Grid Innovation Engineer, Principal

Requisition ID # 166099 

Job Category: Engineering / Science 

Job Level: Manager/Principal

Business Unit: Electric Engineering

Work Type: Hybrid

Job Location: Oakland

Department Overview

The System Performance, Reliability and Resiliency Strategy team within the overall Electric Transmission and Distribution Engineering organization is responsible for planning, organizing, and managing the resources necessary to successfully execute PG&E’s Electric Reliability Strategy and initiatives. This team of forward–thinking individuals is tasked with deploying the technology and infrastructure to achieve the company’s reliability goals. The team is responsible for implementing programs required to modernize the electric grid, allowing for safe, resilient, and efficient operations. 

Position Summary

The role will be part of a technically focused, cross-functional team of engineers and data scientists to design and deploy advanced models that measure and predict the resilience and reliability of PG&E’s electric grid. This role sits at the convergence of grid planning, real-time operations, and applied data science, leveraging high-resolution data from sources such as synchro phasors, SCADA, load flow studies, stability analyses, and asset health systems.

This position will build and leverage statistical and machine learning models—such as probabilistic risk models, time series forecasting, anomaly detection, and graph-based system analytics—leveraging data from synchro phasors (PMUs), SCADA, load flow simulations, dynamic stability studies, and asset condition monitoring. These tools will assess outage risks at both the grid-wide and individual critical customer level, delivering real-time and long-horizon insights into system vulnerabilities and performance under climate stressors and high-impact events.

This is a rare opportunity to lead a founding team that fuses domain expertise, big data, and AI/ML methods to help architect the climate-resilient, intelligent electric grid of the future.

This position is hybrid, working from your remote office and your assigned location based on business need.

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 or entry point of the range, the decision will be made on a case-by-case basis related to these factors.

Bay Minimum: $151,000
Bay Maximum: $257,000

This job is also eligible to participate in PG&E’s discretionary incentive compensation programs. 

Job Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy advanced data models and statistical tools to measure grid risk and performance.
• Integrate data from synchro phasors, SCADA, load flow models, stability simulations, asset health metrics, and ML-based predictors.
• Create actionable insights that inform investment planning and real-time decision-making.
• Understand the various data streams that are needed to model grid impacts
• Meet with stakeholders to better understand their issues and inform them of the potential grid impacts
• Explore, innovate, and demonstrate technologies that facilitate easier grid integration
• Represent PG&E as its technical expert integrating distributed resources and technologies onto the electric grid in regulatory proceedings and industry working groups
• Responsible for identifying, developing and implementing new standards and guidelines, in collaboration with Distribution Standards Department, to facilitate distributed energy resources integration while minimizing potential grid impacts

Qualifications

Minimum:

• Bachelors Degree in Engineering or equivalent experience
• Experience with grid modeling software (e.g. CYMDIST, PSLF, Aspen, etc.)
• 10 years of electric utility related experience 

Desired:

• Electrical Engineering Degree with Power Systems emphasis
• Master's of Science in Engineering, preferably Electrical Engineering
• MBA 
• Experience with data processing tools such as Excel, Access, SQL, etc. 
• Protection System Engineering experience
• Experience in Transmission or Distribution System Planning
• Experience in Transmission or Distribution Operations
• Competency in planning and prioritizing work to meet commitments aligned with organizational goals
• Competency in using compelling arguments to gain support and commitment of others
• Knowledge of industry relevant best practices and trends.
• Knowledge of power electronics, computer systems, and telecommunication
• Competency in making good and timely decisions that keep the organization moving forward
• Knowledge of the technical impact of distributed generation to grid operations
• Competency in effectively building formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization
• Knowledge of relevant federal, state, and local regulations and laws as needed to perform at the job level
• Licensed Engineer-in-Training in the State of California
• Licensed Professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of California