Project Manager - NERC CIP (1-Year Contract)

Job Title: Project Manager - NERC CIP (1-Year Contract)
Location: Hammond, IN
Work Model: Hybrid, onsite Tue-Thu, remote Mon & Fri (possible travel to Etna, IN)
Rate: $60–$70/hour
Contract Duration: October 19, 2026 – October 18, 2027
Possibility of Extension: Yes, strong possibility of extension
Employment Type: W-2 Only
Work Authorization: U.S. Citizens Only | Green Card holders also eligible; no visa sponsorship available
Preferred Worksite: 1500 165th Street, Hammond, IN 46320
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM CT, with flexibility as project needs require

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Project Manager to support regulatory compliance and operational readiness activities associated with the certification and commissioning of a new utility Control Center, establishment of a new Physical Security Perimeter (PSP), and onboarding of new Bulk Electric System (BES) Cyber Systems and assets into production operations.

This role will coordinate project activities across NERC CIP, NERC 693, cybersecurity, Operational Technology, Physical Security, Communication & Control, Facilities, Compliance, and operational teams to ensure regulatory requirements are addressed, documented, tested, validated, and ready for audit prior to facility go-live and operational turnover.

The Project Manager will serve as a central point of coordination between project stakeholders and compliance subject matter experts. The role requires strong project planning, schedule and issue management, compliance documentation, stakeholder facilitation, and executive reporting skills, along with the ability to manage competing priorities across technical, operational, cybersecurity, and regulatory workstreams.

The ideal candidate has experience supporting complex utility, infrastructure, cybersecurity, or compliance programs and understands how regulatory requirements must be incorporated into design, construction, testing, commissioning, and operational readiness.

Key Responsibilities

NERC Compliance Program Management

• Lead and coordinate compliance activities associated with the new Control Center implementation.
• Develop and maintain integrated project plans, milestones, dependencies, action items, and regulatory readiness activities.
• Coordinate activities associated with NERC CIP and applicable NERC 693 Reliability Standards.
• Ensure compliance requirements are incorporated into design, construction, testing, commissioning, and operational turnover.
• Maintain visibility into compliance milestones, deliverables, risks, and open issues.
• Partner with compliance SMEs to ensure project teams understand and complete required regulatory activities.

Control Center Certification & Commissioning

• Support certification and commissioning activities for the new Control Center.
• Coordinate readiness activities related to new operational environments, systems, controls, and supporting infrastructure.
• Track regulatory, cybersecurity, operational, and physical-security requirements needed prior to go-live.
• Facilitate readiness reviews and identify gaps that could impact certification, commissioning, or operational turnover.
• Coordinate activities across engineering, facilities, cybersecurity, OT, operations, and compliance stakeholders.
• Help ensure all required controls and evidence are completed prior to production activation.

BES Cyber Systems & Asset Onboarding

• Coordinate onboarding of new Bulk Electric System Cyber Systems and assets into production operations.
• Support commissioning and compliance-readiness activities associated with:
  • BES Cyber Systems
  • Electronic Security Perimeters (ESP)
  • Physical Security Perimeters (PSP)
  • Electronic Access Control and Monitoring Systems (EACMS)
  • Physical Access Control Systems (PACS)
  • Protected Cyber Assets (PCA)
• Work with cybersecurity, OT, physical security, and operational teams to confirm required controls are implemented and validated.
• Track asset-related dependencies, approvals, testing activities, and documentation.

Compliance Documentation & Evidence Management

• Develop and maintain compliance readiness plans, evidence repositories, audit packages, and transition documentation.
• Ensure required compliance evidence is complete, organized, traceable, and retained appropriately.
• Coordinate collection of evidence from project teams and subject matter experts.
• Review documentation for completeness and alignment with applicable requirements.
• Support preparation for internal reviews, external audits, or regulatory scrutiny.
• Help establish repeatable documentation and evidence-management processes.

NERC CIP Control Validation

• Facilitate compliance reviews for controls associated with CIP-002 through CIP-013.
• Partner with SMEs to validate implementation of required cybersecurity and operational controls.
• Track identified deficiencies, remediation activities, and validation results.
• Coordinate resolution of gaps prior to certification or commissioning milestones.
• Ensure control implementation and supporting evidence remain aligned with project schedules.

Project Planning & Schedule Management

• Build and maintain detailed project plans and compliance-readiness schedules.
• Track milestones, deadlines, dependencies, and deliverables across multiple teams.
• Coordinate work across technical, operational, cybersecurity, facilities, physical security, and compliance functions.
• Identify schedule risks early and work with stakeholders to develop mitigation plans.
• Maintain action logs, RAID logs, decision logs, and other project-control documentation.
• Adjust plans as project needs and commissioning priorities evolve.

Risk, Issue & Dependency Management

• Identify and track compliance, technical, operational, schedule, and resource risks.
• Coordinate mitigation plans and assign clear ownership for corrective actions.
• Manage project dependencies across multiple workstreams.
• Escalate significant risks, deficiencies, or decision points to appropriate leadership.
• Maintain visibility into issues that could affect go-live, certification, audit readiness, or operational turnover.
• Drive open actions through resolution.

Stakeholder & Executive Communication

• Serve as a central point of coordination between project teams and compliance subject matter experts.
• Facilitate project meetings, compliance reviews, readiness sessions, and decision-making discussions.
• Prepare executive-ready status reports, risk summaries, milestone updates, and readiness presentations.
• Communicate complex regulatory and technical issues clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ensure project teams remain aligned on priorities, deadlines, responsibilities, and compliance expectations.
• Maintain clear and consistent communication across internal and external stakeholders.

Operational Turnover & Sustainment

• Facilitate operational turnover and sustainment planning for newly commissioned systems and assets.
• Ensure compliance ownership transitions successfully from project teams to ongoing operations.
• Coordinate development of transition documentation, procedures, ownership models, and support requirements.
• Confirm ongoing operational teams understand required controls, evidence obligations, and compliance responsibilities.
• Track turnover readiness and outstanding transition actions through completion.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Coordinate NERC CIP and NERC 693 compliance activities across multiple project workstreams.
• Maintain project schedules, milestones, action logs, risks, and dependencies.
• Facilitate meetings with cybersecurity, OT, physical security, facilities, operations, and compliance teams.
• Track commissioning and certification readiness for the new Control Center.
• Coordinate onboarding of BES Cyber Systems and related assets.
• Collect, organize, and validate compliance evidence.
• Prepare audit-readiness documentation and project status reports.
• Monitor deficiencies and remediation activities.
• Prepare leadership updates and executive presentations.
• Support operational turnover and compliance sustainment planning.
• Escalate issues that could impact regulatory readiness or go-live.

Required Qualifications

• Experience managing complex compliance, infrastructure, cybersecurity, or operational projects involving multiple business functions.
• Strong project planning, schedule management, issue management, and executive reporting capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities across technical, operational, cybersecurity, and compliance teams.
• Experience supporting Control Center construction, migration, certification, commissioning, or operational readiness initiatives.
• Understanding of Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity and utility operational environments.
• Ability to interpret regulatory requirements and translate them into actionable project deliverables, controls, and milestones.
• Strong documentation, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Experience developing and maintaining project plans, RAID logs, action trackers, status reports, and readiness documentation.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with technical SMEs, project teams, operational stakeholders, and leadership.
• Ability to work independently while coordinating across multiple workstreams.
• Ability to travel to Hammond, IN or other project locations as needed.

Required Training & Access

• Ability to successfully complete applicable Personnel Risk Assessment requirements.
• Ability to complete required NERC CIP training modules.
• Ability to meet any additional security, access, or compliance requirements associated with the project environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of NERC CIP Reliability Standards.
• Familiarity with applicable NERC 693 requirements.
• Utility transmission or electric operations experience.
• Experience supporting Critical Infrastructure Protection programs.
• Experience commissioning or onboarding:
  • BES Cyber Systems
  • Substations
  • Generation assets
  • Transmission assets
  • OT environments
• Experience with Archer or similar Governance, Risk, and Compliance platforms.
• PMP certification.
• Experience supporting regulated utility Control Center environments.
• Experience preparing compliance evidence, audit packages, or regulatory documentation.

Core Competencies

• Project Management
• NERC CIP
• NERC 693
• Regulatory Compliance
• Control Center Readiness
• Commissioning
• BES Cyber Systems
• Operational Technology
• Cybersecurity
• Physical Security
• Compliance Evidence Management
• Audit Readiness
• Risk & Issue Management
• Schedule Management
• Regulatory Documentation
• Operational Turnover
• Executive Reporting
• Stakeholder Facilitation
• Archer
• Utility Operations

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a strong project manager with experience coordinating complex utility, cybersecurity, infrastructure, or regulatory compliance initiatives. They should be comfortable working across technical and operational teams, translating regulatory requirements into clear project actions, maintaining detailed compliance evidence, and driving readiness toward critical commissioning and go-live milestones.

The strongest candidates will bring direct exposure to NERC CIP, Control Center environments, BES Cyber Systems, OT cybersecurity, or Critical Infrastructure Protection programs, along with the organizational discipline and communication skills needed to coordinate numerous stakeholders and ensure compliance readiness before operational turnover.