Senior Project Manager - Grid Connections

This is a Permanent full-time position based in Syd/Mel/Brisbane

AEMO at the Heart of Energy

We are the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), committed to designing and operating a sustainable energy system that delivers safe, reliable, and affordable electricity and gas. Our mission includes facilitating the transition to a net-zero energy system by 2050, working collaboratively with industry partners to achieve 100% renewable generation capability by 2025. We have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to co-design the future of our energy systems, and our core values revolve around Character, Commitment, and Connection.

Join us, as we contribute to this significant mission in the energy sector!

About the Team & the Position

The System Design Division plays a critical role in AEMO’s success, driving the organization's collaborative and industry-wide efforts in meeting the engineering challenges of a net-zero energy system. The Division includes specialist areas in system planning, forecasting, future energy as well as onboarding and connections.

In the role of Senior Project Manager within the Onboarding and Connections Department, you will be at the forefront of an unprecedented transformation of the energy industry, collaborating closely with new and existing generation developers and Network Service Providers (NSPs) to help them deliver their projects. You will manage and coordinate a portfolio of diverse connections projects of different technology types, where AEMO is required to undertake its advisory function to NSPs and proponents centred on the system impact of the connections.

As well as providing rigorous project management to a large portfolio of connections projects, the Project Manager will provide mentoring to other staff including Project Coordinators and will contribute to improvement initiatives around the connections process and AEMOs internal systems, tools and data.

Position Responsibilities

• Cultivate a consistent, structured, and transparent project and portfolio management framework to be used across all projects to ensure that quality, cost, risk, and time requirements are met.
• Supporting ‘ACE Energy’ to ensure critical facilitation across all levels of the organization are achieved, in a timely and efficient manner.
• Manage internal resource planning in collaboration with the NSW Engineering Manager and NSW REZ(Renewable Energy Zone)Technical Specialist, including assessing across all projects the loading for individuals at different phases of the projects to identify overloading, resource shortfalls and development opportunities.
• Regular status reporting, PM system updates and communications, including chairing project steering committee meetings and other management briefing sessions.
• Managing and facilitating day to day activities across various parties to support AEMO connections process inputs, reporting to internal stakeholders and managing interfaces with registration, operations and required coordination for engagements across parties (Ace Energy, Transgrid, EnergyCo etc).
• Consult and engage with internal and external stakeholders to ensure project success and client expectations are well defined and met.
• Deploy active problem solving, an agile approach and flexible mindset to be able to respond to unique project and stakeholder issues that require speedy resolution.

Position Requirements

Skills & Experience:

• Solid understanding about generation Connection Process in the National Electricity Market is a mandatory requirement.
• Knowledge of the energy sector, including both industry and regulatory matters.
• At least three to five years’ experience in project, program or portfolio delivery and management within the energy industry or similar industry.
• Ability to understand, communicate and manage complex energy engineering programs.
• Proficiency with relevant software for Project Management and Customer Relationship Management, and capability for analysis of project data
• Proven track record in project managing several projects simultaneously and working within multi-disciplinary teams.
• Understanding of the key commercial and legal issues impacting on large scale infrastructure projects.
• Proactive approach to relationship building within and across project teams, including both internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in client facing roles in a project environment requiring well developed interpersonal, negotiation and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to prepare and deliver high quality communications suitable for management and external stakeholders (both written and verbal)

Education/ professional Certifications:

• Tertiary qualifications in an appropriate discipline (project management, engineering, or a related field)
• Recognized project management certification is well regarded.

Our Values  

At AEMO, our core values aren’t just ‘words on a wall’ – we are a purpose-based organization at the centre of our energy future, and we stand for our values: Character, Connection & Commitment.

As we continue to innovate and work on some world-first, ground-breaking projects, we need to attract the brightest people and provide opportunities to contribute, stretch and grow. We actively encourage you to bring your whole self to work, so that together we can do better, be better, and love our work. For this reason, inviting difference and leading inclusively is a core part of our culture. We challenge ourselves to take bold actions to improve the experience for all our people, with a current focus on gender, flexibility, (dis)ability and our First Nation peoples.

If you would like to know more about working at AEMO, please check out our careers page for more information, or apply now.