Technical Support Specialist 2

Position Overview

BLOC Resources is seeking an experienced Technical Support Specialist 2 – Energy Management Systems (EMS) to support our client, Southern Company, in Birmingham, Alabama.

This position is part of a critical 24x7x365 operational support team responsible for frontline computer system and application diagnostics, monitoring, incident response, and technical support for Energy Management Systems and associated Operational Technology (OT) environments.

The Technical Support Specialist serves as a primary point of contact between customers, control center personnel, technical support teams, and management. The successful candidate must be comfortable operating in a highly regulated, mission-critical environment where system reliability, accurate communication, cybersecurity compliance, documentation, and rapid incident response are essential.

This position requires rotating day and night shifts, weekends, and holidays.

Key Responsibilities

Energy Management System Monitoring & Support

• Perform day-to-day monitoring of primary SCADA, EMS, and ancillary systems for system health, performance, and availability.
• Identify system abnormalities, application issues, alarms, outages, and other conditions requiring investigation.
• Provide frontline diagnostics and technical support for computer systems and applications.
• Troubleshoot incidents remotely whenever possible.
• Coordinate system repairs and problem resolution with EMS Department personnel and other appropriate technical teams.
• Monitor and support Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery systems.
• Help maintain the availability and reliability of systems supporting critical power-system operations.

IT/OT Service Desk & Incident Management

• Serve as a single point of contact for inbound Operational Technology incidents.
• Receive technical support requests through phone, email, and other approved communication channels.
• Create and maintain incident records within the designated ticketing system.
• Perform Level 1 troubleshooting and resolution when appropriate.
• Escalate incidents that require additional technical expertise.
• Track incidents from initial report through final resolution.
• Maintain complete and accurate case documentation.
• Prioritize incidents based on criticality, urgency, and potential operational impact to the Bulk Power System.
• Ensure customers receive appropriate status updates throughout the incident lifecycle.

Communication & Coordination

• Serve as a primary communication channel between customers, technical support personnel, and management.
• Communicate effectively with transmission control center personnel, coordinators, EMS professionals, and management.
• Notify key customers of planned or unplanned system outages and events that may affect critical systems.
• Coordinate technical activities during system events and outages.
• Maintain professionalism and accuracy when communicating during high-pressure operational situations.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with key customers and technical teams.

Change Management & Procedures

• Follow established Change Management processes.
• Apply knowledge-based procedures accurately when troubleshooting incidents.
• Follow established escalation procedures and operational protocols.
• Provide feedback to supervision regarding recurring issues, customer concerns, and opportunities for process improvement.
• Support continuous improvement of technical support and incident-management processes.

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Formal education in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related technical field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Approximately 3–5 years of relevant technical support, IT, OT, systems support, help desk, or related experience.
• Previous help desk or service desk experience in an IT/OT environment is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting business-critical or continuously operating technology environments is highly desirable.

Technical Skills

Candidates should possess experience or working knowledge in several of the following areas:

• IT/OT technical support
• Energy Management Systems (EMS)
• SCADA systems
• Incident and ticket management
• Level 1 technical troubleshooting
• Windows-based operating systems
• AIX and/or other UNIX-based operating systems
• Distributed computer networks
• Business Continuity systems
• Disaster Recovery systems
• Change Management processes
• Technical documentation
• System and application monitoring

Experience supporting electric utility, power generation, transmission, grid operations, industrial control systems, or other critical infrastructure environments would be particularly valuable.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong customer-service orientation.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to troubleshoot technical problems with limited initial information.
• Ability to work effectively in a high-pressure operational environment.
• Ability to prioritize multiple incidents based on operational impact and criticality.
• Strong documentation and organizational skills.
• Ability to follow detailed technical procedures and established processes.
• Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within a team.
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with internal customers and technical teams.
• Sound judgment when determining whether incidents should be resolved or escalated.
• Ability to communicate technical information clearly and professionally.

Regulatory, Security & Compliance Requirements

Because this position supports critical energy infrastructure, the selected candidate must be capable of complying with applicable security, regulatory, and operational requirements, including:

• Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) requirements
• Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, where applicable
• Electronic and physical access policies
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Standards of Conduct
• Southern Company Separation Protocol
• Southern Company Insider Threat Program requirements
• Applicable Change Management and cybersecurity procedures

The selected candidate will be required to successfully complete applicable enhanced screening requirements, which may include background screening, drug screening, and other required security or access-related checks.

Work Schedule & Essential Personnel Requirements

This is not a traditional Monday–Friday daytime position.

The Technical Support Specialist is part of a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year operation.

Candidates must be willing and able to:

• Work rotating shifts.
• Work both day and night shifts.
• Work 8-hour and/or 12-hour shifts.
• Work weekends.
• Work holidays.
• Adjust to changing shift schedules as required.
• Report on-site when operational needs require.
• Potentially remain local to or be sequestered near the control center during severe weather or other emergency operating conditions as part of essential-personnel requirements.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The strongest candidate will have a combination of IT/OT service desk experience, incident management, system monitoring, customer support, and technical troubleshooting skills.

Candidates with previous exposure to SCADA, Energy Management Systems, electric utility operations, control centers, distributed networks, or other mission-critical 24/7 technical environments will be particularly well aligned with the assignment.

The ability to remain composed during critical incidents, accurately document technical activity, follow established procedures, and communicate effectively with multiple technical and operational teams is essential.