Situation Awareness Technical Program Manager

Job Function Summary: 

Manages projects or programs related to energy storage, data science, analytics, fire science, wildfire, new or emerging technologies or other specialty areas requiring a technical education or background, such as engineering or construction. Leads the strategy, evaluation, investment, deployment, and operational integration of wildfire situational awareness technologies that support wildfire risk mitigation, emergency response, and electric system resilience. Serves as the primary interface between wildfire operations, emergency management, technology vendors, data and analytics teams, and utility stakeholders to ensure emerging technologies deliver actionable intelligence and measurable operational value. Oversees the lifecycle of wildfire intelligence capabilities, including detection, monitoring, forecasting, remote sensing, AI-enabled analytics, camera networks, weather intelligence systems, satellite technologies, and decision-support platforms from pilot through operational implementation. 

Key Job Information: 

Senior Technical Program Manager 7096 

Grade 8 

Career Level: P4 

Specialist: Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise 

Interprets internal or external business issues and recommends best practices. Solves complex problems; takes a broad perspective to identify innovative solutions. Works independently, with guidance in only the most complex situations.May lead functional teams or projects. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Project Consultation and Planning Responsible for leading a single major project or multiple moderate projects. Types include, but are not limited to, business systems or process improvement, department reorganizations and strategy implementation, training, feasibility studies and pilots. 

Serves as a company expert on related initiatives; develops company best practices; consults with business unit leaders to ensure strategic alignment of program(s), understanding of dependencies and constraints, cost effectiveness and mitigation of negative operational and/or customer impacts of business initiatives and projects; works with project sponsor to develop objectives and scope; assists in or develops business case/justification. 

Develops or oversees development of project plan(s), including work breakdown structure, schedule and cost baselines, overall budget management, dependencies and project roles and resource requirements; identifies project risks and mitigation strategies; partners and strategizes with Supply Chain, Legal, IT, Fleet and project sponsor on vendor contract negotiations. 

 Owns the wildfire situational awareness technology portfolio, including identification, evaluation, prioritization, and execution of strategic technology investments. 

Leads technology assessments, proof-of-concept initiatives, pilot programs, and operational demonstrations for emerging wildfire detection, monitoring, forecasting, intelligence, and response capabilities. 

Defines operational use cases, success criteria, performance metrics, and transition plans to ensure successful adoption of technology solutions into wildfire operations and emergency management functions. 

Develops business cases and investment strategies to support wildfire technology modernization and operational readiness objectives. 

Strategy and Team Leadership Assists leadership in developing program strategy; leads multiple major projects/initiatives in completing strategic projects. Develops and maintains a multi-year wildfire situational awareness technology roadmap aligned with wildfire mitigation, emergency management, regulatory, and operational objectives. 

Provides leadership in translating emerging technologies into operational capabilities that improve wildfire intelligence, detection speed, risk awareness, and decision quality. 

 Provides staff leadership to team members; facilitates team meetings; cultivates and reinforces group values, norms and behaviors; provides guidance and motivation to team on performance and productivity issues; ensures compliance with established project management methodologies and standards; takes corrective action as needed. 

Project Controls Establishes and maintains formal controls to manage and monitor project budget, scope, quality, schedule and risks across the portfolio of projects and overall program completion that is on time and within budget. Establishes and monitors technology performance measures, operational value realization metrics, adoption targets, and benefit tracking associated with wildfire situational awareness investments. Negotiates necessary project changes with project managers and project sponsors. Maintains, adjusts and updates overall project and program plans as needed. 

Stakeholder Engagement Develops communication plans and strategies; coordinates with project managers, business unit managers and change managers to provide timely, accurate communication of project and program plans and status to internal and external stakeholders. Partners closely with stakeholders to ensure technology solutions align with operational needs and strategic objectives. 

Facilitates alignment between technology development teams and field users to ensure successful operationalization and sustained utilization of situational awareness capabilities.  

 Develops and promotes adherence to communication and reporting standards to reduce inefficiencies and potential inaccuracies resulting from developing customized communications, reports or materials for different audiences on demand. 

Process Improvement Leads and/or facilitates business process improvement activities; assists managers and subject matter experts to identify, understand and improve or revise processes, practices and policies. Leads integration of wildfire intelligence and situational awareness technologies into operational workflows, emergency response processes, and decision-support environments. 

Identifies opportunities to improve wildfire detection, incident awareness, operational coordination, and risk-informed decision-making through technology-enabled process enhancements. Assists managers in establishing process controls in order to measure baseline and post-improvement performance to monitor success of improvement initiatives. Acts as a change agent, systematically driving continuous improvement. 

Project Reporting and Documentation Assists in developing program-level governance to ensure standards, methodologies and policies are adhered to and proper documentation is maintained. Ensures all project documents are catalogued and archived in a secure and efficient manner; documents and files all “lessons learned” along with all project artifacts. 

 Documents technology evaluations, pilot outcomes, lessons learned, operational readiness assessments, performance results, and post-implementation reviews to support continuous improvement and future investment decisions. 

Internal Collaboration Develops and maintains key relationships across the business, including with senior executives; provides subject matter expertise for project management and/or process improvement.  

Serves as the utility's subject matter expert for wildfire situational awareness technologies, technology implementation strategies, and operational adoption frameworks. 

Provides guidance to wildfire and emergency management leadership regarding industry trends, emerging capabilities, and investment opportunities. 

 Collaborates with, mentors and/or assists in training other PMs or leads to continually improve project standards and methodology. 

External Relationships Partners and participates with customers and/or other utilities to strengthen and create opportunities to share best practices. 

Represents the company in industry forums, technology consortiums, research partnerships, utility working groups, and collaborations with government agencies, universities, and technology providers focused on wildfire intelligence and situational awareness advancement. 

Develops and maintains strategic relationships with technology vendors and external subject matter experts to evaluate emerging solutions and accelerate deployment of innovative wildfire capabilities. 

Wildfire Technology Strategy and Operational Integration Leads the evaluation, selection, deployment, and operationalization of wildfire situational awareness technologies across the enterprise. 

Coordinates the transition of technologies from concept, pilot, and testing phases into sustainable operational programs. 

Ensures technology investments deliver actionable intelligence supporting wildfire preparedness, response, mitigation, and post-incident analysis. 

Drives continuous improvement of wildfire intelligence capabilities through performance monitoring, stakeholder feedback, technology assessment, and operational lessons learned. 

Measures and communicates business and operational value associated with wildfire technology investments and situational awareness programs. 

Education/Experience/Certifications: 

Education Requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, business, communications or fire science from an ABET-accredited engineering program or program accredited by an equivalent agency in a related field or other related field or equivalent experience. Master’s degree preferred. 

Experience Typically eight or more years in related field. 

Certifications, Licenses and Training Specialized licenses, certification and training may be preferred. PE and/or PMP certification preferred. 

Competencies (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: 

Functional Competencies 

Advanced knowledge of project management science, methodologies and standards. 

Advanced knowledge of and ability to integrate project management knowledge areas, including project scope, quality, time, cost, communication, procurement, human resources and risk management. 

Advanced knowledge of and skill in using software applications such as MS Project, PowerPoint, Word, Excel spreadsheets and graphing, Access, Visio, Maximo and Power Plant. 

Advanced knowledge of Project Profile system and PGE email system. 

Advanced knowledge of business process reengineering and continuous improvement methods and concepts. 

Advanced knowledge of systems thinking concepts and principles. 

Advanced knowledge of group problem-solving methods and techniques, including problem analysis, nominal group and brainstorming techniques and consensus building. 

Advanced listening skills, including the ability to draw information out and to see things from another’s perspective. 

Advanced skills in writing technical and business requirements. 

Advanced communication skills, both written and oral, including negotiation, persuasion and presentation skills. 

General Competencies 

Advanced consulting skills 

Advanced decision-making skills 

Intermediate enterprise/business awareness skills 

Advanced negotiation skills 

Advanced organization and prioritization skills 

Advanced presentation/facilitation skills 

Advanced team-building skills 

Advanced written and oral communication skills 

Physical and Cognitive Demands: 

Cognitive Level 

Substantial: Consistent use of logic or scientific thinking to define problems, collect information, establish facts and draw valid conclusions (for example, engineer, HR director, plant manager, etc.). 

Cognitive 

Ability to adhere to set response times, deadlines and time-sensitive tasks 

Ability to follow accuracy standards 

Ability to follow through on decision-making tasks 

Ability to interact effectively and collaboratively within a team environment 

Ability to communicate and problem solve when under stress 

Ability to respond and adapt to frequent change 

Ability to accept and demonstrate self-awareness when provided constructive feedback 

Ability to discern feedback and acknowledge ownership of areas of improvement 

Ability to avoid future mistakes by applying reasonable skills to new but similar work situations or tasks 

Ability to successfully collaborate with peers, managers and others within the organization Demonstrates sound memory 

Ability to process new information to be applied consistently to work tasks 

Schedule/Attendance: 

☒   Ability to adhere to pre-established schedule, including start/stop time and break/lunch schedule 

☒   Ability to work long hours 

☒   Ability to work a variable schedule 

☒   Ability to report to work and perform work during periods of severe inclement weather 

☒   Ability to consistently meet attendance standards for regular, reliable, predictable, full-time attendance

☒   Ability to work shift schedule 

☒   Ability to work on-call schedule 

Physical Capabilities: 

☒   Does the job require a valid driver’s license? Yes 

☒   Driving/travel/commute: 

-Daily within service territory  

-Occasionally (one to two times a month or less) 

-Overnight inside/outside the service territory:Occasionally (one to two times a month or less) 

☒   Computer use (use computer regularly for entire work shift) 

☒   Lifting/pushing/pulling (check appropriate weight): Up to 50 lb 

☒   Carrying (check appropriate weight):  Up to 50 lb 

☒   Unstable surfaces requiring balance:

Walking distances and surfaces (long distances and over rough, uneven or rocky surfaces) 

Environment - Indoor/Outdoor: 

☒   Office environment 

☒   Field environment