Principal Program Manager, AI Solutions for Electric Assets

Requisition ID # 161035 

Job Category: Project / Program Management 

Job Level: Manager/Principal

Business Unit: Engineering, Planning & Strategy

Work Type: Hybrid

Job Location: Oakland

 

 

Department Overview

 

Department: Research & Development (R&D) Operations

R&D Operations: Join the R&D Operations team within PG&E’s Grid Research Innovation & Development (GRID) department and help us change the electric utility industry from the inside!

 

In 2022, PG&E articulated its True North Strategy (TNS), a bold breakthrough vision that charts a course toward achieving our purpose and climate commitments over the next 10 years. The mission of R&D Operations, where this role sits, is to ensure that PG&E can bring the technologies that support the TNS vision of a resilient, decarbonized, optimized energy system from conception to reality through a rigorous R&D practice. To do so, R&D Operations leads efforts like the creation of PG&E’s R&D Strategy Report, PG&E’s Innovation Summit and Innovation Pitch Fest.

 

Our team also administers PG&E’s participation in California’s Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) program. EPIC enables PG&E and other California organizations to test and pilot novel technology solutions to meet emerging grid needs. PG&E is currently running its 4th EPIC cycle and preparing for the 5th.

 

Finally, in addition to articulating what needs to be solved through the R&D Strategy Report and EPIC, R&D Operations is chartered with building PG&E’s capacity to identify, test, and deploy novel solutions and technologies to address these gaps. R&D Operations is developing an end-to-end R&D management practice (“R&D Playbook”) attuned to the nuances of early-stage product development to guide R&D efforts across the utility.

 

Department: Electric Asset Management (EAM)

The Electric Asset Management (EAM) is responsible for the electric system engineering and planning, asset strategy, and risk management across transmission, distribution, and substation asset families. The team leverages a data-driven, standards-based and risk-informed approach to manage electric asset and system health, capacity, and performance. The organization is accountable for asset planning and strategy, standards and work methods, and asset data management for Electric.

 

As part of the EAM team, the Data Management & Analytics organization is responsible for guiding the acquisition, management, quality, and access of PG&E’s electric asset data. The team’s objective is to maximize the use of and ensure the trustworthiness of PG&E’s critical electric data assets and includes the development of analytic and situational intelligence tools that leverage this critical data.

 

Position Summary

The successful candidate will report directly to the Director of R&D Operations and will work under joint direction of the project sponsor (Director of Data Management & Analytics) and the Director of R&D Operations. 

 

PG&E’s distribution and transmission Asset Registry is a business-critical database used to track the inventory and characteristics (attributes) of its electric assets. PG&E is implementing a pilot program to develop, test and deploy innovative artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to systematically and cost-effectively validate and improve its Asset Registry. The pilot program will also test the ability of AI solutions to assets to detect and characterize visible issues affecting asset health. AI solutions will primarily focus on the development and testing of computer vision models.

 

By applying machine learning models to predict and identify asset types, attributes, and their conditions using field-collected images, we seek to improve the results of human-based data management and inspection activity by making them more scalable, cost-effective, safer, and more standardized.

 

The Principal Program Manager will lead a team of data scientists and asset managers in designing, developing and testing AI computer vision models to characterize electric assets and condition-related issues with those assets.

 

The successful candidate will use results from the pilot to help develop and refine PG&E’s strategy to scale and operationalize the pilot.

 

The position will handle the day-to-day implementation of the pilot, including but not limited to budget monitoring, running requests for proposals, contracting with vendors, internal and external stakeholder engagement, providing direction to and managing consultants and vendors, creatively solving emergent issues, and reporting out on pilot results.

 

The successful candidate will be able to effectively lead this project across a large group of diverse stakeholders including PG&E employees and vendors, manage ambiguity and make forward progress in situations when they are presented with incomplete information. They will engage in deep collaboration and change management with other internal teams and vendors to design, build and evaluate solutions as well as define a path to scale and operationalize successful models.

 

This position is hybrid, working from your remote office and your assigned work location based on business need. The preferred work location is Oakland, CA.

 

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: $140,000

Bay Area Maximum: $238,000

 

 

Job Responsibilities

• Project Management – develop and manage the project budget, metrics/KPIs reporting, and day-to-day pilot implementation activities
• Project Reporting – establish agile ceremonies, lean practices and reporting, including but not limited to daily, weekly and monthly operating reviews, monthly progress reports, and the project close out report
• Vendor Management – manage competitive procurement process including solicitation and evaluation of bids; define and manage vendor deliverables to schedule and budget
• Cross-functional Collaboration – facilitate internal and external stakeholder activities necessary to support implementation, understand barriers, and identify / implement solutions.
• AI Model Development and Testing – partner with the Data Science team to define an approach to AI model development, testing and evaluation; manage implementation of agreed approach
• Strategy Development – support the development of the broader strategy in support of project objectives including definition of a plan and IT architecture to scale successful pilot results
• Research and Problem Solving – work with internal and external partners to benchmark and analyze approaches; develop recommendations for project team

 

 

Qualifications

Minimum:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience in Business, Public Administration, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Social Science, Community Development or related discipline.
• 10 years of related experience in a program management, project management, business/research analyst or management/environmental consulting role.

 

Desired:

• You enjoy working with others, have invested time and effort into building your communication skills, and have experience collaborating across different stakeholders.
• Experience managing or supporting research/studies that include one or more of the following: market sizing, benchmarking, customer surveys, in-depth interviews and technology assessments.
• Knowledge of/experience with electric assets and artificial intelligence models, particularly computer vision models
• Works well in ambiguous environments and is flexible to take on different responsibilities.
• Transforms strategy into well-articulated business and technical requirements, and effectively informs model direction and prioritization. 
• Experience as part of a data science or software development team.
• Detail oriented with excellent organization and time management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to present findings, make recommendations and influence decisions.
• Strong analytical, written, and oral communication skills
• Experience working with external stakeholders and demonstrated ability to navigate project roadblocks with internal and external stakeholders.
• Dedication to delivering the highest quality of work.
• Experience working at or with electric utilities and/or municipalities/authorities having jurisdiction.
• Interest, willingness, and aptitude to learn new subjects and keep up with technology trends.
• Proven ability to adapt to and improve existing processes

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