Job Description
Department: Distribution Operations Engineering Location: Sacramento, CA, US, 95827-3824 Category: Engineering/Technical Minimum Pay Rate: $155,251.20 Maximum Pay Rate: $205,608.00 Limited Term Position: No Civil Service Status: Civil Service Apply by Date: 05/22/2026 Posting Type: Open This posting intends to fill one (1) regular full-time position and establish and eligibility list which may be used to fill regular, full-time, or limited-term positions, over the next two (2) years. Are you passionate about powering our community with safe, reliable, and efficient energy? SMUD is seeking an experienced professional to join our team as a regular, full-time Senior Distribution System Engineer within Distribution Planning to support the advanced analysis and planning of our electric distribution system. In this pivotal role, you’ll help ensure SMUD’s infrastructure adapts to meet both present and future power needs, while innovating and leading projects that drive operational excellence and support SMUD’s commitment to safety, cost-effectiveness, and regulatory compliance. You’ll serve as a technical expert and resource, collaborating across departments and mentoring others as we work towards a sustainable, zero-carbon future for Sacramento. Purpose Performs professional technical and analytical functions in analyzing the performance of an assigned distribution system area and identifying corrective actions needed to ensure that the distribution system is configured to meet SMUD’s short-, medium- and long-range needs in an efficient, cost-effective, and safe manner and is in compliance with SMUD’s guidelines and applicable laws and regulations. Nature and Scope Serves as an advanced journey level resource in a relevant professional discipline; works independently on projects of moderate complexity; exercises independent judgment and discretion; may serve in a Lead role and assist in planning, coordinating, prioritizing, monitoring, and evaluating the work results in assigned area and in selecting, training, motivating, evaluating and developing lower-level personnel. Duties and Responsibilities Ensures a safe, reliable, and economical power service to customers and to meet SMUD’s power needs; leads and performs complex distribution system planning and design including to monitor system planning and design; develops and maintains SMUD’s distribution system maintenance philosophy; develops, maintains, and revises safety practices related to planning and operations. Ensures that SMUD’s distribution system is configured and operated to provide the maximum output and the maximum operating flexibility within contractual, emissions, and other limits; conducts analyses of system performance and projected systems demands by forecasting electrical load growth, modeling and analyzing system impacts, identifying system deficiencies, recommending cost-effective corrective actions, performing work justification studies, producing annual work plans for capital and O&M expenditures, evaluating new technologies, and reviewing safety trends to identify areas for improvement. Ensures that projects and programs meet SMUD and other standards for cost-effectiveness, safety, and quality of power produced; provides high-level expertise and guidance by providing technical review of community projects and programs with potential SMUD-wide impact, reviewing co-generation proposals to evaluate system impacts, drafting interconnection agreements including required mitigation, evaluating the impact of distributed technologies including energy efficiency and dispersed generation, performing technical and economical analysis of distribution automation alternatives, identifying and recommending automation investments, and performing detailed analysis of power quality data and recommending and planning solutions to power quality related problems. Ensures the safe and reliable operation of the assigned distribution system and the achievement of SMUD’s business objectives; performs and leads the performance of activities related to system protection by identifying and resolving difficult distribution system protection issues that impact distribution system performance and safety. analyzing system protection, operation, and electrical system configuration, preparing operating criteria that include system protection, reliability, safety, and economics, developing distribution system protection standards, guidelines and practices, evaluating the need for and conducting definitive distribution system protection studies, maintaining protection databases and documentation, developing and maintaining the distribution system inspection and maintenance programs, and p