The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) is responsible for the safe, reliable, and economic planning and operation of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System. We provide open and non-discriminatory access to Alberta’s interconnected power grid and also facilitate Alberta’s competitive wholesale electricity market. The AESO strives to foster an inclusive, diverse and equitable workplace where people feel respected and welcomed for who they are, together we deliver high performance and innovative results.
Job Description
Reporting to the Manager, Business Solution Services, the Senior Software Development Specialist provides leadership for application development practices across the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO). The role owns the standards, patterns, and enablement approaches that improve the security, reliability, consistency, and long-term sustainability of application solutions.
Working collaboratively with Solution Architecture, Technical Leads, Product Teams, Cyber Security, Data and Artificial Intelligence teams, the role translates approved technology direction into practical engineering practices. It also guides responsible adoption of modern development approaches, including cloud-native solutions, artificial intelligence-assisted development, and governed citizen development.
What You’ll Do
Application Development Standards & Modernization
- Own and evolve application development standards, reusable patterns, reference implementations, and engineering guardrails.
- Enable modernization of business-critical applications by translating approved architecture into secure, scalable, resilient, observable, maintainable, and cost-effective solutions.
- Guide modernization efforts while maintaining reliability and operational continuity.
- Identify technical debt and technology duplication, maintain software development life cycle roadmaps, and provide technical guidance to development teams.
Engineering Excellence & Delivery Enablement
- Establish expectations for secure software development, quality engineering, automated testing, release management, and production readiness.
- Advance Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery practices, deployment automation, security validation, and application observability to improve delivery quality and reliability.
- Coach delivery teams and drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance application performance, recoverability, supportability, and developer effectiveness.
Emerging Technology & Artificial Intelligence Enablement
- Lead the evaluation and responsible adoption of artificial intelligence-assisted development and emerging software delivery capabilities.
- Lead agentic-development trials and document reusable practices for broader adoption.
- Define practical application-level patterns and controls for generative artificial intelligence solutions, including testing, output validation, human oversight, security, monitoring, and cost management.
- Partner with enterprise Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Privacy, Data, Architecture, and delivery teams to align new practices with organizational direction and risk requirements.
Citizen Development & Technical Community Leadership
- Establish risk-based governance, technical guardrails, and transition criteria for low-code, Python-based, automation, and artificial intelligence-enabled citizen-developed solutions.
- Enable adoption through reusable assets, technical coaching, communities of practice, and clear lifecycle-management expectations.
- Monitor adoption outcomes and recommend improvements to controls, tools, training, and support models.
What You’ll Bring
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. A master’s degree in a relevant discipline is considered an asset.
- 15+ years of relevant experience in software development, application modernization, enterprise technology delivery, and engineering leadership.
- Relevant certification or knowledge in cloud technologies, software architecture, Development, Security and Operations (DevSecOps), cybersecurity, or artificial intelligence, with knowledge of The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) or a comparable enterprise architecture methodology.
- Demonstrated experience establishing enterprise software development standards, reusable patterns, governance frameworks, technology roadmaps, and engineering guardrails.
- Demonstrated success modernizing business-critical applications and delivering secure, reliable, scalable, cloud-based, and operationally sustainable solutions.
- Comprehensive knowledge of modern software development and DevSecOps practices, including secure development, automated testing, continuous integration and continuous integration & delivery, deployment automation, production readiness, and observability.
- Experience assessing technical debt, application health, technology lifecycle risks, and opportunities to simplify application portfolios.
- Strong communication, facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and technical coaching capabilities, with experience guiding teams in the responsible adoption of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence-assisted and agent-assisted development practices.
What We Offer
This full-time opportunity offers a competitive salary, paid vacation and flex time, health and dental benefits, mental health support, a defined contribution pension plan, and learning and development opportunities as part of your overall compensation package. We support a hybrid work environment, where the team is in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Mondays and Fridays are flexible for where you work best.
You'll Thrive in This Role If
- You enjoy building enterprise-wide standards that improve consistency, quality, and long-term sustainability.
- You can balance innovation with governance, security, and operational reliability.
- You are passionate about modern software engineering, cloud technologies, DevSecOps, and artificial intelligence.
- You excel at influencing, coaching, and collaborating across technical and business teams.
- You are energized by solving complex technology challenges and enabling teams to deliver better outcomes.
Application deadline: October 30, 2026
#LI-Hybrid
If you are contacted for a pre-screening and/or interview, please advise of any accommodation measures required to enable you to fully participate. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.
The Alberta Electric System Operator is unable to accept unsolicited agency resumes.
The Alberta Electric System Operator, and its members, officers, employees and agents (collectively, the "AESO") is committed to protecting personal information provided to it. When you submit your personal information to the AESO for the purpose of pursuing employment with the AESO, the collection, use and disclosure of personal information is in accordance with the provisions of the Protection of Privacy Act (POPA) of Alberta.
As noted, the AESO is mandated to maintain the safe and reliable operations of the provincial power grid. As part of meeting its obligations, the AESO may require the successful candidate to undergo a criminal background check for the position. This collection of personal information for the purposes of a check will be conducted in accordance with Section 4 of POPA.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, engineering, information technology, or a related discipline, or equivalent education and relevant experience.
- Master’s degree in a relevant discipline.
- 15+ years of relevant experience in software development, application modernization, enterprise technology delivery, and engineering leadership.
- Relevant certification or knowledge in cloud technologies, software architecture, DevSecOps, cybersecurity, or artificial intelligence.
- Knowledge of TOGAF or a comparable enterprise architecture methodology.
- Experience establishing enterprise software development standards, reusable patterns, governance frameworks, technology roadmaps, and engineering guardrails.
- Experience modernizing business-critical applications and delivering secure, reliable, scalable, cloud-based, operationally sustainable solutions.
- Comprehensive knowledge of modern software development and DevSecOps practices, including secure development, automated testing, continuous integration and delivery, deployment automation, production readiness, and observability.
- Experience assessing technical debt, application health, technology lifecycle risks, and opportunities to simplify application portfolios.
- Strong communication, facilitation, stakeholder engagement, and technical coaching capabilities.
- Experience guiding responsible adoption of emerging technologies, including AI-assisted and agent-assisted development practices.
What We Do
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) manages and operates the provincial power grid. We're a not-for-profit organization serving in the public interest. We work with industry partners and the government to make sure reliable power is there when you need it. Whatever changes happen in the world, Albertans can rely on us to manage the electricity markets and meet your energy needs. From integrating renewable energy into your life to developing the grid, the future for electricity in Alberta looks bright. What do we do Manage and plan the power grid 24 hours a day When you need power, you expect it. We work with industry partners to keep electricity flowing throughout the province. Our system controllers balance supply and demand 24/7, making sure four million Albertans have power when they need it. Manage and operate the energy markets In Alberta, companies own generation, transmission and distribution facilities. We dispatch the power sold by generators, using the lowest-priced electricity first and then the next lowest until the need for power has been satisfied. We also enforce transmission tariffs and regulations, keeping the market fair and open for everyone. Plan the future of the system and its infrastructure As Alberta grows, so does its need for electricity. We plan ahead and expand the grid, ensuring the right transmission lines are built as efficiently as possible. As the province moves away from coal-fired power plants, we're enabling investment in renewable energy. In everything we do, our eye is always on the future
