Gas and Electric SCADA System Architect I, II, Senior, or Principal

Job Overview

Job Description

Job Specifications

Black Hills Energy is people powered and purpose driven. Our team uses the power of energy to improve life for over one million customers in 800+ communities across the West and Midwest. We seek talented, caring people who embody our core values and contribute to a culture of inclusion and growth. As an organization, we believe the best part of working on our team is our commitment to making tomorrow better than today—for our customers, communities and each other.

Position summary:

Responsible for overall architectural design, support, technical management, documentation, short and long-term planning, standards, security consulting, and development of the BHE Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System, Generation Management System, Energy Management System, and Distribution Management System, and Advanced Distribution Management System (SCADA/GMS/EMS/DMS/ADMS) across both gas and electric utility operations.

Pay Range: This posting includes the full pay range for this position. Pay is based on a number of factors and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and internal equity.
Level I: $72,900 - $109,250 
Level II: $86,700 - $130,050 
Senior: $97,150 - $160,150 
Principal: $105,750 - $174,450 

Reporting Relationship: SCADA Systems Manager

Location: Our Corporate Headquarters in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Relocation Assistance: Relocation assistance is available based on individual circumstances! Details to be shared during the offer process.

Essential Functions:
•    Maintain and monitor reliability of SCADA/EMS/GMS/ADMS/Gas SCADA masters, applications, databases, displays, integrations, and field communications.
•    Maintain integrations with Outage Management System (OMS), Geographic Information System (GIS), Inter Control Center Protocol (ICCP), Automatic Generation Control (AGC), AutoSol, Open Platform Communication Protocol - Unified Architecture (OPC UA), Quorum Pipeline Transaction Management (QPTM), and Enterprise Integration Tool Kit (EITK).
•    Design, develop, and maintain one-lines, tabular displays, and custom visuals requiring script/calc writing in multiple programming languages.
•    Support advanced applications including; State Estimator (SE), Contingency Analysis (CA), operator training simulator (OTS), AGC, Pipeline Management (PM), historian, and other real-time applications and interfaces.
•    Schedule, coordinate, communicate, and support routine server patching and failovers for Linux/Windows with minimal system interruption. Troubleshoot to resolve issues caused by patches, rollback/restore as needed to support 99.99999% system availability. Additional support for ad-hoc vendor patching as needed or required.
•    Configure and maintain user and server access and document using internal ticket process; perform compliance reviews; ensure alignment with NERC/CIP and PHMSA requirements.
•    Develop and maintain internal documentation and procedures as needed to ensure safety, reliability, and compliance.
•    Support emergency system outages and technology recovery; troubleshoot to discover root causes, contribute to lessons learned and reliability improvement efforts.

Additional Responsibilities:
•    Collaborate with all team members on technical tasks and workload distribution.
•    Works within defined architectures and standards
•    Developing technical depth in both gas and electric SCADA environments.

What Is Required:
All Levels: 
•    Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Computer Engineering, IT/Computer Science, technology related to SCADA, industrial control systems, electrical power systems, gas pipeline systems, or equivalent experience.
•    Proficiency in Linux, Python, SQL, REST API, SOAP API, or similar languages, with knowledge of data historians preferred.
•    This position requires driving responsibilities. You must hold and maintain a valid driver’s license and a driving record that meets company and insurer standards.
•    This role will be required to travel up to 10% of the time.
Level I: 
•    No specific experience required for level 1. Training provided.
Level II: 
•    Three or more years of utility operations experience (gas/electric) combined with SCADA/EMS/DMS/GMS/Gas systems experience.
Senior: 
•    5 or more years of utility operations experience (gas/electric) combined with SCADA/EMS/DMS/GMS/Gas systems experience.
Principal: 
•    7 or more years of utility operations experience (gas and electric) combined with SCADA/EMS/DMS/GMS/Gas systems experience.
•    This position requires driving responsibilities. You must hold and maintain a valid.

What Is Desired:
•    Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills and ability to make sound decisions under pressure.
•    Familiarity with both gas and electric utility operations.
•    Strong technical aptitude with ability to learn new systems as technology evolves.
•    Understanding of networking, firewalls, routers, switches, and communication protocols.
•    Knowledge of NERC/CIP and PHMSA regulatory frameworks.
•    Strong interpersonal communication skills and ability to lead cross-functional teams.

This description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of responsibilities, duties, and requirements for employees in this position. Job descriptions may and do change periodically. Where positions are covered by a collective bargaining unit agreement, the terms and conditions of the agreement will apply.

About our Company: We are a customer, growth and safety focused utility company that is dedicated to our communities. We improve life with energy as an energy partner of choice. Our diverse culture fuels unique perspectives, opening doors to new insights and possibilities. Based in Rapid City, South Dakota, we have over 3000 employees and serve 1.3 million natural gas and electric utility customers across eight states (South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Arkansas).

Enjoy our Comprehensive Benefits Package!  Annual discretionary bonuses, 401(k) (6% company match and up to 9% company retirement contribution), tuition reimbursement, generous paid time off benefits, including paid holidays and parental leave, company paid life insurance and disability benefits (short and long term), critical illness, accident & group hospital insurance, pet insurance, an employee assistance program and well-being benefits, and competitive medical, dental and vision insurance.

Candidates must successfully pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check.  If there is anything that may show up in these reports that may conflict with the position requirements, feel free to contact the Black Hills Energy recruiting team at jobs@blackhillscorp.com. 

Black Hills Energy does not sponsor applicants for work visas. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the US.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or status as a protected veteran.  If you require reasonable accommodation, please visit  careers.blackhillsenergy.com for more information.