Principal Engineer, Franchise & ROW
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 authoritative 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 associated network infrastructure. The position provides technical leadership, governance, mentorship, and quality control across external vendor partners and cross-functional teams, without direct people-management responsibilities. It establishes standards, playbooks, and negotiation parameters for rapid, legally sound, and compliant network deployment. The role may be based at any US Verizon hub location and follows a hybrid schedule: work from home and at least three days per week in the office, with the work location set by the manager. Scheduled hours are 40 per week, and travel is approximately 10% at most.
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 subject matter 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 Contract Lifecycle Management processes, including drafting, internal stage-gate approvals, post-execution compliance, and renewal.
- Thorough understanding of real estate title examination, including a 30–50-year chain 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 (JD), 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.
- 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 terms 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 every stage of the contract lifecycle, from request and generation through 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.
- Route and consolidate contract redlines across Legal, Risk Management, OSP Engineering, Finance, and Tax to produce 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 mechanisms for turnkey ROW vendor partners, holding them accountable to operational guidelines, linear-foot price benchmarks, and sourcing timeline SLAs.
- Provide technical governance, mentorship, and quality control across vendors and cross-functional teams without direct people-management responsibilities.
- Solve complex regulatory and property challenges with agility, provide candid input during strategic evaluations, and take ownership of compliant infrastructure outcomes.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 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
- Incentive-based compensation with potential to earn more
- Potential premium pay, including overtime, shift differential, holiday pay, and allowances
- Up to 15 days of vacation per year for newly hired employees, increasing with additional service
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
