Government Client Services Manager - Oahu

Hawaiian Electric Companies•Honolulu, HI

15h

About The Position

We recognize our competitive advantage -- our people. We believe in our people, who share our vision of meeting the needs of our employees, customers, and communities and who carry out the continued success of the company. Our employees are committed to the company's foundational values: integrity, excellence, teamwork, environmental stewardship, and community commitment. In turn, we invest in our employees, providing opportunities for challenge and advancement and offering a competitive compensation package. Posting End Date: This posting will remain open until filled. Early applications are highly encouraged. BRIEF POSTING DESCRIPTION: The P 6V GOVT CLIENT SERVICES Department of the P GOVERNMENT CLIENT SERVICES Division at Hawaiian Electric Company has 1 Management vacancy available. (Role: Professional) JOB FUNCTION: Provides expert, proactive, client management services through development of professional consultative relationships with Hawaiian Electric’s largest customers, specifically Federal, State and City/County clients. Serves as the client’s trusted energy partner and primary point of contact by providing responsive day-to-day account management which may include, among others, operational issues, bill inquiries, usage analysis, new service, outages, complaints, joint infrastructure projects, etc. and coordinating communications, briefings, tours and meetings with key government stakeholders. Assists Government & Community Relations efforts aimed at implementing stakeholder engagement strategies and plans to achieve the Company’s strategic goals and initiatives. Acts as lead role for client communications and coordination during outages and emergencies. Leverages deep client knowledge and understanding to inform company and division strategies and execution.

Requirements

Thorough knowledge of the Company’s regulated utility environment including principles of utility operations, utility rates and tariffs, interconnection programs, decoupling, PBR, demand response, and general energy issues.
Thorough knowledge and demonstrated success in dealing with a wide range of major customer segments and utility related issues.
Working knowledge and demonstrated success of engineering and/or business principles through a college bachelor’s degree or hands on experience in account management, consulting, business, marketing, engineering, utility operations, or similar fields.
Working knowledge of renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency.
Working knowledge of finance and company billing processes.
Extensive working knowledge of personal computers and/or mainframe systems and related software applications (i.e., spreadsheets, word processing, database management, etc.).
Basic knowledge of applicable Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).
Basic knowledge of Federal Utility Energy Service Contracts.
Strong supervisory/leadership skills, including the ability to work with a variety of individuals and demonstrated conflict resolution of sensitive, difficult, or confrontational issues.
Strong and effective interpersonal and communication skills including listening, oral, and writing to effectively communicate with personnel at all levels and the ability to convene and facilitate meetings.
Demonstrated ability to teach, coach, and mentor.
Excellent presentation skills to effectively communicate with executives, elected officials, large/small groups and in one-on-one settings.
Demonstrated ability to work with high self-motivation both independently, as well as collaboratively as one team.
Strong initiative, organizational skills, attention to detail and the ability to prioritize, ensure timely follow-up and complete multiple projects in a judicious manner.
Ability to lead, adapt, persevere, and remain flexible in dynamic and demanding work environments while handling difficult business, political, and financial situations and/or highly sensitive issues, with professionalism and respect.
Creates innovative, out-of-the-box solutions in order to resolve and/or manage towards a positive outcome.
Strong technical, analytical, and organizational skills and the ability to conceptualize new ideas.
Ability to inform, influence, and persuade influential key decision makers and senior level executives while building and maintaining constructive and positive relationships.
Analytical and administrative skills required for assisting with preparing and monitoring forecasts and budgets; and carrying out company/department policies and procedures.
Highly motivated with the ability to manage multiple tasks with minimal supervision.
Must have or be able to qualify for a State of Hawaii driver’s license.
Must meet the standards for driving positions stated in the Hiring Standards for Driving Positions policy. These standards may be adjusted periodically to meet business and safety objectives.
Extensive (7 or more years) professional experience in some concurrent combination of the following fields: government affairs, account management, customer service, engineering, business, marketing, sales, program management, utility operations, consulting, or related fields.
At least three years’ experience of providing government affairs, commercial customer service, or related fields.
Experience in the development, promotion, or implementation of utility, renewable, energy efficiency programs, or related fields.
At least two years in a supervisory position or repeated demonstrated ability to successfully lead a team or group.

Nice To Haves

Graduate level education in one or more of these areas is also desirable and will meet the experience requirement on a year-for-year basis.
Graduate level education in one or more of these areas is also desirable and will meet the experience qualification on a year-for-year basis.

Responsibilities

Provides expert proactive account management services and serves as the professional consultative relationship manager to Federal, State, City/County clients which accounts for 25% of the company’s revenues.
Through on-going communication, builds and maintains positive long-term relationships based on trust, credibility, integrity and responsiveness.
Understands the clients’ needs and requirements – their “big picture” strategic goals.
Manages a two-way relationship between clients and the company, enabling coordination on initiatives of mutual interest.
Leads and manages cross-functional internal teams to address client needs that may span technical, public policy and political issues, including projects involving Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements, Judicial Consent Decrees, and Federal and State Environmental Compliances.
Researches, analyzes data, and prepares various reports for major customers and internal users within the company.
Keeps Business Development (or others as needed) informed of evolving client needs and service gaps and supports development of new customer offerings.
Serves as liaison and client advocate while balancing the interests of the company.
Aims to serve as clients’ primary point of contact, minimizing escalations and handoffs.
Leads resolution of customer inquiries (e.g., pricing, billing, issues and complaints, new service, usage, etc.).
Leads team of subject matter experts throughout the company to resolve complex, technical customer issues (e.g., reliability, power quality, rate and power factor payback analysis, and service upgrades, etc.).
Utilizes knowledge of technologies and equipment to provide comprehensive solutions to customer and company issues.
Manages mutually beneficial opportunities that could qualify for state/federal funding, including distributed resources, demand response, shared solar, grid services, energy efficiency and potential pilot projects.
Provides overall support in coordinating and tracking of communications, briefings and meetings with key government stakeholders (e.g., elected and appointed officials and staff from Federal, State and City/County governments, and related organizations).
Monitors Federal, State, and City/County level legislation across the nation, as well as mandates and concerns to advise the company of developing government client trends, risks, and opportunities.
Assists Government & Community Relations efforts aimed at implementing stakeholder engagement strategies and plans to achieve the Company’s strategic goals and initiatives.
Works closely with and supports the Government Relations division to monitor and address State and County legislative and executive branch issues, bills, and resolutions that affect government clients’ initiatives and operations.
Collaborates with Community Affairs on related government client strategies and initiatives, including identifying and managing critical community issues and concerns that may potentially impact Hawaiian Electric and designing action plans to address them, under potentially adverse conditions.
Acts as a company spokesperson and represents Hawaiian Electric to various organizations to enhance corporate image and promote the company’s goals and initiatives among clients and key stakeholders.
Provides outage and incident information 24/7 as needed to assigned clients and internal stakeholders, including executives.
Responds to callouts or emergencies on weekends or at night, if required, to assist with large scale outage or incident communication to assigned clients.
Regularly and proactively communicates with clients by email, phone, video (Zoom, Teams, etc.) and in person. These communications should go beyond routine check-ins and include updates on Hawaiian Electric’s plans and activities to ensure clients’ basic understanding of the company’s strategic plans, especially how the clients can benefit from decarbonization and resilience strategies.
Anticipates clients’ needs for energy metrics and data and seeks to be a go-to resource to meet clients’ needs.
Manages the planning and execution of meetings and events for government clients, i.e., EXCOM, executive agency calls, etc.
Identify and enable resilience opportunities to strengthen federal and local governments’ critical functions.
Stays current on existing and emergent technologies, electrification of transportation, distributed energy resources, grid services programs, rate design and tariffs relevant to their clients.
Is knowledgeable about current laws, policies and political issues and how they affect their clients.
Seeks opportunities to offer company programs, services and those of partnering/contracted energy services companies, including management of the Company’s Federal Utility Energy Service Contracts program.
For electrification, understands company’s role in creating make-ready infrastructure and fleet conversions; also understands which clients have needs for charging infrastructure.
Plans, coordinates and facilitates meetings with internal and external customers and stakeholders to manage and resolve both major customer and company requests and sensitive issues.
Develops and implements enhanced communication processes/procedures between departments to help better service clients and to improve workforce knowledge and skill.
Assists the Manager with achieving the team’s goals, objectives, and strategic planning.
Represents the Manager in their absence and assists other government client service managers as needed.
Participates as co-lead to coordinate the efforts of the department in the company’s Incident Command Team when activated or during drills.
Participates in Company emergency response activities as assigned, including any activities required to prepare for such emergency response.