Careers
WAPA IS HIRING
Every career it takes to keep the lights on.
WAPA moves federal hydropower across 15 western and Great Plains states on more than 17,000 miles of transmission line. Linemen, engineers, dispatchers, contract specialists, biologists, and IT specialists all work here. Every one of them is a federal employee.
Not ready to apply? Set a USAJOBS alert and we will come to you when the right job opens.
15
States where we work
51
Duty stations
1,500+
Employees
50+
Occupations we hire for
Find your place at WAPA
Office and professional careers
Engineering, IT and cyber, contracting, land and environment, HR and communications, power marketing, and more. Most are General Schedule jobs with a career ladder built in.
Craft and operations careers
Line crews, electricians, meter and relay, communications, dispatch, and other hands-on careers. Paid apprenticeships that end in a journeyman card and a federal pension.
Not sure where you fit? Explore both, or learn what WAPA does first.
Hiring paths
Federal hiring has a few doors most people never hear about. If one of these describes you, it can put you ahead in line or skip the line entirely.
Pathways internships pay you while you are still in school and can convert straight to a permanent job when you graduate. We hire interns in engineering, IT, contracting, and power marketing, with recent graduate positions for people up to two years out (six years for veterans with a service obligation).
If you served and separated under honorable conditions, or you are the spouse of an active-duty member or veteran, you may qualify for veterans preference or for a hiring authority that lets WAPA appoint you without open competition. Roughly a third of federal employees are veterans, and craft and dispatch work suits people used to shift work and working as a crew.
A four-year, eight-step apprenticeship registered with the Department of Labor. You are a full-time federal employee from day one, with a raise at every step, and you finish as a journeyman lineman, electrician, meter and relay craftsman, or electronic equipment craftsman.
Federal agencies can hire people with disabilities under the Schedule A hiring authority without open competition. You can also apply to any job the ordinary way. Reasonable accommodations are part of how we work.
Utility, engineering, construction, IT, environmental, contracting, and business experience transfers directly into federal service. You do not need previous federal experience for any job marked Open to the public, and your ydears count toward your starting step. Start with the career page that matches your work, then read How to Apply so the federal resume does not trip you up.
Status candidates can apply to merit promotion announcements, and WAPA fills a lot of jobs from other agencies. If you have competitive service status, look for the announcement marked MP.
Where we work
Most office and professional jobs are in six places: headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado, and regional offices in Billings, Loveland, Phoenix, Folsom, and Montrose. Craft, field, and control room jobs are spread across 45 more duty stations, many of them small towns. Every announcement lists the duty station, so check it before you apply.
Met us at a recruiting event?
Explore the careers above, learn how federal hiring works, or set up a USAJOBS alert so you know when the right WAPA job opens.
Questions about a job or the application process?
Email pmasscrecruit@wapa.gov.
A real person in Human Resources reads it.
Last modified on October 22nd, 2026