Careers
WAPA IS HIRING
The pension is real, and it is not the only thing.
Federal employees get a defined-benefit pension, a 401(k)-style plan with a 5 percent match, and health insurance that follows you into retirement. WAPA adds a few things of its own on top.
Three pay systems
General Schedule (GS)
Office, professional, technical, and administrative jobs. Fifteen grades, ten steps each, with locality pay added for where you work. Most jobs post as a ladder with promotions built in.
Wage Board
Craft, trade, and labor jobs, paid hourly. Rates are negotiated with IBEW and benchmarked against utilities in the region. Overtime and shift differentials apply.
Administratively Determined
Dispatchers and energy schedulers under the Dispatcher Pay Plan. Fixed rates set to compete with the utility industry, separate from the GS scale.
Build your future
Pension (FERS)
A lifetime pension based on your years of service and your highest three years of salary, on top of Social Security. Honorable military service can be bought back for credit.
Thrift Savings Plan
The federal 401(k). WAPA puts in 1 percent automatically and matches up to 5 percent of your pay.
Take care of yourself and your family
Health insurance
Dozens of plans to choose from. The government pays about 70 percent of the premium, children are covered to age 26, and coverage continues into retirement.
Dental, vision, life, and long-term care
Group rates on all four. Basic life insurance is automatic.
Employee Assistance Program
Free, confidential counseling, plus financial and legal consultation and childcare and eldercare referrals, for you and your family.
Exam reimbursement
Up to $100 toward a routine eye exam and up to $75 toward a physical, for costs your insurance does not cover.
Have a life outside work
Vacation
13 days a year to start, 20 after three years, 26 after fifteen. Up to 240 hours carry over.
Sick leave
13 days a year, and it banks with no cap.
Holidays and parental leave
11 paid federal holidays, and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for a birth, adoption, or foster placement.
Maxiflex
Office and non-shift employees work an 80-hour biweekly schedule with flexibility around core hours, set with your supervisor.
Invest in your career
Student loan repayment
For hard-to-fill positions, WAPA can pay up to $10,000 a year toward your federal student loans, up to $60,000 total, with a three-year service agreement. It is decided before you start, so ask about it when you get an offer.
Tuition assistance
Course-by-course reimbursement for classes related to your job or WAPA’s mission, including classes that also count toward a degree. Federal employees also get reduced tuition at partner universities through OPM’s Federal Academic Alliance.
Training and certifications
3,500 online courses, a yearly development plan you build with your supervisor, leadership programs, contracting certification within two years of hire, and the craft apprenticeship itself.
WAPA extras
Fitness
Onsite fitness centers in Lakewood, Loveland, Phoenix, and Folsom. Anywhere else, WAPA reimburses half of a gym or fitness program membership, up to $500 a year.
Transit subsidy
Up to $325 a month if you take public transportation or a vanpool to work.
Relocation
Offered for some positions and stated in the announcement.
Questions about a job or the application process?
Email pmasscrecruit@wapa.gov.
A real person in Human Resources reads it.
Last modified on October 19th, 2026