Technical Business Development Strategist – Transmission Planning

Electric Power Engineers • Austin, TX

1d • Remote

About The Position

We are designing the grid of the future! As a Technical Business Development Strategist – Transmission Planning , you will bridge deep transmission planning and power systems expertise with market strategy and business development to help EPE identify, shape, and pursue meaningful opportunities with utilities, transmission owners, and ISO/RTOs. This is not a traditional sales role. You will bring first-hand technical and industry experience to understand the challenges transmission organizations face, identify where EPE can provide value, and engage utility and ISO/RTO leaders as a credible technical partner. You will work closely with EPE’s Transmission Planning leadership and Business Development team to evaluate markets, research clients, identify the right stakeholders, develop targeted account strategies, and translate technical and regulatory challenges into actionable opportunities and scopes of work. You will stay connected to evolving engineering practices and industry developments while building relationships with transmission planning engineers, managers, directors, executives, and other key industry stakeholders. Success in this role means helping EPE pursue the right clients, with the right services, at the right time, for the right reasons.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in transmission planning, power systems engineering, electric utility operations, ISO/RTO planning, engineering consulting, or a closely related field.
• Significant hands-on experience performing or overseeing transmission system studies and analyses.
• Demonstrated experience working with electric utilities, transmission owners, ISO/RTOs, or other bulk power system organizations.
• Strong understanding of how transmission planning organizations operate, including the interaction among planning, operations, interconnection, engineering, regulatory, procurement, and executive stakeholders.
• Experience developing technical scopes, proposals, study plans, engineering recommendations, reports, or similar client deliverables.
• Demonstrated ability to establish credibility and communicate effectively with highly technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong technical knowledge of transmission system planning and bulk electric system performance.
• Working knowledge of power flow, contingency analysis, short circuit, transient stability, voltage stability, interconnection, and other core transmission planning methodologies.
• Familiarity with emerging transmission challenges associated with inverter-based resources, large electronic loads, data centers, renewable generation, BESS, system strength, and changing grid dynamics.
• Knowledge of EMT applications and the role of high-fidelity simulation in evaluating control interactions, sub-synchronous phenomena, ride-through performance, wide-area system behavior, HVDC, FACTS, and advanced power electronic technologies.
• Understanding of NERC reliability standards, FERC requirements, ISO/RTO planning processes, and regional transmission planning practices.
• Ability to understand regulatory filings, transmission plans, interconnection activity, capital programs, industry publications, and other sources of market intelligence and identify implications for EPE’s services.
• Ability to connect regulatory, technical, reliability, operational, and investment drivers to specific client needs and potential consulting opportunities.
• Ability to translate complex transmission system challenges into well-defined technical scopes of work.
• Strong research and analytical capabilities with the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources into actionable client and market strategies.
• Strong consultative communication skills and the ability to engage naturally with utility and ISO/RTO engineers, managers, directors, and executives.
• Ability to independently research target accounts, identify appropriate stakeholders, develop engagement strategies, and advance opportunities.
• Strong technical writing skills with the ability to develop proposals, scopes of work, presentations, and client-facing materials.
• Ability to communicate complex engineering concepts clearly to both technical and business audiences.
• Ability to work collaboratively across Business Development and Transmission Planning while independently driving assigned client strategies and initiatives.
• Demonstrated curiosity and ability to uncover client needs through thoughtful technical and strategic questioning.
• Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to develop trust through technical credibility rather than traditional sales techniques.
• Willingness and ability to travel to client meetings, conferences, industry events, and EPE offices as needed.

Nice To Haves

• 10+ years of transmission planning, utility, ISO/RTO, or power systems consulting experience.
• Prior employment with an electric utility, transmission owner, ISO/RTO, or regional transmission organization in transmission planning, system planning, interconnection, operations, or a related function.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license or advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems, or a related discipline.
• Experience with one or more major North American planning regions or footprints, including ERCOT, MISO, PJM, SERC, IESO, AECI, or other ISO/RTO and utility planning environments.
• Experience performing or managing large-load, generation interconnection, renewable integration, stability, EMT, or other advanced transmission studies.
• Experience with industry-standard transmission planning tools such as PSS®E, TARA, PSLF, DSATools, PSCAD, or EMTP-RV.
• Existing relationships within the electric utility and transmission industry and demonstrated ability to build new relationships across technical and leadership organizations.
• Experience with technical consulting, business development, account strategy, proposal development, or client advisory services.
• Demonstrated involvement in industry working groups, technical committees, conferences, or other forums addressing emerging transmission system challenges.

Responsibilities

• Develop a strong understanding of the North American transmission market and identify where EPE’s Transmission Planning capabilities align with current and emerging utility and ISO/RTO needs.
• Conduct targeted research on utilities, transmission owners, and ISO/RTOs, including transmission expansion plans, regional planning processes, regulatory filings, interconnection queues, reliability needs, large-load growth, generation retirements, renewable integration, transmission investments, and other relevant market signals.
• Monitor regulatory, policy, reliability, and market developments from FERC, NERC, regional entities, state regulators, ISO/RTOs, and utilities and translate those developments into potential opportunities for EPE.
• Monitor emerging technical challenges affecting the bulk power system, including large-load integration, data center development, increasing penetration of inverter-based resources, system strength, stability, transmission expansion, and changing resource characteristics.
• Identify clients facing technical or regulatory challenges that align with EPE’s capabilities and develop a clear rationale for why, when, and how EPE should engage.
• Develop data-informed target client lists and business development strategies in partnership with Transmission Planning leadership and the broader Business Development organization.
• Help establish meaningful business development goals based on addressable market opportunities, client needs, historical performance, market intelligence, regulatory drivers, and anticipated transmission investment.
• Identify emerging service opportunities and provide market feedback to Transmission Planning leadership to help shape EPE’s future technical offerings and capabilities.
• Serve as a technically credible representative of EPE in conversations with utility and ISO/RTO engineers, managers, directors, executives, and other technical stakeholders.
• Engage clients in meaningful technical discussions to understand system challenges, planning needs, interconnection activity, reliability concerns, resource constraints, study requirements, and future initiatives.
• Understand and effectively communicate EPE’s capabilities across transmission planning disciplines, including steady-state, short-circuit, transient and voltage stability, electromagnetic transient (EMT), interconnection, large-load integration, and related transmission studies.
• Recognize client challenges that may require advanced studies involving inverter-based resources, data centers and other large electronic loads, renewable generation, BESS, HVDC, FACTS devices, system strength, control interactions, ride-through performance, and other emerging technologies.
• Ask informed technical and business questions that uncover needs beyond the immediate request and identify opportunities for broader or longer-term support.
• Translate technical challenges into potential EPE solutions and communicate how EPE’s capabilities can address client reliability, planning, regulatory, operational, and infrastructure objectives.
• Build trusted relationships by demonstrating technical knowledge, industry awareness, curiosity, and an understanding of how transmission organizations plan and operate their systems.
• Support early-stage technical discussions and help shape opportunities before they become formal procurements or RFPs.
• Research target utilities, transmission owners, and ISO/RTOs to identify key decision-makers, technical leaders, managers, directors, procurement stakeholders, and other individuals relevant to EPE’s Transmission Planning services.
• Leverage industry experience, professional networks, EPE relationships, employee backgrounds, industry organizations, working groups, and other available resources to identify meaningful paths into target accounts.
• Understand client organizational structures and determine which stakeholders influence or own specific transmission planning needs and purchasing decisions.
• Partner with Business Development Managers and Account Managers to develop coordinated outreach and account strategies.
• Develop account-specific engagement plans defining target stakeholders, technical challenges, relevant EPE capabilities, regulatory and market drivers, relationship gaps, competitive considerations, and recommended next actions.
• Expand relationships beyond individual points of contact to establish broader connectivity across planning, operations, interconnection, engineering, asset management, regulatory, procurement, and executive organizations where appropriate.
• Support both white-space client development and expansion of EPE’s Transmission Planning services within existing accounts.
• Work directly with Transmission Planning leadership and technical subject matter experts to convert identified client needs into qualified business opportunities.
• Help define preliminary scopes of work, technical approaches, study requirements, deliverables, assumptions, schedules, and resource needs based on client discussions.
• Develop substantial portions of technical proposals and scopes of work independently, with Transmission Planning leadership and subject matter experts providing final technical validation and approval as appropriate.
• Understand the appropriate study methodologies and tools sufficiently to help scope opportunities involving power flow, short circuit, stability, EMT, interconnection, large loads, and other transmission planning analyses.
• Lead or support proposal strategy, positioning, differentiators, win themes, and technical messaging for strategic pursuits.
• Participate in RFP reviews and bid/no-bid discussions by evaluating client relationships, technical fit, competitive positioning, resource needs, market intelligence, and likelihood of success.
• Maintain continuity from initial market signal through client engagement, opportunity development, proposal development, and handoff to the technical delivery organization.
• Capture and communicate client and market feedback to improve future proposals, service offerings, positioning, and business development strategies.
• Maintain sufficient technical involvement to remain current on transmission planning practices, modeling approaches, reliability requirements, emerging technologies, and industry challenges.
• Periodically support or participate in transmission planning studies or strategic technical initiatives to maintain practical familiarity with EPE’s work, methodologies, and capabilities.
• Maintain awareness of industry-standard transmission planning and simulation tools such as PSS®E, TARA, PSLF, DSATools, PSCAD, EMTP-RV, and related platforms.
• Stay informed on evolving study methodologies associated with inverter-based resources, large electronic loads, data centers, wide-area EMT modeling, system strength, grid-forming technologies, HVDC, FACTS, and other emerging transmission technologies.
• Collaborate with technical leaders and subject matter experts to understand new methodologies, tools, services, lessons learned, and evolving client requirements.
• Participate in relevant industry working groups, technical committees, and forums to maintain awareness of emerging challenges and contribute to EPE’s industry presence.
• Represent EPE at targeted industry conferences, technical forums, utility meetings, ISO/RTO events, summits, and other strategic engagements.
• Use industry events as a source of market intelligence, relationship development, technical learning, and opportunity identification rather than solely as networking activities.
• Share relevant market, regulatory, competitive, and technical intelligence with Business Development and Transmission Planning leadership.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits including medical, dental, and vision with 100% premium coverage for you
• Generous PTO and paid holidays
• MyShare Employee Ownership Program
• Work with industry leaders
• 401K, up to a 4% match (100% vested from day 1)

What This Job Offers

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