The following description is quite detailed. Our intention is to provide insight into the opportunity so that you can make a well-informed choice.

Opportunity Snapshot

This newly created role offers you the unique opportunity to leave a legacy of nationally recognized leadership in shaping the power industry. You will lead the development, design and execution of planning and infrastructure development for California's energy grid, coordinating among policy makers, generators and other stakeholders. This will put you at the forefront of reinventing the grid as renewable integration and smart grid technology take center stage within our industry, and the policies and processes established under your direction will become best practices for other states and regions to follow.

Your mission will be to ensure a well-coordinated and comprehensive framework that enables competition among generation, transmission and smart grid technology in the transmission planning process. To be a good fit for this opportunity you will complement your technical expertise and deep experience in transmission planning with outstanding leadership abilities, including coordinating among multiple and diverse stakeholders. We're looking for an innovative strategic thinker with an aptitude for policy level considerations, excellent communication skills and the ability to articulate technical and policy issues to a variety of audiences. You also will need a strong process-centered approach. [[Question: 71803]]

The California ISO is a nonprofit public benefit corporation brought on line in 1998 as the impartial link between power plants and the utilities that provide electricity to customers. In 2008 the Sacramento Workplace Excellence Leadership Awards named us as one of the best places to work. The California ISO is located in beautiful Folsom, California. Surrounding areas provide lifestyles from urban to rural, as we are located within easy distance of San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. Weather and amenities are perfect for active, outdoor lifestyles.

What Else You'll Bring to the Table

This role represents an excellent opportunity for a senior leader in the planning area to step up to a high profile, public facing role on the way to an executive position, or for an executive at a smaller utility to take on greater responsibilities at one of the nation's largest ISOs. [[Question: 71801]] In addition to the qualifications detailed above, you'll need:

• A master's degree in Engineering, Power Systems or a related technical field; a PhD is highly desirable.
• Fifteen or more years of related experience and a demonstrated ability to think strategically and devise solutions to problems in keeping with multiple considerations (including operational, economic, political, regulatory and business), all from the perspective of overall corporate objectives.
• Strong knowledge and experience in advanced concepts, theory, and application in grid infrastructure planning, demonstrated through accomplishments, publication and involvement with IEEE and other professional organizations; experience testifying as an expert witness is a plus.
• Experience in state and federal regulatory processes relating to transmission planning.
• Strong capabilities in assessing and guiding the development of technically sound plans for operations and long-term timeframes such as static network analysis, optimal power flow, transient stability, long-midterm stability, small signal analysis, and voltage stability.
• Experience in the advancement of new innovative concepts for the future and technical expertise in emerging technologies such as smart grid and renewable integration.
• Strong influence management skills, a confident, decisive demeanor and the ability to make significant decisions under high-pressure situations.
• A proven leadership track record with the ability to think strategically in the changing market and grid operations landscape and drive organizational and cultural change.

Preferred but not required:

• Experience in both the design and operation of electricity market operation.
• Registered California Engineer-In-Training or Professional Engineering License.
• NERC certification.

What's in It for You

Your legacy: blueprint for a brave new world -- this role will not be "business as usual." You will ensure that California's long-term energy strategy integrates the state's ambitious environmental vision and other considerations, collaborating with legislators and municipalities on policy issues and with private generators on emerging technologies. You will lead teams blazing trails in California that other states will follow.

Intriguing challenges, leading edge solutions -- you and your staff will take on a steady stream of new challenges involving transmission grid reliability and energy market efficiency. Of course, our new market launched earlier this year is generating many new projects, but we have a number of projects already in the pipeline, including those supporting our commitment to "greening the grid." And, we offer the resources to help solve these challenges. For example, our control room in Folsom is one of the largest in the world, and directs the delivery of more than 200 billion kilowatt-hours of power annually.

A commitment to ongoing education -- the ISO is a place where you will work alongside inspired and diverse industry experts focused on the achievement of our mission and vision. We invest in learning and have an environment in which you can take advantage of world-class learning and development opportunities throughout your career. You might take -- or teach -- courses at the ISO Academy.

Serving the public interest today and in the future -- our mission statement says it best:

"For the benefit of our customers, we:

• Operate the grid reliably and efficiently;
• Provide fair and open transmission access;
• Promote environmental stewardship;
• Facilitate effective markets and promote infrastructure development;

All through the provision of timely and accurate information."

Excellent compensation -- California ISO believes that investing in our employees makes good business sense. In addition to a competitive salary and bonus incentive programs, we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes all you would expect plus some pleasant surprises, such as a 401(k) with a 6% company match and an additional retirement contribution, retiree medical program, and more.

More About Your Role

If you're a good fit for this position, you already know most of what this job entails. However, to be sure we're providing a complete picture, here are some details.

Reporting to the Vice President, Market and Infrastructure Development in this senior director level position, you will oversee a staff of 35, including the Manager of Grid Assets and two Directors of Regional Transmission, one for Northern and one for Southern California.

You will assume leadership of the development and execution of a long-term strategy for transmission planning and infrastructure development for the entire ISO footprint. This will involve making sure the overall planning process is up to date and incorporates developments and considerations that have emerged since FERC Order 890 was implemented in California 18 months ago. In this process you will focus on two primary objectives:

• Ensuring our internal planning process effectively produces high quality, timely plans that coordinate across the purviews of your three direct reports. While the process currently involves a sufficient degree of coordination, we believe that an effective, process-oriented leader can bring a deeper and more thorough level of interaction.
• Interfacing with external parties, acting as one of the ISO's key spokespersons, and making sure all vested stakeholders are participating. These include the three major utilities (SDG&E, SCE, and PG&E) as well as other private entities, regulatory agencies, municipalities, state legislators, and others.

Operationally you will support your direct reports and others in their professional development efforts, monitor the financial and operational performance of our infrastructure development activities, and more.

To give you an idea of the complexity of our planning process, please visit the planning pages on California ISO's website. Clicking on this link will open a new browser window, but be sure to come back to submit your resume!

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you will have that rare combination of strong technical expertise, exceptional leadership skills, and the ability to project a professionally mature and articulate public persona. You'll bring deep experience, but you also will have the innovative mindset necessary to take on some of the industry's biggest challenges. If you are the person we're looking for, you understand that success in transmission planning depends on the quality of the planning process and therefore you will insist on a highly organized and well-executed process.

If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity for you, and you meet the minimum qualifications, we want to hear from you!

Who We Are

California's electricity industry includes traditional utilities, private power generators, and state and federal agencies, each of which plays a unique role. The California ISO is charged with ensuring the safe and reliable transportation of electricity on the "electron superhighway" we know as the power grid. As the impartial grid operator, it has no financial interest in any market segment and makes sure diverse resources have equal access to the transmission network and markets used to fine-tune the flow of electricity.

The California ISO control area includes more than 80 percent of the state's total electrical load and serves more than 30 million of its residents. More than 90 electric transmission companies and generators participate in the ISO markets, which are used to allocate transmission space, maintain operating reserves and match supply with demand.

Another central function of the California ISO is to provide transparent information about the state of the system and prices. This information helps market participants assess the economics and manage the risks of wholesale power transactions and supply options. Timely and accurate information about wholesale markets is the centerpiece of an effective and competitive marketplace. At the same time, economists within the ISO Department of Market Monitoring keep a close eye on activity within the ISO markets, monitoring wholesale prices and market participant activity looking for trends, anomalies and areas for improvement.

H O W  T O   R E S P O N D

Please visit the following URL to pursue this position online:

http://caiso.jobinfo.com/description.lasso?jid=9900397