DERMS Technical Consultant

About the Company 

Grid Transformation is a specialist electric-utility operational technology advisory firm. We help utilities turn grid-modernization strategy into operational reality across Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS), Outage Management System (OMS), Distribution Management System (DMS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS), and related capabilities. Our work spans strategy and roadmaps, vendor-neutral assessment, requirements and design, program delivery, testing, process engineering, change, deployment, and operational readiness. We bring a practical perspective grounded in how utilities plan, operate, restore, and modernize the distribution grid.

Job Description

We are seeking a DERMS Technical Consultant who can connect distributed energy resources, electric-distribution operations, and technology delivery. You will work with control-room personnel, distribution engineering, IT/OT, DER program teams, aggregators, vendors, and systems integrators to translate operational and technical requirements into system designs, configurations, interfaces, test evidence, and deployment plans. The role combines utility-domain knowledge with hands-on technical delivery across DER monitoring, forecasting, dispatch, and optimization, and is suited to someone who is comfortable moving from architecture and design discussions to detailed configuration, troubleshooting, and implementation support.

Assess existing DERMS environments, DER portfolios, grid models, interfaces, and technical constraints; identify gaps, dependencies, risks, and improvement opportunities.

Translate operational and technical needs into technical requirements, architecture specifications, interface designs, configuration decisions, and acceptance criteria.

Configure and support DERMS capabilities for resource registration, grouping, monitoring, forecasting, dispatch, and optimization, as required by project scope.

Develop and validate DER asset models, electrical connectivity, telemetry mappings, operating limits, availability, and resource capabilities, including battery state of charge and charging or discharging constraints.

Design and support interfaces with ADMS, SCADA, GIS, AMI, historians, forecasting services, DER aggregators, and device or site controllers.

Configure and validate control strategies for use cases such as voltage support, congestion management, peak reduction, and flexible connections within approved network and resource constraints.

Implement and troubleshoot telemetry and command exchanges, including data quality, time alignment, acknowledgements, dispatch tracking, and exception handling.

Validate control priorities, operator overrides, and agreed fallback behaviour for communications loss, stale data, unavailable resources, and conflicting instructions.

Develop scripts, database queries, and technical utilities to support asset onboarding, data migration, model validation, interface testing, and configuration management.

Review vendor architectures, technical designs, and proposed configurations; assess interoperability, reliability, scalability, performance, maintainability, and cybersecurity.

Develop technical test scenarios and support factory acceptance, site acceptance, integration, performance, regression, and user acceptance testing, using simulations or controlled field trials as appropriate.

Investigate model, telemetry, forecast, interface, and dispatch defects; document root causes, coordinate resolution, and maintain traceability across requirements, designs, tests, changes, and acceptance evidence.

Work with infrastructure and cybersecurity teams on secure connectivity, authentication, certificates, access controls, monitoring, backup and recovery, and business continuity.

Prepare technical documentation, deployment procedures, cutover and rollback plans, and support materials; contribute to rehearsals, go-live, hypercare, and operational handover.

Requirements

The successful candidate will bring a practical combination of utility knowledge, technical delivery experience, and client-facing communication:

Experience performing technical consulting, implementation, integration, or application support on DERMS or a closely related utility DER integration and control program.

Hands-on experience with a commercial DERMS platform or relevant DER aggregation and control solution, including configuration, troubleshooting, testing, or deployment.

Working knowledge of electric-distribution operations, distribution network constraints, and the responsibilities of operations, engineering, DER program, IT/OT, and support teams.

Understanding of distributed solar, battery energy storage, electric-vehicle charging, and controllable loads, including their operating capabilities and limitations.

Practical experience with DER telemetry, asset modelling, resource grouping, control interfaces, and dispatch validation.

Working knowledge of DER forecasting, scheduling, optimization, and coordination with distribution network applications.

Experience integrating utility systems, aggregators, or device controllers through APIs, messaging, or operational communication protocols.

Familiarity with relevant standards and protocols, such as IEEE 2030.5, OpenADR, DNP3, Modbus, IEC 61850, and CIM, with hands-on experience appropriate to the project.

Technical proficiency in SQL, relational or time-series databases, scripting or programming, and Linux and/or Windows environments used for integration, diagnostics, or automation.

Experience supporting technical design, data migration, testing, defect resolution, change control, deployment, and operational acceptance.

Ability to distinguish requirements, design choices, assumptions, constraints, risks, and decisions, and to document each clearly.

Excellent written and verbal communication, analytical skills, attention to detail, sound judgment, and comfort working through technical issues with clients, vendors, and external resource operators.

A degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

Willingness to travel to client locations as project assignments require.

Exposure to smart-inverter functions, IEEE 1547 interconnection requirements, virtual power plants, demand response, microgrids, cloud or hybrid deployments, or DER field commissioning is an asset.

We welcome applicants with different backgrounds and career paths who can demonstrate the capabilities needed to succeed. If your experience does not match every listed asset, we still encourage you to apply and explain the perspective you would bring.