Northern Lights Inc. (NLI) is accepting applications for the position of Electrical Engineer. NLI headquarters is in the Idaho panhandle in the small community of Sagle, Idaho just five miles south of Sandpoint. Sagle is 40 miles north of Coeur d’Alene and 65 miles east of Spokane, Washington; allowing access to the convenience of a large city.  The area is surrounded by mountains, rivers and Lake Pend Oreille, with many opportunities for water sports, winter skiing at Schweitzer Mountain Resort and other outdoor recreation opportunities such as hiking, biking, fishing and hunting. This is a beautiful area with a vibrant community to live and enjoy the outdoors. 

NLI is primarily a distribution cooperative, serving approximately 21,000 metered accounts in northern Idaho, northwest Montana and a small portion of northeast Washington. NLI owns several substations, transmission assets and a small 4.5 MW hydroelectric generation project. NLI has approximately 70 employees and offers excellent benefits including a pension plan, 401k with company match, health insurance, paid holidays, vacation time and sick leave. 

The Electrical Engineer position, performs and assists with the engineering activities of NLI by applying proven technical knowledge, sound engineering judgement and proficient skill to ensure that the electrical system meets present and future requirements and provides safe, efficient and reliable service to NLI’s members.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Engineer projects that will maintain and support NLI’s electrical system by designing and creating detailed drawings, specifications and cost estimates for distribution and transmission systems, including substations.
• Collaborate with team members in an open communication culture, providing support in various disciplines as needed.
• Provide member technical assistance as needed and support NLI community programs.
• Support operations of NLI’s 4.5 MW hydroelectric project including required documentation, reporting and inspections.
• Advise, coordinate and assist NLI’s System Engineer, Engineering Technicians and GIS Administrator with engineering and technical related issues.
• Conduct system studies (load flow, short circuit/arc-flash, power factor, protective relays/device coordination and efficiency/system losses). Make recommendations for improvements based off studies.
• Perform electrical system modeling and analysis. Prepare written reports and information related to analysis.
• Maintain, program and deploy system protection settings for reclosers, regulators and other substation and field devices. (Form6, SEL, Basler). Implement and maintain remote terminal units and SCADA configurations.
• Assist in maintaining NLI’s powerline carrier AMI metering system and troubleshooting issues.
• Provide supplemental inspections to Operations department such as infrared inspection of substation and field devices.
• Effectively communicate technical information to management and other co-workers. Conduct internal training as requested by management.
• Provide assistance to Cooperative personnel on all aspects of electric utility operations.
• Helps assure that designed electrical facilities meet NEC, NESC, RUS and Cooperative standards
• Keep informed of current trends and technology in areas of responsibility and apply to assigned functional area of responsibility.
• Serves the needs of members, vendors, contractors and other utilities as needed.
• Assist and support major storm/damage outage response and restoration as needed, often times outside of business hours.
• Provide afterhours duty coverage 3-5 weeks a year. Position requires living within 35 driving miles of the main NLI office in Sagle, ID.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience:

• BS in Electrical Engineering required; prefer emphasis in Power Distribution and 5 years’ experience in electrical distribution; prefer public or cooperative utility experience.
• Or a degree in related field with 8-10 years’ experience in electrical engineering and power distribution.

Licensing or Certifications:

• Must be able to possess and maintain a valid Idaho State driver’s license.
• Professional engineering license is preferred, but not required.

Working Conditions: 

• Typical workday is in an office environment.
• At times, extensive field work will be required in conjunction with normal office duties.
• May work around energized electrical facilities possibly to include substations, overhead and underground distribution lines and industrial construction sites.
• Travel may be required both inside and outside of NLI’s service territory.
• Work outside under various weather conditions and in varying types of terrain.
• To ensure all employees are provided with drug free and alcohol free working conditions, pre-employment, post accident, reasonable cause and random drug and alcohol tests are conducted on all employees.

Physical Requirements:

• Must have sufficient health to perform the essential functions, duties and responsibilities of the job
• Capable of sitting/standing/walking/driving for extended periods of time.
• At times, may be required to perform work that includes moving objects up to 50 pounds.

Salary dependent on experience.

To apply, email resume, cover letter and relevant information to claire.zaugra@nli.coop.