Principal Engineer, Franchise & ROW

Verizon • Basking Ridge, NJ

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

As a Principal Engineer on Verizon’s AI Connect team, reporting to the Associate Director of Franchise & Right of Way (ROW), this role is the lead individual contributor and subject matter expert in public franchise acquisition, municipal regulatory strategy, private ROW easements, and end-to-end Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM). The role guides the legal, regulatory, and property-rights frameworks needed to construct, protect, and maintain long-haul fiber-optic cables and related network infrastructure. It provides technical governance, mentorship, and quality control across external vendors and cross-functional teams without direct people-management responsibilities, establishing standards, playbooks, and negotiation parameters for rapid, legally sound, and compliant network deployment.

The role may be based at any US-based Verizon hub location. It is hybrid, with a defined work location that includes working from home and at least three days per week in the office. Travel of approximately 10% may be required. Scheduled weekly hours are 40.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or four or more years of work experience.
• Six or more years of relevant individual-contributor experience in public utility franchise acquisition, telecom right-of-way, municipal regulatory affairs, or commercial real estate law.
• Deep expertise navigating municipal codes, state franchise statutes, and public rights-of-way regulations.
• Extensive hands-on experience negotiating complex franchise agreements, private utility easements, and railroad or DOT encroachment permits.
• Demonstrated mastery of CLM processes, from drafting and internal stage-gate approvals through post-execution compliance and renewal.
• Thorough understanding of real estate title examination, including 30-to-50-year chains of title, boundary and centerline surveys, and recording requirements.
• Willingness to travel up to approximately 10% of the time.
• Valid driver’s license.

Nice To Haves

• Juris Doctor, master’s degree, or Senior Right of Way Professional (SR/WA) designation.
• Direct experience securing franchises and private easements along long-haul fiber routes or outside plant telecommunications networks.
• Proven track record conducting FOIA or open-records requests and competitive parity analyses with local governments.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or equivalent credentials.
• Experience establishing standard operating procedures, price guidelines, and compliance-tracking playbooks for large-scale infrastructure deployments.
• Experience presenting at city council hearings, planning commissions, or regulatory proceedings.
• Exceptional negotiation, legal redlining, analytical, and executive communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Direct end-to-end acquisition, regulatory evaluation, and due diligence frameworks for public franchise agreements, municipal encroachment authorizations, and private or commercial easements.
• Structure and negotiate complex, non-standard agreements with Local Franchise Authorities, state DOTs, commercial property owners, and government entities, protecting corporate interests such as relocation reimbursements, non-discriminatory fee parity, and termination rights.
• Govern all stages of the contract lifecycle, including request, generation, negotiation, approval, execution, capture, compliance, reporting and audit, review and amendment, and renewal.
• Develop outreach strategies for Local Franchise Authorities, advance permit-only advocacy to expedite deployment, and lead competitive agreement audits using FOIA and public records to prevent discriminatory conditions.
• Coordinate and consolidate contract redlines across Legal, Risk Management, OSP Engineering, Finance, and Tax to develop optimized master agreements.
• Set technical standards and review centerline surveys, 30-to-50-year title searches, environmental assessments, and county recording filings to ensure clean property rights.
• Establish playbooks, standardized templates, and quality-control processes for turnkey ROW vendors, holding them accountable to operational guidelines, linear-foot price benchmarks, and sourcing timeline SLAs.
• Address complex regulatory and property challenges with agility, provide candid input during strategic evaluations, and take ownership of compliant infrastructure outcomes.
• Provide governance, mentorship, and quality control across vendor partners and cross-functional teams without direct people-management responsibilities.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Short- and long-term disability insurance
• Basic and supplemental life insurance
• AD&D insurance
• Identity theft protection
• Pet insurance
• Group home and auto insurance
• Matched 401(k) savings plan
• Up to 8 company-paid holidays per year
• Up to 6 personal days per year
• Paid parental leave
• Adoption assistance
• Tuition assistance
• Other incentives and an award-winning total rewards package
• Potential premium pay, including overtime, shift differential, holiday pay, and allowances, depending on the role
• Up to 15 days of vacation per year for newly hired employees, increasing with additional service

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal