Senior Manager, System Planning

Location: Edmonton or Calgary, AB

Division: Business Development - Electricity

What We Offer:

• Competitive Package: Attractive salary and a comprehensive benefits package including annual retention and performance bonuses eligibility, flex benefits, extra paid leave, pension, employee share purchase plan, charitable donation matching, and more.

• Relocation Support: Assistance for candidates relocating to Edmonton, AB or Calgary, AB ensuring a smooth transition.

• Meaningful Impact: In this role candidate will provide strategic leadership, technical oversight, and governance across system planning functions, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives, regulatory requirements, and evolving industry trends.

Why Work Here

At ATCO Electric, we’re energized by possibility. We’re not just delivering power, we’re building the future of energy across Alberta. Here, your work has purpose. You’ll collaborate with landowners, agencies, and community partners to shape thoughtful infrastructure solutions that connect people and places.

About the Role

Reporting to Director, Electric System Development & Strategy, this position is responsible for building a high-performance planning team and leading the overall system planning of ATCO’s transmission and distribution systems to drive system growth, enable customer development, and tackle new challenges brought by technology advancement and industry evolvement. 

What You Get to Do:

• Build trust through safety leadership, actively promote a safe work culture and provide visible leadership to ensure compliance with the corporate policies and best practices related to Health, Safety and Environment.

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of transmission and distribution planning professionals, continuously improving planning competency and bench strength of the team. 

• Lead the development and prioritization of planning team’s workplan to support department and organization business plan. Implements effective organizational designs to successfully support team’s deliverables. 

• Plan and manage group workloads, assessing group resource requirements and developing succession plans for key positions within the group. 

• Take the overall responsibility of system planning for ATCO’s transmission and distribution systems to ensure proactive and strategic development to enable load growth, meet evolving grid and customer needs, and adapt to changes in technology and global industry trends. 

• Lead the identification and development of system projects in ATCO’s areas to alleviate system constraints and drive long-term growth. Effectively engage AESO to advance system and customer connection projects from conceptual to execution phase. 

• Lead the front-end project development team to ensure expeditious AESO approval of system projects.

• Ensure timely, high-quality completion of various transmission and distribution planning studies to support system development, customer connections, and safe and reliable operation.

• Oversee the demand forecast of ATCO’s system and actively engage AESO on long-term outlook and long-term plan development. 

• Provide technical insight and direction to corporate strategic initiatives, support regulatory processes and represent ATCO on planning and reliability related AESO, AUC and government initiatives. 

• Provide overall accountability for planning standards, processes, tools, and models across the planning function to ensure accuracy, efficiency, consistency and continuous improvement. Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards.

• Build strong relationships externally with AESO, utility peers and other stakeholders and internally with fellow managers to promote collaboration, cross-training and radical candor to achieve overall success. 

• Develop and manage financial budgets for the team. Monitor O&M and ES&G spending to ensure targets are met and timely identification of trends or issues.

What You Bring:

• Proven leadership abilities with proficiency in the development and mentoring of managerial/supervisory employees.

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering.

• Professional Engineering (P.Eng.) designation with APEGA.

• Minimum ten (10) years of experience in a role where strong leadership, technical skills, and business acumen were required and demonstrated; utility experience in planning is preferred.

• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, conflict management skills as well as sound decision making abilities.

• Solid understanding of power system planning and operation, electricity industry structure, regulatory framework, and the project processes in Alberta.

• Familiarity with planning criteria and standards.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written, oral and presentation) with the ability to communicate effectively with all levels within the organization and to influence external audiences.

• Strategic thinker with the ability to see the big picture and make decisions accordingly.

We would like to thank everyone for their application; however, only those being considered for an interview will be contacted. 

We are a leading energy provider in North America. Through ATCO Energy Systems we build, operate and maintain electric and gas transmission and distribution lines, safely and reliably serving over three million customers in hundreds of communities. We're advancing the use of hydrogen as a cost-effective pathway for decarbonization using existing energy delivery infrastructure. We’re also building resilience by modernizing our electric grid and connecting renewable generation capacity to our system to meet the needs of customers for sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy. 

ATCO is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law. Visit our website for more information.

In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional territories and homelands on which many of our ATCO operations and facilities are located. We honour and respect the diverse history, languages, ceremonies, and culture of the Indigenous Peoples who call these areas home.