Senior System Operator

Date: December 15, 2025

Location: Mississauga or Toronto

Requisition ID: 20728

Status: Temporary up to 30 months

Business Unit: Markets and Reliability

Why join us?

The IESO is committed to ensuring Ontario’s electricity system meets the province’s needs today and into the future. We are charged with purpose, delivering reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity for homes, businesses, and communities across the province. We are energized to grow, embracing opportunities to shape the future of a dynamic and evolving energy sector while advancing our careers. We are powered by teamwork, supported by diverse and passionate colleagues who foster respect, celebrate successes, and thrive on shared achievements. At the IESO, it’s not just what we do—it’s who we are! 

Who we are

Our central role includes managing the provincial power grid in real-time, overseeing and evolving Ontario’s electricity market, engaging with government, municipalities and Indigenous communities, and planning for Ontario’s future electricity needs. Our employees play a key role in driving grid innovation, protecting the system from threats, advancing the province’s energy conservation programs, and forecasting and procuring the electricity resources we’ll need in the decades to come. 
This role is a part of the Enabling Resources Program. This is a union job. 

What makes this role exciting

The energy sector is rapidly evolving, offering exciting new opportunities for those who want to make a difference.

The Senior System Operator works collaboratively with members of the core ERP team, supporting SMEs, vendors, and external stakeholders to design, validate, and integrate storage, hybrids, and DERs into the IESO Controlled Grid (ICG) and the IESO-Administered Markets (IAMs) to ensure a reliable, competitively priced and sustainable electricity supply for the province and help fulfill the IESO’s roles of Reliability Coordinator, Transmission Operator and Balancing Authority for the province of Ontario.

The Program is looking for one Senior System Operator to support and facilitate the design and implementation of the Storage/Hybrid and/or DER streams of work as needed based on Program priorities and timelines. This role will interact with the external sector, software vendors, and numerous IESO areas such as Enterprise Change, Information & Technology Services (I&TS), Markets & Reliability (“M&R”), Settlements, the Market Assessment & Compliance Division (“MACD”), and Power System Development (“PSD”) to name a few.

As a senior member of the ERP Team, the Senior System Operator will support the development and implementation of ERP work streams by leveraging their experience fulfilling the IESO’s roles as Reliability Coordinator, Transmission Operator and Balancing Authority for the province of Ontario by administering the IESO Controlled Grid (“ICG”) and the IAM on a minute-to-minute basis ensuring a reliable, competitively-priced and sustainable electricity supply for the province

What you’ll do

In this role, you’ll make a meaningful impact by contributing to the IESO team and supporting the electricity needs of the province through:

• Support design and implementation activities for the Storage/Hybrid project and/or DER project
• Lead design activities and decisions, working with Subject Matter Experts (SME) across various IESO business units
• Address questions and concerns from vendors, line of business SMEs and others related to design and/or implementation of the ERP projects
• Provide expertise and guidance from a Control Room Operator perspective to support the core ERP team, line of business SMEs, and vendors
• Support project deliverables such as design documents, testing documents, updates to manuals and procedures, etc
• Support external stakeholder engagement activities
• Mentor staff, contribute to training programs, and support certification and technical development.

In a typical day, you will work collaboratively with members of the core ERP team, supporting SMEs, vendors, and external stakeholders to design, validate, and integrate storage, hybrids, and DERs into the ICG and the IAM to ensure a reliable, competitively priced and sustainable electricity supply for the province and help fulfill the IESO’s roles of Reliability Coordinator, Transmission Operator and Balancing Authority for the province of Ontario. 

Right now, this position is part of the Enabling Resources Program (“ERP” or ”Program”) is a set of projects that will enable key emerging resources, specifically electricity storage (“storage”), hybrid generation-storage pairings (“hybrids”) and Distributed Energy Resources (“DERs”) into the IESO-administered markets (“IAM”) including their tools and processes. The aim of ERP is to allow these resources to more effectively provide required system services and contribute to the safe and reliable operation of the bulk power system in Ontario.

The aim of ERP is to allow these resources to more effectively provide required system services and contribute to the safe and reliable operation of the bulk power system in Ontario.

Role Requirements

Our team consists of experts from diverse backgrounds, each bringing their unique perspectives and skills. 
To succeed in this role, you’ll need: 

• Experience as a Control Room Operator 
• Strong knowledge in electrical theory, power system design, operation and control, associated mathematics and computer applications to undertake system control and management of the IESO-controlled grid. 
• Required analytical and marketing skills, knowledge of technical writing to prepare reports, and oral and written fluency for effective communication
• This knowledge is considered to be normally acquired through post-graduate education beyond secondary school plus further extensive theoretical study of subjects pertinent to the electrical discipline and the specialty area of the work function
• Requires significant experience to acquire an in-depth understanding of the Interconnected Power System Operations, NERC and NPCC guidelines; of Agreements; of Technical Directives; of Market Rules; of Market Participants; of the Facilities Description documents; of pertinent Station Data, and of all EMS-related software programs. 
• Requires experience with analytical studies and the application of PC operations including program management and organization of files and directories and various software.  Requires some coaching skills and experience to lead others in the system management. 
• A period of over 8 years and up to and including 10 years is considered necessary to gain this experience

How We Support You

From a comprehensive total rewards program to dynamic learning and development opportunities—including job rotations to broaden your expertise—we empower you to define and shape your own success. When you join the IESO, here’s what you can expect:

• Best-in-class benefits and long-term support in the form of a defined benefit pension plan. 
• Work in a dynamic and evolving sector that offers exciting opportunities and the chance to explore new career paths.
• Leadership that values meaningful discussions, welcomes feedback, and prioritizes career development. 
• A strong, inclusive culture and a collaborative team environment with a shared passion for impactful work.
• Compensation packages that are regularly reviewed to remain competitive and to best accommodate the diverse needs of our employees. 

Deadline

January 5, 2026. For future reference, please save a copy of the job posting as it will no longer be available once the posting closes.

Thank you for your interest in a career at the IESO. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Please note that the successful candidate must be legally eligible to work in Canada and will be subject to applicable background checks. 

IESO will not conduct interviews or offer positions via online, text, chat or social media platforms. We will not gather personal information directly from candidates or potential candidates. Selected candidates will work with our Talent Acquisition team to ensure their application is processed.

We believe in opportunities for everyone. At the IESO, we know that achieving great results depends on embracing diversity by attracting, developing, and retaining people from a wide variety of backgrounds. We do this by ensuring our recruitment and advancement policies are fair and equitable, and by creating an accessible and inclusive environment—one that values every team member’s unique skills and experiences and ensures they have the support they need to achieve their potential. If you require accommodation during the recruitment process, please let us know.  

We’re proud to say we’ve been recognized as a supportive, inclusive employer.