EPCOR Careers

Description

Highlights of the job

We’re seeking an accomplished, forward‑thinking full-time permanent Director of Planning & Engineering to lead the teams responsible for shaping the future of Edmonton’s regulated electrical distribution system. This is a high‑impact role for a leader who excels at turning strategy into execution, elevating technical organizations, and guiding complex systems through rapid industry change.

Reporting to the SVP, Electricity Services this role oversees System Planning, Asset Management, and Engineering, and will set the direction for how our grid evolves — ensuring it remains safe, reliable, resilient, and ready for the demands of a modern, electrified city.

What you’d be responsible for

People, Culture & Capability

• Building and inspiring a high‑performing technical team with expertise in distribution design, system analysis, protection, GIS, data analytics, and regulatory literacy.
• Fostering a culture grounded in safety, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Strengthening leadership capability across the department; coaching emerging leaders and creating pathways for growth.
• Driving clarity of purpose and alignment across teams, ensuring everyone understands how their work contributes to system reliability and customer value.
• Implementing training and development programs that elevate engineering standards and regulatory compliance.
• Developing succession plans and mentoring programs for critical technical and leadership roles.

Regulatory & Environmental Scanning

• Continuously developing a deep understanding of the external environment and regulatory regimes impacting the Distribution Facility Owner (DFO).
• Translating regulatory and requirements into a 2–5 year horizon and establishing a planning framework that balances clarity of direction (targets, standards, priorities) with flexibility (scenario-based options, adaptive capital pacing).
• Collaborates with industry peers to align strategies, share best practices, and drive cross‑organizational consistency on key initiatives.

Strategic & Capital Planning Governance

• Leading development of the Distribution capital forecast for the Electricity Long Term Plan.
• Converting strategy and regulatory requirements into multi‑year capital portfolios.
• Monitoring short-term performance and integrating insights into future forecasts.
• Assessing external risks (regulatory decisions, supply chain, DER/EV adoption, municipal growth) and collaborating with leadership to mitigate impacts.
• Ensuring capital classification, cost tracking, and property unit alignment with applicable standards. 

Engineering Authority & Standards

• Setting and approving engineering standards, specifications, and design practices for 1–25 kV overhead and underground systems ensuring compliance with applicable codes and standards.
• Defining equipment and material standards, including vendor qualification and technology selection criteria.
• Overseeing protection, control, and automation schemes to enhance reliability and operational flexibility.

Leadership of Planning & Design Delivery

• Leading teams responsible for initiating, planning, and designing maintenance, replacement, development, and growth projects.
• Providing expert guidance on system growth, reliability needs, and technical alternatives.
• Driving capital replacement planning using condition assessments, risk reduction, and lifecycle analysis.
• Ensuring designs reflect constructability, operability, and maintainability; coordinating with operations on outage and energization plans.
• Maintaining strong governance through stage gates, QA/QC, and technical review processes.

Risk Management & Controls

• Developing and maintaining robust risk controls, including risk registers, engineering quality checks, hazard analyses, and authentication processes.
• Overseeing change control, compliance with regulatory requirements, and property unit integrity.
• Managing vendor and supply chain risks and ensuring cyber/OT considerations are embedded in automation and smart grid initiatives.
• Reporting risk status and escalating issues to the Electricity Leadership Team as needed.

Reliability, Resiliency & Performance

• Setting and monitoring reliability targets aligned with Electricity Canada benchmarks.
• Leading resiliency and adaptation planning for extreme weather and system emergencies, including grid hardening and automation strategies.
• Driving post‑event reviews and continuous improvement cycles.

Stakeholder & Regulatory Engagement

• Representing the utility in technical and regulatory forums; leading filings/submissions under AUC regimes.
• Collaborating with AESO, TFOs, The City of Edmonton, developers, and major customers on interconnections, planning studies, and growth corridors.
• Ensuring all designs and customer connections comply with DFO terms and conditions.

Asset Management & Lifecycle Optimization

• Establishing asset management strategies focused on lifecycle optimization, risk-based prioritization, and critical spares planning.
• Integrating asset health, outage analytics, and failure data into annual and multi-year plans.
• Ensuring data integrity and traceability to support accurate capitalization and reporting.

Financial Stewardship & Delivery Assurance

• Leading the Planning & Engineering budget, unit cost management, and productivity targets.
• Ensuring on time, on budget delivery of the capital portfolio; managing schedule risk, resource constraints, and contractor performance.
• Publishing quarterly dashboards linking spend to reliability outcomes, risk reduction, and customer impacts.

What’s required to be successful

Education and Credentials

• A post-secondary degree in Engineering.
• Professional Engineering designation, with the ability to be registered as a Professional Engineer with APEGA.

Experience

• Minimum 15 years in the electric utility industry, including at least 12 years in progressive leadership roles.
• Strong background in electrical utility systems, engineering, system planning, and asset management.
• Proven experience developing short and long-term plans and leading large, diverse workforces and contractors.
• Successfully leading high performing teams to achieve organizational objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to manage operational and capital budgets at scale.
• Field operations experience is an asset.

Other important facts about this job

Jurisdiction: PROF

Hours of work: 80 hours biweekly

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Please note the following information:

• A requirement of working for EPCOR is that you are at least 18 years of age, successfully attained a high school diploma (GED, or equivalent level of secondary education) and legally entitled to work in Canada (a copy of a valid work permit may be required).
• If you are considered for the position, clearance on all applicable background checks (which may include criminal, identity, educational, and/or credit) and professional reference checks is required. Some EPCOR positions require an enhanced level of background assessment, which is dictated by law. These positions require advanced criminal record checks that must also be conducted from time to time after commencement of employment.
• A technical/practical assessment may be administered during the selection process and this exercise will be used as a part of the selection criterion.
• If you are required to provide your own personal reliable vehicle - Successful applicants must provide their own vehicles with appropriate insurance in accordance with EPCOR’s Employee Mileage Reimbursement Policy. You will be reimbursed in accordance with EPCOR’s Employee Mileage Reimbursement Policy.