Chief, Solution Architect - GIS

Requisition ID # 166962 

Job Category: Information Technology 

Job Level: Director/Chief

Business Unit: Information Technology

Work Type:

Job Location: Oakland

Department Overview

PG&E IT is a unified organization comprised of various departments which collaborate effectively to plan, deliver, and operate high quality technology solutions. The Geographic Information System Center of Excellence (GIS CoE) has the responsibility for maintaining and operating Enterprise GIS applications that support Gas, Electric, Power Generation, IT Telecom, and other functional areas while also delivering IT projects and solutions in support of company business goals and priorities.

Position Summary

PG&E is seeking a Chief GIS Solution Architect to lead the technical design and support the system implementation of an advanced geospatial solution required by the Enterprise. The Enterprise includes the asset-oriented functional areas of Gas, Electric, Power Generation, and IT Telecom. The role will provide technical leadership for the strategic Elevate program, which is a multi-year journey set out to transform our GIS ecosystem. Elevate will migrate the GIS data, processes, and technology from current state to the next generation. The objective is to leverage Esri's latest network technology targeted for Utilities and to deploy the solution on a modern cloud platform.

This role will be critical to the success of the Elevate program and peripheral mission critical applications. The primary goals of the successful candidate will be to: provide strong architectural guidance, make key technical decisions, partner with peer architects, influence external vendor partners, and support business stakeholders.  Following the Elevate program, this role will continue to provide technical guidance and solutions towards the on-going evolution of our Enterprise geospatial platform here at PG&E. The ideal candidate should have a long history of helping deliver GIS projects and programs. This position will be based at PG&E headquarters in Oakland, California.

Job Responsibilities 

• Lead the architecture and solution design for a reliable, secure, and high-performing enterprise GIS platform for asset-oriented functional areas including Gas, Electric, Power Generation, and IT Telecom
• Partner across the IT organization with peer architects and key stakeholders to ensure the Enterprise GIS architecture aligns to technology standards and security compliance
• Represent GIS technology within the architecture community and at Enterprise technology governance boards
• Provide technical leadership for product owners, technical leads, and business stakeholders in the successful design, implementation, and operations of critical GIS applications
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to gather requirements, conduct gap analyses, and develop GIS roadmaps aligned with PG&E’s business objectives
• Engage with software vendor partners (along with peer utilities) to be the voice of the customer and help impact product roadmaps
• Oversee system integration design between GIS and other enterprise platforms (e.g., SAP, ADMS, Customer Systems)
• Support enterprise GIS application performance, scalability, maintenance, and lifecycle management
• Develop and maintain GIS architectural documentation, including diagrams and technical guides
• Mentor junior coworkers and provide technical leadership across GIS projects
• Actively evaluate new technologies and methodologies to continuously improve PG&E’s GIS landscape

Background Qualifications

Minimum

• BA/BS degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business or related field or equivalent experience
• 12 years in IT
• 10 years of solution architecture and project implementation experience.
• Expert in the solution architecture discipline, processes, concepts and best practices
• Use of process improvement discipline (e.g. Six Sigma) used within a technology supported business process implementation
• Process design, information modeling and / or system solution architecture development with portfolio or enterprise focus in more than one of the following: Application Architecture, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Information Architecture, Data Management, Security, or Infrastructure technologies
• Operational support for applications, systems, or infrastructure.
• Experience with enterprise architecture tools
• Experience providing direction to a team of technology architects 

Desired 

• Master’s degree in GIS, Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or equivalent work experience
• Hands-on experience deploying Esri ArcGIS UN within a cloud environment for an electric and/or gas utility
• Familiarity with California utility regulatory and operational frameworks
• Experience with linear referencing systems, utility-based data models (e.g., UPDM, CIM), and performing spatial analytics
• Knowledge of cloud-native tools for automation, monitoring, and deployment (e.g., Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery, Infrastructure as Code, Automated Testing)
• Prior leadership or mentoring experience within GIS or IT teams at a utility

Leadership Qualities

PG&E expects its leaders to conduct themselves with the highest ethics and integrity and to embody specific leadership qualities.

Strategic Mindset

• Sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into breakthrough strategies.
• Operates effectively, even when things are not certain, or the way forward is not clear.

A Leader in the Community and Industry

• Effectively builds formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.
• Anticipates and balances the needs of multiple stakeholders.

Demonstrates Safety Leadership

• A safety champion in words and deeds with respect to both employee and public safety.
• Creating and maintaining a speak up culture free of retaliation.

Influences and Inspires

• Using various- communications that convey a clear understanding of the needs of different audiences.
• Maneuvering comfortably through complex policy, process, and people-related dynamics.

Optimizes Team Performance

• Building teams with a strong identity that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Creating a climate where people are developed and motivated to do their best to help the organization.

Values Inclusion and Respects Individual Differences

• Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization.

Fiscally Responsible

• Interpreting and applying understanding of key financial indicators to make better business decisions.
• Planning and prioritizing work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals.

Leads Ethically and in a Compliant Manner

• Sponsoring and sustaining a high integrity speak-up corporate culture which prioritizes safety, compliance, and ethics.
• Building on necessary level of industry, company, and subject-matter expertise, including laws and regulations.

Provides a High Level of Customer Service

• Building strong customer relationships and delivering hometown, customer-centric solutions.

Compensation

PG&E is providing the salary range that the company in good faith believes it might pay for this position at the time of the job posting. This compensation range is specific to the locality of the job.  The actual salary paid to an individual will be based on multiple factors, including, but not limited to, specific skills, education, licenses or certifications, experience, market value, geographic location, and internal equity. 

Although we estimate the successful candidate hired into this role will be placed towards the middle of the range ($220,000), the decision will be made on a case-by-case basis related to these factors.  This leadership role is also eligible for an annual Short Term Incentive Plan (STIP), as well as the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP).

A reasonable salary range in the Bay Area is: $163,000 - $243,000