Engineer (Solar)

About Ameren Missouri

Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years, and our electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for our 1.2 million electric and 132,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. Our service area covers 64 counties and more than 500 communities including the greater St. Louis area.

Our benefits include:

• Medical coverage on date of hire

• 100% employer paid cash balance pension plan

• 401(k) with company match fully vested on date of hire

• Minimum of 15 days paid vacation and 12 paid holidays

• Paid parental leave and family caregiver leave

Visit our Benefits & Perks Page for more information on benefits provided to regular full-time employees. ​

Engineer (Solar Operations & Maintenance)

About The Position

The Engineer, Solar Operations and Maintenance is responsible for engineering support and O&M oversight of existing and future solar (photovoltaic) generation facilities for Ameren Missouri's Renewable Operations group.  This includes coordination of site maintenance activities, ensuring optimum production, interfacing with project engineering for new solar installations, and troubleshooting operational performance and equipment issues. Solar installations will be spread throughout the Ameren Missouri service territory, and will include community and neighborhood solar sites, solar plus storage sites, and utility scale solar sites.

 Key responsibilities include:

• Lead all engineering activities for maintenance and operations of Ameren Missouri solar facilities.  Diagnose and troubleshoot all equipment and system issues, and initiate any corrective maintenance or capital replacement required.
• Develop and execute a photovoltaic (PV) maintenance program to address routine and preventative maintenance for PV panels, inverters, DC arrays, transformers, controls, batteries and all other associated electrical equipment at each solar site. 
• Setup and support PV maintenance program tasks in enterprise asset management tools, such as Maximo or EMPRV, and coordinate both preventive and corrective maintenance of all solar facilities. 
• Work with Ameren Missouri Energy Delivery personnel on assignment of preventive and corrective maintenance for PV and associate electrical equipment, and determine most cost effective means for accomplishing maintenance.  If maintenance is contracted out, develop and execute maintenance contracts.
• Develop required processes for equipment operation and maintenance, including taking equipment out of service or placing it in service.  Determine proper boundaries for WPA and isolation of systems, and maintain in the enterprise asset management tool.
• Determine required inventory of parts, equipment, materials, and other supplies required to maintain site availability or needed for routine maintenance.  Work with Renewables management to determine warehousing and storage, and ensure that inventory is entered and tracked in enterprise asset management tool.   
• Coordinate all outages or de-rates that affect solar production with Energy Management & Trading for wholesale market offers and information. 
• Develop and oversee contracts for all other site maintenance, such as vegetation management, perimeter security, grounds maintenance, pest control, environmental compliance, etc.   
• Oversee all maintenance activities whether performed by internal labor or contracted maintenance companies.  Ensure all activities are defined and recorded in maintenance asset management tools. 
• Provide input to solar project development for new installations and capital upgrades of existing facilities.  Provide input on project scope and review of design documents, and act as Renewable Operations liaison in making design decisions that affect production, operations, or maintenance of solar facilities. 
• Partner with Performance Engineering on energy production reporting and verification of PV performance, as well as develop tools for performance optimization, predictive issue detection, and advanced troubleshooting.
• Work with Ameren Missouri Training group to develop specialized training programs for PV equipment maintenance, operational function, and troubleshooting.  Ensure that all internal or external personnel who work on this equipment receive the required training. 
• Determine long term operational and maintenance needs of each solar facility, and develop a capital replacement plan. 
• Develop annual O&M and CapEx budgets for each solar installation, and provide forecast updates as required. 
• Assure solar facility compliance with environmental, regulatory, and legal policies and procedures.  Prepare required reporting. 

Qualifications

Bachelor of Science Degree in engineering from an ABET-accredited college or university is required. Experience with solar energy generation preferred. Familiarity with basic principles of project management preferred.

 *Technical career path level depends upon applicant’s credentials.

 In addition to the above qualifications, the successful candidate will demonstrate:

Must possess good leadership, organization, decision-making, human relations, and communication skills. Maintain flexible schedule to meet plant operational needs. Computer skills are mandatory along with computer-based maintenance management processes familiarity.

Compensation Range:

* This pay range encompasses multiple levels of the role. Career level and compensation depends upon applicant’s credentials.

At Ameren, base salary is one component of a competitive compensation package for employees. Our pay ranges are broad to allow for movement within our organization and to accommodate different skill sets and levels of expertise. We take into consideration a variety of factors including, but not limited to, skills, abilities, experience, education, credentials, and internal equity when determining the base salary offered. Roles are eligible for additional rewards including annual incentive payments based on individual and company performance.

If end date is listed, the posting will come down at 12:00 am on that date:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, genetic information, military service or status, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other class, trait, or status protected by law.