Expert Grid Innovation Engineer

Pacific Gas And Electric Company•Oakland, CA

2d•$140,000 - $238,000•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 suits someone with a strong foundation in electric power systems and a product-oriented mindset and skill set. The successful candidate will help influence how California’s transmission grid evolves to support electrification, data center growth, and emerging energy technologies. Solutions developed in this role may influence future transmission planning and operational practices at PG&E and across the utility industry. The assignment begins with a six-month rotation in Transmission Planning to build understanding of PG&E’s planning processes, tools, and interconnection challenges. The employee will then transition to the Grid Innovation role and apply those insights to transmission innovation initiatives. The work requires 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 based from a remote office and the assigned Oakland, California work location according to business needs. The team expects work from the Oakland office up to several days per month, and the role requires up to 20% travel throughout PG&E’s service territory. The position is eligible to participate in PG&E discretionary incentive compensation programs. The listed Bay Area salary range is $140,000 to $238,000, with the expected range between the minimum and midpoint ($189,000); actual pay depends on factors including skills, education, certifications, experience, market value, and geographic location.

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 strong 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 affect 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 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 the customer experience central to solution development.
Develop business plans describing expected benefits and costs of innovative solutions, including rate and systems impacts.
Translate technical findings into executive summaries that inform enterprise decision-making.
Establish cross-functional teams and project governance to pilot novel technology solutions with real impacts on large-load customers.
Translate 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 recommend scaling successful solutions.
Evaluate solution feasibility, operational readiness, and scalability, and develop implementation roadmaps from concept through deployment.
Provide flexible support for emerging relevant priorities across GRID.
Act as a transmission innovation subject matter expert at PG&E-hosted events such as Pitch Fest.