Wind Turbine Technician

~ Alaska Village Electric Cooperative (AVEC) began providing electric service to rural Alaska in 1968. The residents of Nulato, Hooper Bay and Old Harbor were among the first to become members. ~

AVEC covers the largest area of any retail electric cooperative in the world. We serve 58 communities stretching from Kivalina in the north to Old Harbor on Kodiak Island in the south, and from Gambell on St. Lawrence Island in the west to Minto in the east. Yakutat, in southeast Alaska, is more than 1,000 air miles from Gambell. Minto is the only AVEC community accessible by road. All other communities are only accessible by airplane or marine vessel.

The members of AVEC are from diverse cultures including Athabascan, Aleut, Inupiat, Yupik, Siberian Yupik, Tlingit, and Caucasian. Although the majority of the members have command of two languages, there are still many who speak only in their native dialect.

The means of survival for the members of the cooperative are equally distinct: whaling, fishing (from nets to fish wheels), hunting, trapping, subsistence, and private enterprise. All of these cultural, social, and economic factors combine to create village life.

Position Overview

AVEC is currently seeking a Wind Turbine Technician.

• Department: Operations
• FLSA: NON EXEMPT
• Range: 5-9
• Location: Anchorage, AK
• Travel: 75+%

Responsibilities

• Maintain AVEC’s fleet of wind turbines; perform preventative maintenance, troubleshooting, repairs and modifications to wind turbine generators.
• Ensure functionality of control & communications with wind systems; assists with integration of wind turbine equipment and subsystems with diesel power plants; provide training to AVEC field staff on basic servicing and maintenance of wind turbines; perform all other duties as required for success of the department.
• Maintain good relations with the village council and member-owners and build their understanding and confidence in AVEC’s value, mission and goals.

Qualifications

Education Requirements:

• High School Diploma (or equivalent).

Experience:

• 2 years minimum utility experience; 1 year minimum wind related experience or education preferred.

Physical Demands:

This job is a wind turbine technician and inspection position involving a combination of office and field work. It involves stressful situations arising out of multicultural communities located in remote Alaskan sites in which frequently resources are not apparently consistent with on-site practical needs. This position is frequently required to resolve technical problems and intermittently resolve emotional conflicts between and/or among the cooperative, its staff, and communities served where resources are not capable of resolving a particular problem. In this respect, the job may require:

• Consistently long hours on both a daily and weekly basis.
• Work in office setting using telephone, computers and other office machinery to communicate and document work procedures.
• Intermittent on-site review by travel on foot, all-terrain vehicles, open boats, single engine aircraft, and other available on-site transportation in remote arctic villages and environs for the purpose of working on electrical facilities or proposed sites for electrical and distribution facilities.
• Intermittent stressful work conditions in which the employee is required to exercise significant discretion in judgment, as well as a consistently calm emotional demeanor during times of high conflict when working with other employees, consumers, board members, and other agencies.
• Intermittent requirement to lift heavy tools and equipment using care to prevent serious injury.
• Requirement to climb scaffolds, ladders and tanks (in heights of 100 to 300 feet), working in confined spaces while using utmost care to prevent injury.
• Intermittent subsistence lifestyle in remote arctic villages while involved in inspection, maintenance and construction of electrical facilities, which lifestyle may require sleeping in industrial facilities in locations without beds, preparation of one’s own meals, and general lack of amenities common to commercial public accommodations.
• Intermittent trips to remote Alaska villages located in extreme climatic conditions and inaccessible by commercial carriers.
• In summary, this position is one in which a high degree of skill, organization, and communication is required and significant emotional and physical stamina is a necessity.

Note: Standard pre-employment drug and alcohol screening as well as a background check are required.

Compensation

• AVEC provides a stellar benefit package and a competitive salary, salary is DOE.

To Apply

• Please click "Apply" below to upload your cover letter and resume.
• This position is open until filled.

~ AVEC is an EOE ~