Job Abstract

Requisition ID # 158081 

Job Category: Customer Support / Operations 

Job Level: Manager/Principal

Business Unit: Engineering, Planning & Strategy

Work Type: Hybrid

Job Location: Oakland

Department Overview

In 2022, PG&E articulated its True North Strategy (TNS), a bold, breakthrough vision that charts a course over the next 10 years toward achieving our purpose and climate commitments. The Grid Research Innovation and Development (GRID) department is focused on bringing technologies and solutions that support the implementation of TNS from conception to reality. 

The Grid Edge Innovations team within the GRID department is charting the future of the utility and the energy industry by defining how edge technologies will interact with the grid to enable a 24/7/365 clean, resilient, and affordable energy system. The team evaluates, demonstrates and deploys emerging technologies, concepts, and processes that PG&E will need to design and operate the resilient energy system of the future and transform the electric grid from the edges inward.  Toward that end, the team works collaboratively with diverse stakeholders across the enterprise to design, build and test product strategies, roadmaps and implementation plans for innovation. The current focus of the Grid Edge Innovation team is to build and advance products and processes to operationalize Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and grid edge technologies such as solar PV, battery storage, electric vehicles and microgrids. This team is an important bridge between PG&E’s DER policy and strategy and how PG&E will plan for, interconnect and interact with or operate DERs on a day-to-day basis.

Position Summary

This execution and operationally-oriented candidate will lead the DERMS Execution team of PG&E product managers, engineers and contract partners who together are responsible for the deployment and ongoing operations of PG&E’s enterprise Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) as well as the development of new operational processes for DER management. In addition to the execution focus, the DERMS Execution Manager will also support development PG&E’s overall DER strategy working across a number on internal business units to align the DERMS capabilities and roadmap to PG&E’s overall DER and Load Management Strategies.

A strong applicant will be highly organized and motivated, with a strong track record of success in building consensus and managing many moving parts within matrixed teams. This work is highly cross-functional by nature and requires close collaboration internally across Engineering, Planning & Strategy (EP&S), Utility Partnerships & Innovation (UPI), Electric Operations and IT; and with external partners, including regulators, vendors, and other stakeholders including customers. The successful candidate must develop strong relationships across each of these groups to ensure that our extensive investments in the DERMS platform have the greatest impact to realizing our ambitious TNS objectives.

This position is based out of PG&E’s General Office in downtown Oakland, CA. The team has a hybrid work model working both remotely and from the Oakland headquarters several days per month minimum. In-person activities will focus on synchronous collaboration, affinity building, ideation, or planning activities. The role may also require occasional travel to PG&E facilities throughout the service territory.

PG&E is providing the salary range that the company in good faith believes it might pay for this position at the time of the job posting. This compensation range is specific to the locality of the job. The actual salary paid to an individual will be based on multiple factors, including, but not limited to, specific skills, education, licenses or certifications, experience, market value, geographic location, and internal equity. Although we estimate the successful candidate hired into this role will be placed between the entry point and the middle of the range, the decision will be made on a case-by-case basis related to these factors. This job is also eligible to participate in PG&E’s discretionary incentive compensation programs.   

A reasonable salary range is: 

Bay Area Minimum: $136,000       

Bay Area Maximum: $232,000   .

Job Responsibilities

Lead the deployment of PG&E’s DERMS cloud platform

• Lead the implementation of PG&E’s DERMS cloud platform focused on initial prioritized use cases related to DER visibility and management of grid capacity constraints and the consolidation and modernization of Load Management / Demand Response and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) programs
• Support the development the processes and tools to integrate DERMS capabilities into day-to-day utility operations including operational support functions
• Drive coordination between PG&E’s DERMS vendor and DER technology vendors and customers to ensure interoperability and integration

Day to day program leadership and accountability

• Responsible for managing the day to day execution of the DERMS Program
• Define program scope, and roles, and responsibilities and schedule of interdependent workstreams
• Engage with the project execution stakeholders (e.g IT, cybersecurity, ADMS, Load Management, vendors etc.) to leverage PG&E’s Lean Operating System framework of Daily/Weekly/Monthly Operation Reviews (ORs) to drive execution and track progress and manage risks along the way.
• Secure internal and external approvals for the scope, schedule, and budget
• Develop and maintain positive and productive working relationships with project team, vendors and other key stakeholders
• Know how to get things done in a highly matrixed environment, both through formal channels and the informal network
• Create a pathway for scalability and sustainability to push conceptual processes into a business-as-usual operating model

Support PG&E's overall DER technical product strategy and roadmap

• Drive alignment across internal work groups to develop an enterprise DER technology strategy and roadmap
• Align the DERMS capability roadmap with company strategic initiatives related to load management, multi-customer microgrids and Electric Vehicle Grid Integration (VGI)
• Support development of the DERMS application architecture for the future ecosystem of DER Management applications and technologies
• Build credibility with people at all levels, from executive leadership to employees on the front-lines and is seen as a thought leader, both internally and externally

People Leadership

• Create a strong team culture, morale, and a climate where people want to do their best and have a bias to action
• Design practices, processes and procedures that build trust and interdependence within a team
• Inspire and motivate a high performing team to strive for profound impact on the company and industry
• Coach and mentor junior talent
• Foster ownership and accountability across the team

Qualifications

Minimum:

• Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Business, Economics, Engineering, Marketing, Psychology, or related
• 6 years of job-related experience
• Electric industry related experience

Desired:

• Masters in Engineering, Computer Science, or MBA
• Experience leading/managing people
• Experience leading cross cutting programs or technology deployments, with a focus on emerging/innovative technologies
• Demonstrated ability to look for obstacles and remove roadblocks
• Familiarity with California utility regulations, regulatory processes and policy context
• Strong verbal / written communication and presentation skills with demonstrated effectively communicate highly complex ideas with credibility, confidence, and clarity to diverse audiences using a variety of media
• Demonstrated experience in project, product, or program management in the context of utility operations, IT systems or DER product deployment
• Working technical knowledge of overall electric grid design and operations as well as DER technologies such as solar PV, inverters, energy storage etc.
• Strong technical acumen with the ability to understand different distribution management applications and DER functions and platforms
• Awareness and familiarity with tools / applications regularly used by electric distribution or transmission system Operators, Operating Engineers, and Planning Engineers such as: SCADA, Outage Management System (OMS), Distribution Management System (DMS), Power Flow modeling tools (e.g., CYME), Geographic Information System (GIS), operational data historian (e.g., OSISoft Pi)
• Working knowledge of load management and demand response programs, processes and technologies.

Desired Characteristics

• Bias toward action
• Ability to solve unique and complex problems, anticipating issues and developing innovative solutions
• Relentless and versatile learner, quickly able to grasp the essence and underlying issue at work and able to communicate and resolve effectively
• Ability to handle multiple projects and stakeholders and work in a fast-paced environment
• Flexibility in project communication, execution and problem approach when coordinating across various stakeholders.
• Ability to be creative, versatile, productive and positive in the face of ambiguity