Entrepreneur In Residence, Principal

Requisition ID # 175013 

Job Category: Information Technology 

Job Level: Manager/Principal

Business Unit: Strategy & Growth

Work Type: Hybrid

Job Location: Oakland

Department Overview

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric companies in the United States. Based in Oakland, our 25,000 employees work throughout our Northern and Central California service area, stretching from Eureka to Bakersfield and from the Pacific Ocean to the Sierra Nevada. We’re ranked among the nation’s cleanest utilities and we’re driving change in the utility industry to support the transition to a cleaner energy economy. In 2022, PG&E articulated its True North Strategy (TNS), a bold, breakthrough vision that charts a course over the next 10 years toward achieving our purpose and climate commitments.

The Grid Research, Innovation and Development (GRID) organization is focused on discovering, developing, and deploying innovative technologies, business models, and operational solutions that support PG&E's long-term strategy. The Innovation Accelerator, a key team within GRID, functions as an internal startup incubator responsible for identifying and advancing high-impact opportunities across the company. By applying entrepreneurial thinking, human-centered design, and lean startup methodologies, the team rapidly tests, scales, and operationalizes new ideas that address PG&E's most pressing challenges. The Innovation Accelerator's portfolio spans distributed energy resources, grid resilience, wildfire risk reduction, customer affordability, electrification, artificial intelligence, digital tools, operational excellence, and other emerging technologies that have the potential to transform the customer and coworker experience while creating measurable business value.

Position Summary

PG&E Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Are you a past founder, entrepreneurial operations leader, or product visionary with a proven track record of turning innovative ideas into impactful initiatives? Do you thrive at the intersection of creativity, strategy, and execution while staying educated on what is now possible with new technology, particularly AI? Are you passionate about driving climate solutions and advancing sustainability through innovation? If so, PG&E’s Innovation Accelerator invites you to help shape the future of energy solutions.

We are looking for unique individuals with deep innovation experience to guide our PG&E innovation teams through complex journeys of turning ideas into successful initiatives. As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR), you will work at the cutting edge of entrepreneurship within a large organization by guiding teams through Ideation, Incubation, and Acceleration of strategic initiatives. Acting as a mentor, strategist, and hands-on collaborator, you’ll work closely with these teams from the initial concept and customer validation stages through to devising and testing product solutions, and developing business and operational models. Your role, which reports to the Innovation Accelerator Director, will be instrumental in translating bold ideas into actionable solutions for millions of Californians.

You are a great fit if you can demonstrate expertise in customer-centered innovation, product ideation, and market analysis. You bring a playbook of knowledge from methods such as Lean Customer Development and Design Thinking, but are eager to learn and use PG&E’s adopted innovation methodology. You will also be able to demonstrate how you’ve explored or mastered AI to aid in various stages of creating and launching strategic initiatives. 

This position is hybrid, working from your remote office and your assigned work location based on business need. The preferred work location is Oakland, CA.

PG&E is providing the full salary/pay range for this position.  The actual amount paid to an individual will be based on multiple factors, including, but not limited to, internal equity, specific skills, education, licenses or certifications, experience, market value, and geographic location.  The range to reasonably expect will be between the minimum and the midpoint of the range.  The final decision will be made on a case-by-case basis related to the factors above. This job is also eligible to participate in PG&E’s discretionary incentive compensation programs.

Bay Area Minimum: $151,000.00

Bay Area Midpoint: $204,000.00

Bay Area Maximum: $257,000.00

Job Responsibilities

• Identifies the developmental needs of others, and coaches and mentors’ others to improve their knowledge or skills.
• Mentorship and strategic guidance by providing hands-on expert advice and mentorship to PG&E initiative teams, helping them develop and execute their business strategies through the early phases of innovation initiatives.

Ideate Phase:

• Participate actively in the ideation process, helping teams brainstorm and validate innovative ideas.
• Facilitate workshops and brainstorming sessions to help teams uncover creative solutions and viable opportunities.
• Support internal discovery processes to identify key stakeholders, related initiatives, and enabling/blocking resources.
• Support project team formation including identifying and recruiting project team members.

Incubate Phase:

• Plan and execute customer-centered research including collaborating on stimulus materials and interview scripts, conducting interviews, synthesizing feedback, and validating or refining solutions.
• Help teams identify winning solution concepts, operating models, and strategic approaches using iterative prototyping based on customer insights.
• Drive initiatives toward measurable evidence of desirability, feasibility, viability, and strategic alignment.
• Help teams identify and retire critical risks through experimentation and customer validation.
• Mentor teams through development of new products, services, operational models, customer programs, and business innovations.
• Assist teams in developing robust business models, operational plans, and go-to-market strategies.
• Guide teams to create effective check-in and pitch decks to present to PG&E leadership and executive sponsors.
• Leverage AI tools to enhance the team, accelerate the speed and quality of thinking and work processes, and deliver superior outcomes.
• Act as a hands-on contributor to address operational needs in product development, customer acquisition, and hypothesis testing.
• Take on interim leadership roles or specific functional responsibilities as needed to ensure forward momentum.
• Collaborate on recruiting, onboarding, and developing high-performing innovation team members.
• Conduct workshops and sessions on lean startup methodologies, solution design best practices, and PG&E’s innovation
• methodology.
• Develop the long-term capability of initiative General Managers (GMs) and team members by coaching through real venture-building activities rather than acting as a permanent initiative owner.  Transition leadership responsibility to internal initiative leaders as teams mature and gain proficiency in the Accelerator methodology.
• Creatively further PG&E’s innovation methodology with thoughtful adoption of AI tools and approaches.
• Collaborate with PG&E’s internal teams and stakeholders to define problems to be solved, align on initiative progress, and develop business and operating plans for initiative scaling.
• Provide regular updates and reports on the status of initiatives, highlighting key milestones and areas for improvement.

Qualifications

Minimum:

• High School or GED-General Educational Development-GED Diploma
• 7 years job-related experience

Desired:

• Bachelor’s Degree or MBA preferred
• 6+ years of experience in an entrepreneurial Operations Lead, Product Management, or Technical Lead role, at either a startup or an internal innovation team within a larger company.
• Experience in energy sector and challenges relevant to PG&E’s portfolio direction preferred.
• Deep understanding of the entrepreneurial process, from ideation to market entry and scaling.
• Familiarity with design thinking, lean startup methodologies, and agile development practices.
• Experience with qualitative Market Research, Customer Development, or customer-led innovation.
• Demonstrated ability to use AI as a force multiplier across innovation, product development, research, operations, and strategy work.
• Strong leadership and mentorship skills, with experience guiding teams through complex challenges.
• Proven ability to work across corporate stakeholders to proactively build, design, negotiate, launch, and scale new initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to influence executives, cross-functional stakeholders, and initiative teams without formal authority.
• Strong background in forming and coaching high-performance, cross-functional teams.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a pragmatic approach to overcoming obstacles.
• Excellent presentation skills, including strong verbal and writing capabilities.
• Outstanding listening skills and ability to manage through influence.
• Self-initiative and an ability to work well independently.