Utility Project Manager

Pitch Aeronautics Inc. Utility Project Manager Boise, ID · Full time Apply for Utility Project Manager

We're hiring a project manager with utility industry experience to lead Pitch's customer projects across WireWeather, WireWarrior, and drone installation. You'll be each utility's main point of contact from scoping through deployment and daily use, and you'll carry what you learn from utility staff back to our engineering team as feature requirements. We want this role to grow into leading delivery across all of Pitch's projects, not a single program. One of the largest programs you'll support is SPARK, a 48-month DOE cooperative agreement that Pitch leads with three partner utilities in MISO and New Mexico. In Phase 1 we deploy DLR and integrate it into each utility's transmission operations while the utilities plan their physical upgrades. In Phase 2 we scale DLR while the utilities rebuild and reconductor lines. You'll work with our transmission project managers on SPARK while running other utility projects in our portfolio. This role is on site at our Boise headquarters. Travel is up to 20%, to utility customer sites and DOE reviews, mainly partner utility sites in Missouri, Illinois, and New Mexico. This position will be funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy. Pitch is a veteran-owned small business.

About Pitch Aeronautics Inc. Pitch Aeronautics (www.pitchaero.com) is a rapidly growing startup creating game-changing solutions for the utility industry. Pitch has developed a drone to install our line sensor, bird diverters, and other equipment on power lines. Our drone-deployable line sensors wirelessly transmit environmental and line characteristics to an online secure API to help utilities push more power through existing lines, prevent wildfires, and improve grid reliability. At Pitch we’ve fostered a collaborative, fun, “get-stuff-done” working environment. We believe in moving fast and creating products and prototypes rapidly. If you’re looking for a place where you can make a difference on day one, be empowered to achieve, and love working in small teams, we want to meet you!

Description Responsibilities

• Build project plans, schedules, and statements of work with each utility, and track scope, schedule, and cost against them.
• Plan sensor installations and drone work with our Drone Ops team and each utility's field and line crews.
• Coordinate the integration of DLR data into utility EMS and SCADA, bringing together Pitch's software engineers with the utility's operations, IT, and cybersecurity staff.
• Train operators and engineers, and stay engaged until the ratings are trusted and in daily use.
• Turn requests from utility operators, planners, and IT and cybersecurity staff need into feature requirements, and prioritize them with our software, sensor, and drone teams.
• Agree on acceptance criteria with the utility before work starts, run acceptance testing, and feed field results back into the roadmap.
• Support SPARK program management: track the utilities' reconductoring schedules against the program schedule and help prepare DOE deliverables.
• Run recurring coordination meetings with utility customers and partners, and own project reporting, working with finance on invoices, cost share, and federal reporting where it applies.
• Track risks and award terms, including change requests, partner monitoring, the cybersecurity plan, unmanned aircraft rules, and environmental reviews.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of professional experience, including at least 3 years at an electric utility or working directly with utilities (for example at a utility contractor, engineering firm, or technology vendor).
• Experience managing projects with utility field, engineering, operations, or IT teams, such as transmission or distribution construction, line maintenance programs, substation projects, or grid technology deployments.
• Experience leading work across several organizations, such as a utility, its contractors, and vendors, while keeping scope, schedule, and budget on track.
• Experience working with engineering or software teams to define requirements for, or test, new tools.
• Clear technical writing: reports that utility executives and federal program staff will read closely, and requirements engineers can build from.
• Able to work on site in Boise and travel up to 20%.
• Able to visit substations, control centers, and transmission rights of way, including walking uneven ground, wearing required PPE, and following each utility's safety rules, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Able to pass a NERC CIP-004 personnel risk assessment (identity verification and a seven-year criminal history check) for unescorted utility access. This check occurs only after a conditional offer.
• Valid driver's license.

Desired Qualifications

• PMP, PE, or NERC System Operator certification.
• Familiarity with transmission operations or planning, NERC FAC-008, FERC Order 881, DLR, or other grid enhancing technologies.
• Experience on the vendor side of a utility technology deployment.
• Experience writing product requirements or user stories, or working alongside an agile software team.
• Budget responsibility for a project or program.
• Experience managing a DOE or other federal grant or cooperative agreement: cost share, subrecipient monitoring, federal reporting, or Davis-Bacon compliance.
• Experience in MISO or WECC.

Benefits

• 120 hrs of paid time off
• Health Insurance
• Dental & Vision Insurance
• Short-term disability insurance
• Long-term disability insurance
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• 401(k)
• Equity eligibility
• Paid holidays
• Flexible work schedule
• Relocation assistance may be available

Pitch Aeronautics is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the nondiscrimination regulations of the U.S. Department of Energy (10 CFR Part 1040), the National Science Foundation (45 CFR Part 605), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (7 CFR Part 15b), Pitch Aeronautics does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age.

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