What makes utility IT hiring different

  • Long horizons. Core systems stay in place for many years, so the reasons behind their configuration outlast the people who made them.
  • Operational consequence. A billing error reaches customers, and a control system problem can reach the grid. Change discipline matters more than speed.
  • A regulator as a stakeholder. Rate changes, security standards and audits shape how work gets done and documented.
  • Legacy and modernization at the same time. Most teams run an older platform while planning or building the next one, and need people who can do both.

The areas, and what to look for

Customer and billing systems

Oracle CC&B, Customer Cloud Service and C2M, or SAP IS-U and S/4HANA Utilities. This is the most utility-specific skill set in IT, and the hardest to replace when someone leaves. Look for production ownership of billing, rates and the data that feeds them. See the Oracle CC&B hiring guide and the SAP hiring guide.

ERP and finance

SAP S/4HANA, Oracle ERP and the finance, procurement and asset processes around them. Utility experience helps, but strong people from other regulated industries can often make the move.

Microsoft platforms

Azure, Power Platform, Power BI and Dynamics 365. Look for people who have built things the business still uses, with the governance to keep them supportable.

Cloud, infrastructure and reliability

Site reliability engineering, DevOps and CI/CD, automation, monitoring and infrastructure operations. Look for incident experience and change discipline, and comfort with environments where some systems can't go down for maintenance on short notice.

Cybersecurity, identity and OT security

Enterprise security and identity, plus operational technology security around control systems. For OT roles, say whether you need someone who has built a NERC CIP compliance program or someone who works within one. The two are different hires.

Service management

ServiceNow ITSM, ITOM and SecOps. Look for people who have shaped processes, not only configured forms, and who understand how field and control-room teams raise and track work.

Integration and data

Interfaces, integration platforms such as Oracle Integration Cloud, data conversion, reporting and analytics. Look for someone who has owned an interface in production and can explain what happens when it fails.

IT leadership

CIO, VP, director and program leadership roles. Define the seat honestly, including what's broken, and assess against it rather than a generic profile. See IT executive search.

Decide which seats are permanent

Not every seat should be permanent. Programs need surge capacity and specialist depth for defined phases, and contract specialists are often the right answer for those, which our parent company, Mako Professionals, handles.

The seats that own a system after go-live are different. For each core capability, such as rate configuration, the integration layer, security or release management, ask who owns it permanently and who their successor is. Where nobody does, that capability is on loan. Fill owner seats before go-live, so new owners learn the decisions from the people who made them. We explain this in knowledge continuity in utility IT and permanent vs contract for core CIS teams.

A hiring brief that works

  • The system or area, the version or platform, and where its programs stand
  • The work the hire will own two years from now, in one sentence
  • Configuration, development, operations or leadership, and in what proportion
  • Which requirements need utility experience and which can come from other industries
  • Location, work arrangement, on-call and any site access
  • The compensation range, if you have one
  • Who interviews, and how quickly you can move

Five questions that work for any IT role

  1. "What's one change you owned from request to production?" Listen for their own decisions, not the team's.
  2. "Tell me about something that broke, and how you found the cause." Listen for method, not heroics.
  3. "What did you document, and who used it?" Listen for evidence that someone else could carry on their work.
  4. "Which part of your last system did you understand better than anyone else?" Listen for depth they can prove with an example.
  5. "What would make you stay in a role for five years?" Listen for fit with a permanent seat.

Common hiring mistakes

  • Hiring for product names instead of the work the person will own.
  • Requiring utility experience for every role, which shrinks the market without improving the hire.
  • Making every seat contract, so nobody owns the system when the program ends.
  • Hiring permanent owners after go-live instead of before.
  • Running a slow process for candidates who have other options.