Prince George Electric Cooperative (PGEC) is looking for a Member Services Representative (MSR) at our headquarters in Waverly, VA, to support our electric members. The MSR will be responsible for resolving various member requests, processing sales orders, changing service requests, answering billing concerns, and assisting with member service issues. Therefore, successful candidates must be able to identify member needs and have the ability to provide information proactively while retaining services and products tailored to members’ needs. This position will also respond to and update outage information.

Essential Job Functions:

• Assists members and non-members regarding inquiries related to their accounts and cooperative services and products and documents the details of these conversations in the iVUE CIS System to ensure superior service is provided to all members.
• Resolves members’ questions and concerns effectively and efficiently by actively listening, communicating clearly and concisely, and assuring you understand members’ requests.
• Addresses account issues, payments, and delinquent member accounts by making and enforcing special payment arrangements, informing members of energy assistance options, and performing accounts receivable duties in a timely manner to minimize the financial risks to the Cooperative.
• Ensures accurate records are maintained for members and Cooperative facilities by making adjustments, opening and balancing depository receipts, performing daily balancing, processing meter exchanges, creating and assigning service orders, monitoring department data and reports, transferring accounts as necessary, and entering data for services offered by the Cooperative including, but not limited to, load management, parallel metering, incentive programs, and rebate programs.
• Strives for “first call resolution” and minimizes transfers.
• Process new applications, installations, service changes, disconnects, and trouble-call work orders following policies and procedures.
• Works with field technicians on service calls 
• Responds to multiple sources (internally and externally) requests regarding service orders, trouble tickets, troubleshooting, and general service inquiries.
• Provides dispatch services, such as answering initial and routing service calls in the software system.
• Assists with outage calls as needed to help ensure member electric needs are met promptly.
• Resolves billing and payment issues while building rapport with members.
• Takes personal responsibility for ongoing learning and consistent knowledge and understanding of PGEC policies regarding member service: technical, installations, service, billing, products, etc.
• Identifies members’ needs and interests and offers additional products and services that benefit the member and increase member value.
• Creates and maintains accurate records of members’ electric accounts while always preserving confidentiality.
• Represents PGEC in a manner to enhance the Cooperative’s public relations and image.
• Able to handle the high volume of inbound and outbound calls and emails while maintaining quality standards.
• Performs all other duties as required.

EDUCATION:

• A High School diploma or equivalent is required. Associate’s or bachelor’s degree preferred

EXPERIENCE/JOB KNOWLEDGE/ABILITIES/SKILLS:

• Minimum (2+) year of experience in a customer service or call center environment.
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including required documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and online collaboration tools.
• Familiarity with online billing or customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
• Effective communication skills and the ability to work as a team player.
• Proven ability to multi-task and plan and organize work with a high degree of accuracy with attention to detail.
• Demonstrate ability to deal with people in difficult or stressful situations effectively.
• Proven ability to handle inbound and outbound calls and emails.
• Must have the ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing.
• Must have good interpersonal and customer relations skills.
• Must have the ability to work independently to organize and prioritize work and meet deadlines.
• Must be a team player.

Prince George Electric Cooperative is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Sr. Communications Specialist or Communications Specialist (Hybrid position)

Are you an experienced writer and creative storyteller?

Prince George Electric Cooperative (PGEC) is hiring a Sr. Communications Specialist or Communications Specialist who will work in a fast-paced environment, supporting the development and implementation of the marketing and communication department’s internal and external communications and content management for various platforms while promoting the Cooperative’s mission.

The best candidates will have a strong work ethic, able to quickly build friendly connections with members and stakeholders. The candidate must have exceptional verbal and written communication skills with attention to detail. The most successful candidate will be a collaborative team player. This position reports to the Vice President, Human Resources.

This key position’s general responsibilities include:

• Creates editorial plans, researches, and writes member-facing copy for various communication channels and materials.
• Develops, design, and implement communication plans and events, including communicating pertinent information externally with the Cooperative members to drive the PGEC mission.
• Provides internal and external communication support across the cooperative with measurable objectives.
• Assists Operation Department with crisis communication efforts, including outage reporting during and after work hours.
• Coordinates communications and promotion of the Cooperative’s scholarship and Youth Tour Program.
• Creates press guides, media releases, and advertising initiatives and maintains routine relationships with media contacts.
• Works with Supervisor and other team members on coordinated department strategy.
• Responsible for social media marketing to grow high-quality followers and build engagement across social channels.
• Lives the Spirit of Our Cooperative.
• Develops marketing and informational materials that effectively communicate and promote efficient use of electricity and various programs, products, and services provided by PGEC and RURALBAND, a subsidiary of PGEC, offering fiber-to-home internet service provider.
• Oversees the design, creation, production, and distribution of all marketing and communication items purchased from outside vendors.
• Promotes uniformity and consistency of branding for PGEC and RURALBAND in communications, publications, sponsorships, and promotions.
• Performs all other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in English, Journalism, Communications or a related field is required.
• Four years of active writing experience, from human interest storytelling to press releases.
• Strong communication skills; experience with crafting engaging messages and stories.
• Excellent verbal, written, spelling, and grammar skills.
• Experience in developing strategic message plans for multiple audiences and channels.
• Motivated self-starter who works well independently and as part of a team.
• A high degree of professionalism and organizational skills to manage various projects.
• Comfortable networking with cooperative peers and attending industry continuing education.
• Experience with photography, Microsoft Suite, and desktop publishing software
• Ability to work accurately and consistently to meet deadlines
• Bilingual preferred but not required.

Physical Demands:

• Requires physical ability in reaching, stooping, standing, walking, lifting, and lifting small objects with the fingers, grasping, talking, hearing, repetitive operations, and defined sedentary work—visual acuity required with administrative machine operation.

Working Conditions

• Most of the duties are performed inside, except for photography for magazines, outdoor representation at community events, and social media.
• Daytime hours may fluctuate, and occasional evenings and weekends will be required to support co-op needs.
• Some overnight and air travel are required for conferences, training, and community outreach events.
• The employee must be available for on-call communication needs on evenings and weekends and able to respond to emergencies on-site and in person as needed.
• This position is safety-sensitive, and employees must be able to comply with the co-op’s safety policies, procedures, rules, and regulations.
• Speak clearly and listen carefully; manual dexterity and visual acuity are required to perform the duties of this job.
• The employee must stand, climb stairs, walk, and reach with hands and arms.
• The employee must occasionally lift and move up to 25 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities include close vision, peripheral vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

This position will report Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This position may be required to work hours outside regular working hours and on weekends to support the cooperative during events or emergencies.

Other Duties:

Please note that this position description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. In addition, duties, obligations, and activities may change at any time or without notice.

Prince George Electric Cooperative (PGEC) and RURALBAND, a subsidiary of PGEC, are not-for-profit electric distribution and fiber services member-owned cooperatives. The Cooperative is a leader in electric distribution and fiber optic broadband and is headquartered in Waverly, Virginia. PGEC serves six counties, including Prince George, Surry, Sussex, Southampton, Isle of Wight, and Dinwiddie, with over 1300 miles of energized lines, over 12,000 electric members, and over 3,500 fiber members.

HR Specialist

Prince George Electric Cooperative (PGEC) is seeking an HR Specialist. The HR Specialist is responsible for human resources-related activities under the direction of the VP of Human Resources. The HR Specialist will administer company programs, procedures, and policies; coordinate new employee hiring processes; coordinate HR-related training programs; be a resource for employees and management to improve and support the mission of Prince George Electric Cooperative and RURALBAND.

Essential Job Functions:

• Supports the administration of personnel activities, including recruitment, selection, and placement of personnel, wage and salary administration, job descriptions, and educational, health, safety, and incentive programs.
• Establishes and maintains a working relationship with fellow employees and external relations with actuaries, accountants, insurance companies, trade associations, and government agencies.
• Maintains confidentiality in all Human Resource Department activities to protect the privacy of employees and management.
• Process day-to-day changes concerning employee benefits and salary adjustments to ensure accurate records and timely adjustments.
• Conducts individual and group benefit meetings for all employees to ensure they are appropriately enrolled in programs. Help research and answer policy, payroll, and benefit-related questions.
• Ensures compliance of current and past personnel and medical files to meet government regulations and company requirements (filing, record retention, etc.) and to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Ensures maintenance of up-to-date employee/retiree/inactive electronic records to provide prompt and accurate information to meet departmental needs.
• Assists in compliance with Federal, State, and local employment laws (excluding safety and environmental regulations) to demonstrate the company's commitment to our current and future employees.
• Stays abreast of HR-related education, updates, techniques, and products and makes recommendations to ensure a competitive employee benefits package and departmental efficiency.
• Facilitates the entire recruiting process, working with supervisors to attract and retain the best candidates.
• Communicates employee status changes with payroll and the HR Benefits Administrator to ensure timely and accurate information.
• Responds to authorized requests for information and verification of employment for other employers, banking professionals, etc., to ensure accurate and timely reporting.
• Process unemployment forms and address agency determinations to ensure accurate and fair results for the company and former employees.
• Develops and maintains relationships with vendors concerning benefits, staffing services, and new products and services to provide the company and employees with appropriate options and value.

Education

• Requires general working knowledge of the Human Resource function and a minimum of two years of related experience.
• Requires in-depth knowledge of company benefits, policies, and procedures. 
• Requires general working knowledge of company products, goals, strategies, and plans. This knowledge is typically attained by one year of experience.
• Requires general working knowledge of computers and computer software. 

This position will report Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This position may be required to work hours outside regular working hours and on weekends to support the cooperative during events or emergencies.

Prince George Electric Cooperative is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

IT MANAGER

JOB SUMMARY:

We want to meet you if you are passionate about security and data protection. We are looking for an IT Manager to develop and maintain functional and secure networks. The IT Manager will mentor a team of engineers to troubleshoot and optimize our networks for our users. Successful candidates should have excellent problem-solving skills and thorough network administration and architecture knowledge. Your goal will be to establish networks catering to our members' needs. The successful candidate will also get hands-on designing and implementing functional network infrastructure.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Design and deploy functional networks (LAN, WLAN, WAN)
• Configure and install software, servers, routers, and other network devices
• Monitor network performance and integrity
• Resolve issues tiers of support have escalated by troubleshooting local and remote network/server infrastructure
• Automate tasks and monitor their effectiveness
• Mentor team members on technical issues
• Create, oversee, and test security measures (e.g., access authentication and disaster recovery)
• Communicate with users when needed
• Maintain complete technical documentation
• Suggest improvements to network performance, capacity, and scalability
• Resolving issues that tiers of support have escalated
• Mentoring other team members
• Perform other duties as assigned

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

EDUCATION: 5+ years of experience. Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, Engineering, or a related field.

KNOWLEDGE/ABILITIES AND SKILLS:

• Industry-related experience as an IT Manager, Senior Network Engineer, or Network Administrator
• Professional certification (e.g., CCNP, CCDP)
• Solid background in network administration and architecture
• In-depth understanding of communication protocols (mainly TCP/IP) and routing protocols (e.g., BGP, OSPF)
• Familiarity with access control models and network security
• Knowledge of coding languages for scripting (e.g., Python, Perl, KRON)
• Experience with network diagnostic, monitoring, and analysis tools (e.g., Security Onion, CISCO FMD)
• Solid understanding of network operating systems (Calix-Telecom, Cisco IOS)
• Sharp troubleshooting skills
• Ability to work independently
• Organizational and mentoring skills

RURALBAND, a Prince George Electric Cooperative (PGEC) subsidiary, is looking for an experienced Fiber Network Engineer to join our team as we build a “world class” gigabit Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network. This position will report to the RURALBAND’s General Manager. The Fiber Network Engineer will be responsible for the design and development of the fiber-optic network.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

The primary focus of this position is to manage & maintain all aspects of our FTTH network. The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal skills such as communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Additionally, this position will analyze and resolve technical problems with the Calix system and corresponding infrastructure, including but not limited to system configuration, deployment, and maintenance of the Calix ring infrastructure.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES:

• Responsible for developing, monitoring, and troubleshooting the RURALBAND Fiber Optic Network.
• Deploys and maintains LANs, WANs, DMZs, and wireless networks, including routers, firewalls, WAPs, switches, UPSs, and other hardware.
• Supports the substation electronics, internal networks, and hardware switches configuration on Calix driven platform.
• Designs and develops hardware topology and VLAN segmentation required for routing traffic from a service point to the data center independently.
• Responsible for Cyber security considerations and experience in managing system resiliency are required.
• Resolves problems of any scope related to the fiber network.
• Provides and documents solutions to problems via proven diagnostic techniques.
• Tracks, manages, and documents all aspects of fiber optic network using Calix equipment and cable management.
• Ensures fiber plant database is accurate and up to date by inputting physical fiber asset data and fiber inventory and circuit assignments into the data management systems.
• Coordinates materials and assignment processes (materials/resource availability, provisioning and configuring equipment, equipment testing, service needs, and assignments and scheduling) related to installation, repair, and maintenance needed.
• Configures, installs, and supports station-level electronics related to Calix, Cisco, Juniper, and Sienna switches.
• Assists with cabinet design & layout (site identification, electronics installation, and project coordination.)
• Works with field technicians on service calls and provisioning issues.
• Support end-users (members) at the ONT level when issues are escalated.
• Responds to multiple sources (customer/teammates) requests regarding trouble tickets, troubleshooting, and general service information.
• Researches, develops, and recommends policies, procedures, reports, documentation systems, and resource materials.
• Responsible for the assurance of prompt assistance and timely resolution of issues for Wholesale and Key Accounts.
• Provides education to customers and teammates related to troubleshooting and support.
• Assists in determining requirements for future growth.
• Research existing databases, files, and records for network design, fiber optimization, and new aggregation points.
• Designs routes for fiber-based services, including point to point, Ring, and path diverse routing.
• Assists in reviewing requirements, developing solutions, and conducting cost assessments for pre-sales opportunities.
• Provides concise weekly updates to management and effectively presents project status to leadership.
• Takes initiative to stay current on skills and industry standards.
• Perform all other duties as needed and assigned.

The successful candidate will have the following knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience areas below:

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical field required. Networking Certifications and advanced degree are desirable.

JOB KNOWLEDGE

• 3 years of experience working in an Internet Service Provider environment.
• Experience with FTTH, DSL, or cable architectures, switches, and firewall technology, and an advanced understanding of layer 1, 2, and 3 network protocols are required.
• Experience with ISP, IT, Cable, Cellular, VoIP, or other telecom experience is a must:
• Depth of working on a Linux-based environment in the configuration of switches, routers, VLANs, and troubleshooting is a must.
• Windows, Linux, Mac, TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, telephony, and security devices.
• VoIP including Latency & Jitter management and MOS scores, QoS,
• VPNs, Wi-Fi, network address translation (NAT), and NMS tools.
• Ability to read blueprints, schematics, and drawings.
• Prior experience utilizing Google Earth and how to produce a professional and detailed KMZ file and can interpret outside plant construction KMZ.
• Proficiency in the MS Office Suite, in particular MS Excel.
• Proficient with fiber plant concepts and designs. (Feeder/distribution cables, color codes, x-connects, fiber characteristics, DB loss and attenuation, FTTH designs.
• Prior fiber design experience that includes ring configurations, FTTH projects, and backbone builds.
• Knowledge of GIS-based platforms and fiber inventory systems.
• FTTH network planning and design experience.
• Knowledge of ISP, building entrances, and NESC.
• Familiar with POM equipment
• A proven ability to multi-task and plan/organize work to meet deadlines; with accuracy and attention to detail. Experience establishing and participating in a 24/7 responsive, on-call services support team. Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with demonstrated problem-solving abilities.
• Effective communication skills and the ability to work as a team player.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT:

This position will require work hours outside of the normal business to meet project deadlines. In addition:

• Hours may fluctuate to support network outages or service degradation.
• Occasional travel is required for off-site training & research, as well as travel throughout the service territory.
• On-call duty will be required on a rotating schedule.

Prince George Electric Cooperative is seeking a qualified IT Systems Administrator who will be involved in all technology areas at the Cooperative, including end-user support, network, and systems support, as well as new technology planning and installation.

Essential Job Duties:

The duties listed are not exhaustive, with exact duties determined by the employee’s skill level and experience.

• Responsible for providing timely and friendly end-user support for issues of varying complexity (desktop/network/production applications, network, telecommunications, and hardware).
• Independently resolve problems of easy to moderate scope. Provide and document solutions to problems via proven diagnostic techniques.
• Assist with PC deployment, including PC imaging and customization.
• Own the responsibility for maintenance, update/upgrade, and monitoring of corporate network with Cisco Firepower.
• Ability to modify and update the Firewalls to meet the organizational requirements.
• Have a good understanding of the Cybersecurity/Cyber awareness initiatives to implement across organizational platforms.
• Ability to support fiber network implementing CALIX Management System is required.
• Ability to own and drive the assigned projects to completion with measurable results.
• Deploy and/or maintain LANs, WANs, DMZs, and wireless networks, including routers, firewalls, WAPs, switches, UPSs, and other hardware.
• Ensure integrity and availability of the Cooperative’s information assets by maintaining business continuity plans that include backups and disaster recovery.
• Support multiple complex commercial off-the-shelf packages and cloud services used throughout the organization.
• Support network security elements, including firewalls, VPNs, and intrusion detection systems.
• Ensure successful backups and replication to a disaster recovery center.
• Work with the VP of IT and functional team leads in successfully implementing new technologies and assigned project initiatives.
• Assist in the monitoring and troubleshooting the broadband subsidiaries’ network and end-user connectivity issues.
• Participation in cooperative strategy and initiatives.

Qualifications

• Experience with Cisco network equipment, including Cisco FMC, VMware virtualization, Pure storage, Cisco UCS servers, Veeam backup, VOIP phones, Office 365, IDS/IPS technologies, and Manage Engine, is required.
• Cisco and Microsoft Certifications are a plus.
• Associate degree or higher in Information Technology desired.
• Possess and maintain a valid state driver’s license.

Working conditions:

Generally, working in an office environment and outside conditions such as power substations may also be required. Will be required to be available after hours and on weekends in emergency situations.

Physical requirements:

Regularly lift and carry up to 20 pounds and infrequently required to lift, push and pull up to 40 pounds.

This position will report Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This position may be required to work hours outside regular working hours and on weekends to support the cooperative during events or emergencies.

Prince George Electric Cooperative is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.