Technical Lead, Principal

Requisition ID # 172273 

Job Category: Information Technology 

Job Level: Manager/Principal

Business Unit: Information Technology

Work Type: Hybrid

Job Location: Oakland

Department Overview

The IT Energy Resilience and Growth department plays a critical role in enabling PG&E’s transition through a period of unprecedented demand growth while maintaining and improving grid reliability. The organization focuses on modernizing technology platforms that support Transmission, Distribution, and Substation Planning and Engineering, accelerating the connection of large electric loads and integrating emerging energy demands in a safe, reliable, and compliant manner.

The department partners closely with Electric Engineering, Transmission and Distribution Planning, Substation Engineering, Grid Operations, and enterprise IT functions to modernize legacy application landscapes, enable data‑driven decision-making, and support long‑term grid resilience as PG&E enters a sustained growth phase.

Position Summary

The Principal Technical Lead is a senior individual contributor and technical authority within the IT Energy Resilience and Growth organization, responsible for leading Transmission Application Modernization initiatives. This role reports to IT leadership supporting grid and engineering systems and operates with significant autonomy, enterprise visibility and decision‑making authority.

The role partners closely with Transmission Planning, Distribution Planning, Substation Engineering, System Protection, Grid Operations, Enterprise Architecture, Cyber Security, Data & Analytics, Infrastructure teams, and external vendors. The position is accountable for modernizing the Transmission application landscape to substantially reduce the time required to connect large loads to the grid, while ensuring grid reliability is maintained and improved as PG&E navigates a high‑growth environment.

This role leads the architecture, design, modernization, deployment, and operational readiness of mission‑critical engineering and planning applications, addressing complex technical challenges with high business and regulatory impact. The Principal Technical Lead sets technical direction, influences long‑term technology strategy, and mentors senior technical staff while promoting Agile, Lean, and DevSecOps best practices.

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 $155,000 - $210,000. 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: $ 155,000

Bay Area Max: $ 265,000

This position is hybrid, working from your remote office and our Oakland, CA office approximately 1 - 2 days per week, or more, based on business needs.

Job Responsibilities

Principal‑Level Technical Leadership

• Serve as the principal technical authority for modernization of Transmission, Distribution, and Substation Planning applications
• Lead strategy and execution for modernizing legacy Transmission application landscapes to accelerate large‑load interconnections
• Resolve complex, high‑risk technical challenges with significant impact to grid reliability, engineering outcomes, and regulatory commitments

Architecture & Solution Design

• Define end‑state architectures and multi‑year modernization roadmaps for engineering and planning systems
• Design and govern enterprise‑scale, high‑performance solution architectures supporting planning studies, analytics, and engineering workflows
• Define, document, and enforce non‑functional requirements including performance, scalability, resiliency, security, and compliance

Execution & Delivery Oversight

• Provide hands‑on technical leadership and mentorship to engineering, development, and vendor teams
• Lead architecture reviews, design reviews, and technical feasibility assessments for modernization initiatives
• Partner with IT teams to improve CI/CD pipelines, testing automation, deployment models, and production support
• Operate within an Agile/DevSecOps environment, promoting continuous improvement and engineering excellence

Cross‑Functional Leadership & Strategy

• Partner with Transmission, Distribution, and Substation Engineering leaders to align technology solutions with planning and operational priorities
• Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture, Cyber Security, Infrastructure, and Data & Analytics teams to deliver secure, resilient, and compliant solutions
• Support leadership in defining strategic and tactical technology roadmaps that balance growth enablement and grid reliability

Qualifications

Minimum:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems or related field of study, or equivalent experience
• 7 years of progressive information technology experience

Desired:

• Demonstrated ability to operate independently on highly complex, high‑impact initiatives
• Experience in solution architecture, enterprise system design, and application modernization
• 5+ years of experience designing architectures for complex, data‑intensive or compute‑intensive platforms
• 3+ years of hands‑on experience with cloud technologies (e.g., AWS or equivalent)
• Strong understanding of enterprise integration patterns, high‑availability architectures, and modern application platforms

Other desired skills:

• Strong working knowledge of Transmission, Distribution, and Substation Planning and Engineering, including planning workflows, engineering systems, models, and operational dependencies
• Proven experience supporting or modernizing engineering, planning, or grid operations applications in an electric utility or comparable regulated industry
• Demonstrated understanding of the relationship between large‑load interconnections, grid capacity, and system reliability

Leadership & Influence

• Proven ability to provide technical direction and mentorship to senior engineers, architects, and matrixed teams
• Experience leading rapid prototyping / proof‑of‑concept efforts and planning large‑scale enterprise rollouts
• Demonstrated success influencing decisions across IT, engineering, and business stakeholders without direct authority