City of Palo Alto

  • Substation Electrician

  • City of Palo Alto
  • Palo Alto, California United States View Map

Job Description

Description

The Department
Palo Alto is the only city in California that offers a full array of utility services to its citizens and businesses. Because of this, the City has a unique opportunity to partner with the Palo Alto community to enjoy the benefits and achievements of reliable, home-grown, and environmentally focused utilities. Palo Alto has a tradition of over 125 years of successful public utility operations. It is a tradition that continues to provide the Palo Alto community with safe and reliable utilities service, local decision-making over policies, utility ratemaking, environmental programs, and customized services. Learn more about our Utilities Department.

The Position
The Substation Electrician is a skilled, journey-level position that performs a variety of skilled and semi-skilled work in installation, maintenance and repair of a substation. Workers specialize in low, medium, and high-voltage substation work, including switching, equipment maintenance and calibration. Performs skilled work in electrical construction, maintenance, climb station structures, operate aerial lift, hot washing, oil filtering and troubleshooting of electric utility facilities such as electric transmission, distribution, communication and SCADA systems.

Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate will be skilled in general fundamentals of electrical theory, control relaying, protection relaying, control and power switching schemes. Knowledge of tools and systems used in the trade and committed to safe work practices. The ability to communicate with others, make sound decisions, and to assimilate and understand information in a manner consistent with the essential job functions and maintain cooperative working relationships with other employees and the public is essential.

This position is part of the Service Employees' International Union (SEIU).

Compensation (SEIU): Comprehensive compensation plan. To learn more, click here.

Benefits: The City offers a fantastic benefits package including:
  • Schedule: Option of a 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off
  • Professional development: Tuition reimbursement, leadership training, and career growth opportunities
  • Education benefits: Potential enrollment for dependents in the Palo Alto Unified School District (pilot program, subject to change)
  • Childcare support: $10,000 in childcare subsidies (pilot program, subject to change)
  • Commute benefits: Incentives for walking, biking and taking transit to work. The City of Palo Alto participates in the Clipper Bay Pass program (Employee Cost: $5 per month).
  • Defined-Benefit Retirement Plan: with competitive pension benefits


Essential Duties

Essential Duties and Responsibilities - essential and other important duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Install, test, calibrate, troubleshoot and repair simple and complex protective relays, regulator control and
    operating devices, power transformer protective and safety devices and maintain appropriate records for
    calibration, testing and maintenance.
  • Install, test, maintain and repair 115KV, 60kV, 12kV and 4kV power circuit breakers; perform periodic trip testing.
  • Maintain, test and repair, 115/60, 60/12, 60/4-kv power transformers and load tap changers.
  • Sample, test and evaluate insulating oil and other media and maintain appropriate records including DGA and
    dielectric test.
  • Troubleshoot, repair, maintain and calibrate computer-based SCADA system, transducers, input devices, communication equipment and data transmission equipment.
  • Perform substation high-voltage switching operations.
  • Test, calibrate, maintain and repair distribution system line equipment such as transformers, capacitors, regulators, reclosers and associated control equipment.
  • Test prior to energizing and perform fault locating of high-voltage underground cable systems
  • Assists with the design, programing, installation, maintenance of PLC and SCADA functions.
  • Installs, maintains and repairs electric control/protection systems both AC and DC, PLC's, Motor Control Center.
  • Perform infrared scanning of substations transmission/distribution equipment

To review the full job description, click here.

Minimum Qualifications

Sufficient education, training and/or work experience to demonstrate possession of the following knowledge, skills, and
abilities, which would typically be acquired through:

  • Equivalent to the completion of the twelfth grade; and,
  • Completion of an accredited apprentice program
  • Experience with solid state circuitry and computer-based test equipment, control, monitoring and analysis system
    and associated tools required

Special Requirements
  • May be required to work on standby and/or pre-arranged or emergency situations
  • Possession of a valid California Driver’s License


Supplemental Information

Working Conditions / Physical Requirements:
  • Travel from site to site; exposure to high voltage and heights; lifting, climbing and stooping.
  • Hazardous conditions are an extremely critical factor of this job, working in close proximity to energized lines and equipment up to 115,000 volts.
  • Work in small, confined areas.
  • Use stomach and lower back muscles to support the body when lifting heavy electrical equipment during installation, or when climbing in and out of the truck cab or bucket.
  • Move electrical components or fixtures weighing up to 70 pounds short distances.
  • Communicate orally both face to face and using a telephone or radio when receiving or communicating status of work assignments.
  • Sit for extended periods of time with the ability to move about at will when working on ground level electrical facilities.

The Selection Process:
  • Applicants will receive recruitment status notifications via email. Governmentjobs.com account also has notification status updates.
  • Applicants will be screened throughout the posting process, and highly qualified candidates may be invited to interview at any time.
  • The screening process for this position includes a panel interview and skills assessment preceding final interviews with the hiring manager or their designee.
  • More than one position may be filled as a result of this recruitment process.
  • An eligible list may be established from this recruitment and may be used to fill future vacancies for up to six (6) months, or until the list has been exhausted.


The City of Palo Alto is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.

See our Benefits at a Glance Bookletfor more details.
Learn more about our Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) between the City and its bargaining units, by clicking HERE.

Closing Date/Time: 9/16/2026 11:59 PM Pacific
City of Palo Alto

City of Palo Alto

650-329-2376

The Community


The birthplace of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, is a community of approximately 68,000 residents and nearly 100,000 jobs. Located on the mid-Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, Palo Alto is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technology, medicine, and green innovation. The community's treelined streets and historic buildings reflect its California heritage, and, at the same time, many world-class businesses maintain or started offices here, such as Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Amazon, Broadcom, Hewlett-Packard, Houzz, Rivian, SAP and SAP Ariba, Tesla, and Varian Medical Systems. Numerous start-ups are also at home in Palo Alto, arguably making it the start-up capital of the world. Stanford University is foundational to the history and prestige of Palo Alto, reflected in the community's dedication to lifelong learning. Stanford's cultural and educational offerings are integral to the vibrancy and charm of Palo Alto, while the City's exceptional K-12 school district ranks among the top public-school systems in the country. With more than 50% of adult residents holding a graduate degree or higher, Palo Alto is frequently listed as one of the most educated cities in the nation. Palo Alto boasts a genuine sense of community and an active citizenry with strong environmental values. Beautiful neighborhoods are complemented by vibrant commercial corridors and a bustling economy featuring premium shopping and dining options. Excellent healthcare facilities, performing arts, and diverse recreational opportunities are some of the community's incredibly desirable and cherished amenities. To learn more, visit https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/City-Manager/Latest-News

City Government

Palo Alto is a full-service charter city with a council-manager form of government. The seven-member City Council is elected at large, and the City Council annually selects the Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its members. The Mayor and City Council appoint the City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, and City Auditor. The City Manager is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the City. Palo Alto is organized into 15 departments/offices with 1,093.10 authorized positions in FY 2025. There is also a FY 2025 capital budget of $316.2 million. Palo Alto owns and operates its own utilities, including electricity (carbon-neutral), gas, water, wastewater, and an expanding fiber network. This dynamic municipal environment ensures an ever-engaging platform for unique problem-solving and advances new initiatives, including sustainability, broadband, and effective service delivery. Community assets also include five libraries, 36 parks, five community centers, a museum and zoo, youth centers, a general aviation airport, an 18-hole golf course, a regional water treatment plant, and wildland open space preserves at the San Francisco Bay and in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains offering 41 miles of walking/biking trails in addition to its police, fire, and ambulance services. Palo Alto has long been a leader in sustainability, and the City's ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals are part of what sets it apart. Since the City's first Climate Protection Plan was passed in 2007, Palo Alto has set goals that exceed State and Federal targets. Today, the City's goal to reduce emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2030 (the "80x30" goal) and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 guides sustainability efforts. An award-winning City, Palo Alto is recognized nationally as innovative and well-managed. City services and performance also receive impressive marks from community members in the Palo Alto Community Survey.

Many of those ratings put City programs and services in the highest percentiles among the hundreds of benchmark cities. Palo Alto makes decisions through comprehensive processes and proactively seeks to involve its extremely informed, educated, and engaged residents. Projects are naturally a cooperative effort among the City Council, Boards, Commissions, Committees, engaged residents, neighborhoods, businesses, property owners, and staff.

Join an Award Winning Team 

Palo Alto is an award-winning City recognized nationwide as innovative and well-managed. Palo Alto is one of a small number of California cities with a AAA bond rating. Recently, Palo Alto became one of the most livable cities in the U.S. by Livability.com. It's the only city to receive the Platinum Beacon Award in sustainability best practices by California’s Institute for Local Government. We offer a variety of career paths that relate to building and improving communities. The City has fourteen departments employing 1,000 full-time staff. Police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and building inspectors keep us safe. Engineers and public works staff build and re-build the physical infrastructure. City planners help envision and shape future community growth. Recreation, arts and library professionals enhance community life. Utilities provides electric, gas, water, sewer and other services. Internal services departments help manage, staff, and protect the City.

Want to learn more about our benefits? Learn more by reviewing our "Benefits at a Glance Booklet."

Contact Us

Phone: 650-329-2376   

Email: Recruit@paloalto.gov   

Location: City Hall, 1st Floor | 250 Hamilton Ave 94301 | View Map

 

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