A Software Engineer at Omaha Public Power (OPPD) plays a critical role in modernizing and securing the technology infrastructure that powers communities across southeastern Nebraska. Unlike typical software companies, Omaha Public Power is a public utility company, which means its engineering efforts directly impact grid reliability, customer safety, and clean energy initiatives. Software engineers here build and maintain the digital backbone that supports energy distribution, customer experience portals, and enterprise integrations.

In this role, you will contribute to high-impact projects ranging from cloud modernization and API development to platform engineering and Salesforce architecture. The systems you design and support must be highly reliable, secure, and capable of handling complex integrations between legacy utility systems and modern cloud environments. By leveraging modern tech stacks like AWS, TypeScript, Java, and Salesforce, the engineering team ensures that both internal operations and customer-facing applications run seamlessly.

Working as a Software Engineer at Omaha Public Power offers a unique blend of mission-driven work and technical challenge. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams of developers, system architects, and business stakeholders to transition legacy infrastructure into highly scalable, cloud-native solutions. Your contributions will directly support the utility's commitment to delivering affordable, reliable, and environmentally sensitive energy services.

The following questions are representative of what you can expect during the hiring process at Omaha Public Power. They are compiled from real interview experiences to help you identify key patterns and themes, rather than to serve as a list for rote memorization.

Behavioral & Culture Fit

These questions assess your alignment with the company's public-service mission, your ability to handle stress, and how you collaborate within a team.

• Why do you want to work for a public utility company like Omaha Public Power?
• Tell me about a time when you had to manage a high-stress situation or a project under tight deadlines. How did you handle it?

To succeed in the Omaha Public Power interview process, you must prepare to demonstrate both technical competence and strong behavioral alignment. The hiring team values practical, real-world experience over theoretical puzzle-solving.

Role-Related Knowledge – You must be ready to discuss your experience with the specific technologies listed in the job posting, such as Java, AWS, TypeScript, or Salesforce. Be prepared to explain the "why" behind your technical decisions, including design patterns, security practices, and integration strategies.

Problem-Solving & Adaptability – Interviewers want to see how you approach real-world engineering challenges, especially when dealing with legacy systems or ambiguous requirements. Focus on explaining your structured troubleshooting methodology and how you minimize system downtime.

Collaboration & Stress Management – Because utility environments involve critical infrastructure, the ability to work under pressure and collaborate across teams is highly valued. Be ready to share concrete examples of how you maintain clear communication during system outages or tight deployment windows.

The interview process at Omaha Public Power is designed to be straightforward, focusing heavily on your practical experience and how well you align with the organization's collaborative culture. The process typically moves quickly, though the exact steps may vary slightly depending on the seniority of the role and the specific engineering team.

For some entry-level and mid-level developer positions, the process begins with an online assessment to establish a baseline of technical capability. Following this, or starting directly for more senior roles, candidates undergo a recruiter screen. This is followed by a behavioral panel interview and a technical interview focused on system design and past experiences rather than live coding challenges.

The organization places a strong emphasis on team dynamics and culture fit. Rather than trying to trip you up with hyper-theoretical questions, interviewers are genuinely interested in learning about your previous projects, how you handle workplace challenges, and your interest in supporting critical public infrastructure.

The timeline shown above outlines the typical progression a candidate goes through from application to offer. Most candidates report that the stages move relatively fast, often wrapping up within a few weeks once the initial interviews begin. You should use this timeline to pace your preparation, focusing first on behavioral alignment and resume deep-dives, followed by system architecture concepts.

Behavioral & Culture Alignment

Omaha Public Power values collaborative, mission-driven professionals who can communicate effectively and manage the unique pressures of supporting public infrastructure. This area evaluates how you handle conflict, manage stress, and contribute to a positive team environment.

Be ready to go over:

• The STAR Method – Structuring your behavioral answers by clearly defining the Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
• Stress and Pressure Management – Demonstrating how you stay calm, analytical, and productive when critical systems encounter issues.
• Continuous Learning – Highlighting your desire to grow technically and your willingness to mentor others.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Navigating cross-functional stakeholder communication and managing expectations during large-scale enterprise transitions.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time when you and a teammate disagreed on a technical approach. How did you resolve the conflict?"
• "Tell me about a project that did not go as planned. What did you learn, and how did you pivot?"

System Integration & Cloud Architecture

For roles focusing on Java-based API development, AWS, or Salesforce, interviewers will evaluate your ability to design robust, scalable, and secure integrations. They want to know how you modernize systems without disrupting ongoing utility operations.

Be ready to go over:

• API Design – Best practices for RESTful API development, data serialization, and secure authentication.
• Cloud-Native Services – Leveraging AWS services, serverless architectures, and infrastructure-as-code (AWS CDK).
• Legacy System Integration – Strategies for connecting modern cloud platforms with on-premises databases and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Event-driven architectures, message queuing (e.g., RabbitMQ, SQS), and microservices orchestration.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you design an API integration that syncs real-time customer usage data from an on-premises database to a cloud-based portal?"
• "What security measures do you implement when exposing internal services to third-party integrations?"

As a Software Engineer at Omaha Public Power, your daily responsibilities will center around building, modernizing, and maintaining critical software systems. You will work closely with other engineers, product owners, and business analysts to deliver software solutions that meet high standards of reliability and security.

Your primary deliverables will include developing clean, maintainable code using technologies such as Java, TypeScript, or Salesforce, depending on your specific team alignment. You will design and deploy secure APIs, migrate legacy services to AWS cloud environments, and build integrations that allow disparate enterprise systems to communicate efficiently. Additionally, you will participate in code reviews, write automated tests, and contribute to continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines to ensure software quality.

Collaboration is a key aspect of this role. You will actively participate in agile ceremonies, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives. You will also coordinate with cybersecurity and operations teams to ensure all software deployments comply with industry regulations and internal security standards, keeping the utility's data and grid infrastructure secure.