AE Wildfire Mitigation Program Manager

City of Austin

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Under limited direction, this position reduces wildfire risk by creating resilience through proactive planning, analytics, technology, operational excellence, strategic partnerships, and compliance for the electric system. AE Wildfire Mitigation Program Manager Purpose: Under limited direction, this position reduces wildfire risk by creating resilience through proactive planning, analytics, technology, operational excellence, strategic partnerships, and compliance for the electric system.

Requirements

Knowledge of applicable processes, techniques, and methods in developing and implementing a wildfire management program for a utility.
Knowledge of methods and principles of fire suppression, fire investigation, and fire prevention.
Knowledge of the utility industry: trends, issues, business operations, safety practices, and regulations.
Knowledge of Federal, State, and Local laws and ordinances governing the electric utility industry.
Knowledge of electric industry reliability practices, policies, procedures, and standards.
Knowledge of electric utility engineering or construction standards and practices.
Knowledge of fiscal planning and budget preparation.
Knowledge and skill in process improvement concepts, methods, and practices (Six Sigma, Agile, etc.).
Knowledge of technology and capabilities that reduce potential wildfire damages through proper selection of resources, system improvements, and early warning detection systems that increase human safety.
Skill in oral and written communication.
Skill in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of risk.
Interpersonal and collaboration skills to effectively partner with leaders and peers and facilitate effective cross-functional team building.
Ability to develop wildfire management plans and carry out fire preventions programs, coordinating with others, and interpreting policy.
Ability to work with frequent interruptions and changes in priorities.
Ability to quickly recognize, analyze, and respond to irregular events.
Ability to train others.
Graduation with a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework related to the job, plus five (5) years of experience in wildfire mitigation, fire suppression, fire investigation, or fire management to include at least one (1) year of experience related to electric utility system operations.
Proficient in standard office and risk analysis software.
Strong skills in Microsoft Office 365 and experience with online collaboration platforms (e.g., SharePoint, Teams, or similar).
Experience managing multi-million-dollar O&M and project budgets.
Skilled in developing service level agreements that support program goals and ensure accountability through strong, collaborative relationships.
Experience in representing organizational priorities in contract negotiations and advancing long term, achievable contract objectives.
Ability to travel to multiple worksites as part of regular duties.
This position requires a criminal background investigation.

Nice To Haves

Graduation with a master’s degree from an accredited college or university in a related field may substitute for two (2) years of experience.
Experience with electric distribution design and electric distribution construction standards and practices including grid hardening solutions.
Ability to produce high-quality documentation by writing clear and well-structured explanations of mitigation programs, risk assessment methodologies, and technical assessments.
Experience with data visualization tools, basic database querying, GIS data, and familiarity with generative AI.
Experience leading technology projects.
Ability to improve decision tooling and governance: develop and maintain standard operation procedures, dashboards, decision logs, and after-action reviews; track and report outcomes to internal and external stakeholders.
The ideal candidate for this position will provide analysis and operational support related to wildfire risk analysis and fire weather forecasting.
This role will deliver timely and accurate insights that inform risk modeling, enhanced setting decisions, operational readiness, action plans, and real-time situational awareness.
The Austin Energy Wildfire Mitigation Program Manager works in close coordination with transmission, distribution, engineering/design, emergency management, enterprise risk teams and represents Austin Energy in community, state, and national wildfire committees.

Responsibilities

Leads wildfire mitigation activities for Austin Energy (AE) by developing and establishing program goals, objectives, and strategies.
Acts as a change agent; monitors and evaluates program effectiveness; develops and implements strategies for continuous improvement.
Serves as a wildfire mitigation expert and provides authoritative knowledge, analysis, advice, and recommendations that ensure effective risk management and mitigation.
Coordinates and collaborates with internal and external stakeholders in interactions involving wildfire risk trends, common issues and best practices, and the development of effective mitigation strategies.
Creates, maintains, and communicates AE’s Wildfire Mitigation Plan and Public Safety Power Shutoff program.
Leads department strategic projects and initiatives under the Wildfire Mitigation Plan.
Develops cross-divisional project teams across all the organization’s functional areas.
Identifies and maintains wildfire risk metrics and key performance metrics for each initiative.
Demonstrates and quantifies the reduction of risk due to the programs put in place.
Establishes and maintains controls and reporting to manage and monitor budget, scope, quality, schedule, and risks across the portfolio of wildfire mitigation projects; maintains overall program completion that is on time and within budget.
May be responsible for the full range of supervisory activities including selection, training, evaluation, counseling, and recommendation for dismissal.
Assess, monitor, and predict critical fire conditions by utilizing wildfire mitigation and/or utility expertise and technical skills to develop and implement strategies to support the Wildfire Mitigation Plan and the Electric System Resiliency Plan.
Collect, process, and analyze wildfire risk data from various sources, including surface observations and wildland fire databases.
Utilize fire behavior models and historical data to predict fire growth, intensity, and direction.
Provide real-time information to support the utility’s efforts.
Develop risk-informed strategies and performance metrics to assess overall wildfire risk and write supporting justifications.
Define and update criteria for mitigation efforts and recommend improvements.
Manage the development, implementation, integration, and maintenance of data analytics tools and processes supporting risk modeling activities.
Manage and monitor budgets, including O&M and CIP project budgets.
Represent the Wildfire Mitigation Team in discussions with executives, risk teams, regulatory teams, and community wildfire teams.