiency.

- Right-of-Way (ROW) Management

- Oversee right-of-way maintenance and vegetation management programs.

- Ensure compliance with environmental regulations, landowner agreements, and utility easements.

- Coordinate with internal teams and external contractors to plan and execute ROW clearing, trimming, and restoration.

- Maintain positive relationships with property owners, and regulatory agencies.

- Support emergency response efforts by ensuring ROW accessibility during storm restoration and outages.

- Project & Asset Management

- Lead capital projects from concept through execution, including budgeting, scheduling, and contractor oversight.

- Manage asset lifecycle planning and preventive maintenance programs.

- Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

- Serve as a liaison with regulatory agencies, member communities, and internal departments.

- Communicate technical information in an accessible manner to support member service initiatives.

- Compliance & Financial Oversight

- Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

- Work with the COO to develop, submit, and refine annual capital and operating budgets.

- Ensure financial performance aligns with goals approved by the CEO and Board of Directors.

- Maintain strong relationships with Buckeye Power and AEP to ensure adequate electric supply and transmission delivery.

- Team Development & Safety Culture

- Understand and enforce cooperative safety and security procedure and report potentially unsafe conditions to department supervisor and/or safety department.

- Promote and enforce a strong culture in adherence to cooperative safety policies and OSHA standards.

- Lead, mentor, and develop high-performance team of managers, engineers, and technical staff.

- Fosters and promotes cross-functional collaboration across departments.

- Foster and promote a culture of accountability, innovation and continuous improvement.

- Reporting & On-Call Responsibilities

- Report regularly to the COO on key operational metrics, strategic initiatives, and budget performance.

- Participate in the division’s supervisor on-call rotation schedule, coordinating field crews during outages and emergencies.

- Perform other related work in addition to other duties as may be assigned.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills and/or abilities necessary. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

- Experience and Education: Bachelor’s degree is required (Master’s preferred). Education or experience in electrical engineering, business or another related field. Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in electric utility operations and engineering, with at least 5 years in a leadership role. Strong knowledge of electric distribution systems, reliability standards, utility regulations, and ROW management practices. Proficient computer skills.

- Certificates, Licenses, and Training: Licensed Professional Engineer (PE) preferred. Valid Ohio Driver’s License. Must have the ability to attend meetings and/or training seminars when requested. Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level of accomplishment and professionalism. Utilizes various resources to stay educated about the utility industry.

- Language and Interpersonal Skills: Excellent communication, analytical, and organizational skills. Is a good listener and actively engages in conversations to clearly understand others’ messages and intent. Is easy to approach and talk to and spends the extra effort to put others at ease.

- Other Skills and Abilities: Thorough understanding of Cooperative’s goals and objectives. Displays high standards of ethical conduct and is widely trusted and viewed as a direct and truthful person. Effectively deals with ambiguity. Remains calm under pressure and does not become defensive or irritated when times are tough. Knows personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and limits and is open to criticism and is not defensive. Excellent strategic planning, budgeting, and project management abilities.

Physical Demands and Work Environment: The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

- Work is primarily performed in an office environment where climate and noise levels are controlled. Occasional travel for training, conferences, or emergency response as well as travel to and from various office locations.

- The physical demands of this position include sitting, standing, walking, lifting, and/or carrying light loads, talking, hearing, visual acuteness, and mental and emotional demands.

- Must be available for after-hours support during major outages or system events.

- An individual in this position is subject to pre-employment physical and substance abuse testing as well as other testing requirements that may be necessary for this position.