Expert Grid Innovation Engineer

PG&E•Oakland, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

PG&E is seeking a curious, tenacious professional to support cross-departmental innovation efforts on its electric transmission grid. The role is suited to someone with a strong foundation in electric power systems and a product-oriented mindset. It offers the opportunity to influence how California’s transmission grid evolves to support electrification, data center growth, and emerging energy technologies. Successful solutions may affect future transmission planning and operational practices at PG&E and across the utility industry. The successful candidate begins with a six-month rotation in Transmission Planning to learn PG&E’s planning processes, tools, and interconnection challenges, then transitions into the Grid Innovation role to apply those insights to transmission innovation initiatives. The work calls for collaboration, empathy, technical fluency, and systems thinking, connecting transmission planning with real-time operations and technical solutions with customer needs. This is a hybrid position, working from a remote office and the assigned Oakland, California work location based on business need. The team expects attendance at the Oakland office up to several days per month. The role requires up to 20% travel throughout PG&E’s service territory. The salary range is $140,000 to $238,000 for the Bay Area, with the expected range between the minimum and midpoint; the position is also eligible for PG&E discretionary incentive compensation programs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent experience.
Experience with grid modeling software such as CYMDIST, PSLF, TARA, Aspen, or similar tools.
Seven years of electric utility-related experience.
Ability to lead and influence cross-functional technical teams and project stakeholders.
Strong communication and presentation skills, including the ability to translate complex technical information into clear, actionable insights for audiences at all levels.
Ability to adapt to change and pivot quickly, with a bias for action and results.
Ability to be creative, versatile, efficient, and productive amid ambiguity and change.
Ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives that impact multiple business functions.
Ability to define and enforce feature-development priorities, prevent scope creep, and deliver impactful iterative results.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
Eight or more years of electric utility, transmission planning, transmission operations, or related power systems experience.
Previous experience in power flow, short circuit, and transient studies.
Previous experience writing code using Python and EPCL.
Familiarity with NERC TPL-001-05, MOD-26, and MOD-32 standards.
Experience with grid digital twins, AI/ML applications, and advanced analytics.
Experience evaluating DERMS, EMS, ADMS, or grid flexibility management platforms.
Experience supporting large-load, hyperscale, or data center interconnections.
Experience evaluating emerging technologies or startups, or conducting technical due diligence.
Technology innovation, R&D, or pilot deployment experience.
Advanced degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) in Electrical Engineering or a related field.

Responsibilities

Lead innovation for transmission grid transformation.
Drive the assessment and development of new technologies and processes to expand grid capacity and flexibility.
Collaborate with internal teams, utilities, and vendors to evaluate and iterate on innovative solutions.
Benchmark industry best practices for large-load interconnections, especially data centers.
Keep customer experience central to solution development.
Develop business plans describing expected benefits and costs of innovative solutions, considering rate and system impacts.
Translate technical findings into executive summaries that inform enterprise decision-making.
Pilot, learn from, and scale novel transmission solutions.
Establish cross-functional teams and project governance for technology pilots affecting large-load customers.
Turn complex discussions and uncertainty into tactical checklists of clear next steps, following PG&E’s Lean Operating System.
Facilitate cross-functional evaluations of pilot outcomes and develop recommendations for scaling successful solutions.
Evaluate solution feasibility, operational readiness, and scalability, and develop implementation roadmaps from concept through deployment.
Support emerging relevant priorities across GRID.
Serve as a transmission innovation subject matter expert at PG&E-hosted events such as Pitch Fest.