Lead Electrical Engineer-Electrical & Instrumentation

About the Role

This position supports the business in Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering for Pixelle’s Spring Grove, Pennsylvania facility. The primary responsibilities include managing and implementing mill capital and major repair projects, providing day-to-day technical support, and offering power systems expertise within the Utilities Department.

Responsibilities

• Promote and support all facility-level safety and environmental initiatives.
• Perform front-end studies on potential capital projects with high business impacts.
• Develop and maintain dynamic capital and major repair plans, adjusting to the ever-changing needs of the mill.
• Support Engineering and Maintenance resources in the implementation of capital and major repair projects with a strong emphasis on safety, environmental impact, quality, cost, and schedule.
• Prioritize and provide oversight to assigned projects completed through Engineering.
• Manage multiple projects concurrently from initial concept, evaluation of alternatives, estimating, schedule, cost forecasting, specifications, design, safety reviews, bid review and selection, installation and commissioning, training, spare parts, and documentation.
• Provide power systems expertise and engineering acumen, including industry-accepted best practices, design, troubleshooting, and operations support of:
  • Turbine generators and auxiliary systems
  • Excitation systems
  • High-voltage (13.8 kV) power distribution systems
  • Digital (Schweitzer) and electro-mechanical relay protection
  • Main transmission lines (MET1 and MET2) maintenance
  • Electrical maintenance of busses and breakers
  • Arc flash analysis
  • Programmable logic controllers
  • Distributed control systems
  • Low and medium voltage power distribution systems and infrastructure
  • AC and DC drives
  • Process control systems
• Assist in troubleshooting efforts to resolve technical problems in the mill.
• Manage and provide oversight to outside contractors regarding safety, code, technical, and commercial requirements.
• Assist Legal and Purchasing in the development of contractual agreements with vendors on higher-cost equipment and labor purchases.
• Assist Finance in tax, capital vs. expense, and IRR financial decisions and justifications.
• Maintain capital asset and engineering documentation.
• Mentor junior engineers, interns, and co-ops.
• Ensure compliance with codes and standards in all Maintenance and Engineering efforts.
• Participate in and lead cross-functional teams.

Requirements

• 10+ years of related experience in a manufacturing environment, preferably in pulp and paper, power generation, or other heavy industry.
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology from an accredited college or university.
• Registered P.E. license and/or PMP certification is a plus.
• NFPA 70E training.
• Experience preparing engineering documentation such as loop diagrams, P&IDs, interconnections, PLC/DCS, I/O drawings, power plans, single-line diagrams, etc.
• Understanding of process control instrumentation (pH, conductivity, flow, pressure, level, temperature, etc.).

Skills

• Ability to apply mathematical concepts and operations related to engineering design, computational analysis, reliability, and statistical methods.
• Ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to a wide range of intellectual and practical problems.
• Ability to deal with nonverbal symbolism (formulas, scientific equations, graphs, etc.) in its most difficult phases.
• Ability to deal with a variety of abstract and concrete variables.
• Engineering, working knowledge, and troubleshooting insight of:
  • Power generation equipment
  • Distribution systems up to 13.8 kV
  • Digital (Schweitzer) and electromechanical relay protection
  • Electrical maintenance of busses, breakers, and main transmission lines (MET1 and MET2)
  • AC & DC drives
  • Arc flash studies and compliance
  • DCS and PLC systems (programming is not required)
• Strong leadership skills and results-focused with demonstrated success in execution.
• Solid engineering acumen, experience, and understanding of best practices.
• Strong communication skills needed both internally and externally.
• Ability to respond to common inquiries for information from operations, maintenance, and mill-level management.
• Ability to write technical documents and reports in prescribed style and format.
• Ability to effectively present information.
• Computer Skills:
  • MS Office Suite and MS Project proficiency
  • SAP and SAP Project Systems familiarity is a plus
  • AutoCAD familiarity to medium-level proficiency