IT Product Specialist, Principal - Electric AMI Distributed Intelligence

Requisition ID # 174604 

Job Category: Information Technology 

Job Level: Manager/Principal

Business Unit: Technology & Security

Work Type: Hybrid

Job Location: Oakland

Department Overview

PG&E's SmartMeter and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) organization is modernizing the electric grid through advanced metering technologies, edge computing, distributed intelligence, and data-driven operational capabilities. As part of PG&E's grid modernization strategy, Distributed Intelligence (DI) enables applications and analytics to execute directly on electric meters, creating new opportunities to improve reliability, wildfire mitigation, asset health monitoring, outage operations, situational awareness, power quality monitoring, and distribution system performance.

The Electric AMI Distributed Intelligence team is responsible for establishing, operating, and governing the DI ecosystem, including the DI platform, Edge Application Controller (EAC), meter-based applications, deployment processes, operational standards, and supporting integrations across PG&E's technology landscape. The team works closely with Electric Operations, Grid Operations, Asset Management, Engineering, Cybersecurity, Vendor Partners, Product Teams, and regulatory stakeholders.

Position Summary

This role will serve as the product owner, technology leader, and operational authority for the Electric AMI Distributed Intelligence ecosystem.

As the first dedicated Distributed Intelligence leader at PG&E, you will play a foundational role in building the organization's long-term DI capabilities. The position will establish processes, standards, governance, and organizational structure while helping define the future team responsible for operating and expanding the DI ecosystem.

You will be responsible for defining the product strategy, roadmap, governance model, deployment framework, and operational capabilities necessary to successfully introduce and scale Distributed Intelligence across PG&E's electric meter fleet. You will oversee the lifecycle of the DI platform and ecosystem, including applications deployed to meters, agent management, platform capacity, release management, operational readiness, vendor engagement, and technology evolution.

The successful candidate will combine expertise in product management, utility operations, enterprise technology, distributed systems, and stakeholder engagement to drive business value from edge computing technologies while maintaining platform reliability, scalability, cybersecurity, and operational excellence.

The role is hybrid working from your remote office and in-person at PG&E offices in Oakland, Concord, and San Ramon based on weekly business needs. Additionally, travel may be required within California to support vendor engagements, field operations, industry working groups, and technology deployments.

Job Responsibilities

• Own strategy, governance, and lifecycle management of PG&E's Distributed Intelligence ecosystem.
• Lead integration of Distributed Intelligence capabilities across grid operations, analytics, and enterprise systems.
• Govern application deployment, release management, platform performance, and operational readiness.
• Drive operational excellence, reliability, scalability, and continuous improvement of DI services.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and develop business cases supporting grid modernization initiatives.
• Manage vendor partnerships and influence product roadmaps to meet PG&E business objectives.
• Establish deployment governance and risk management frameworks for meter-hosted applications.
• Provide cross-functional technical leadership and stakeholder engagement across business and IT organizations.
• Represent PG&E as a Distributed Intelligence leader in industry forums, utility collaborations, and strategic technology initiatives.
• Define enterprise architecture, standards, cybersecurity, and operating models for meter-based applications and edge computing platforms.

Qualifications

Minimum:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Business, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• 10 years of relevant IT, Operational Technology, utility technology, product management, or enterprise systems experience.
• 7 years working directly with complex enterprise technology platforms, distributed systems, AMI technologies, utility operational systems, or related solutions.
• Demonstrated track record supporting complex and high-profile technical support and administration of critical infrastructure, monitoring and management systems (e.g., network, transport, systems, APM, automation, provisioning, configuration management, etc.).

Desired:

• Experience with AMI systems, meter data management, utility communications networks, distribution operations, ADMS, OMS, GIS, or grid analytics platforms.
• Experience with edge computing, Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, distributed systems, or device-based application ecosystems.
• Knowledge of meter-based computing environments and application deployment architectures.
• Understanding of California utility operations and regulatory environments.
• Experience developing governance frameworks, operational standards, and enterprise technology strategies.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to translate business objectives into scalable technology solutions.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, edge computing, application deployment, and enterprise integration concepts.
• Technical Skills covering Utilities IT/OT, Data management (Oracle, SQL Server, PL/SQL, Transact SQL), Integration (SOAP, REST, XML, XSD), Infrastructure (SaaS, PaaS, etc.), and Kafka and Databricks.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to balance competing priorities and constraints.
• Ability to evaluate technical tradeoffs involving platform capacity, application compatibility, performance, and business value.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively engage executives, business stakeholders, engineers, vendors, and operational teams.
• Experience developing technology roadmaps, business cases, governance processes, standards, and operational procedures.
• Ability to lead through influence in highly matrixed environments.

Compensation

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 around 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 Min: $147,000
• Bay Area Mid: $199,000
• Bay Area Max: $251,000