Pitch Aeronautics Inc. Transmission Project Manager Boise, ID · Full time

We're hiring a transmission operations or planning engineer to lead Pitch's utility customer projects across WireWeather, WireWarrior, and drone installation. You'll be the utility's main point of contact from scoping through deployment and daily use, and you'll carry what you learn from operators and planners back to our engineering team as feature requirements. What you know about operations and planning will shape what our engineers build. Your first major assignment is SPARK, a 48-month DOE cooperative agreement that Pitch leads with three partner utilities in MISO and New Mexico. In Phase 1 we deploy DLR and integrate it into each utility's transmission operations and EMS while the utilities plan their physical upgrades. In Phase 2 we scale DLR while the utilities rebuild and reconductor lines. You'll run SPARK day to day for the program's Lead Project Manager, along with other utility projects in our portfolio. This role is on site at our Boise headquarters. Travel is up to 20%, to utility customer sites and DOE reviews, mainly partner utility sites in Missouri, Illinois, and New Mexico. This position will be funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy. Pitch is a veteran-owned small business.

About Pitch Aeronautics Inc.

Pitch Aeronautics (www.pitchaero.com) is a rapidly growing startup creating game-changing solutions for the utility industry. Pitch has developed a drone to install our line sensor, bird diverters, and other equipment on power lines. Our drone-deployable line sensors wirelessly transmit environmental and line characteristics to an online secure API to help utilities push more power through existing lines, prevent wildfires, and improve grid reliability.

At Pitch we’ve fostered a collaborative, fun, “get-stuff-done” working environment. We believe in moving fast and creating products and prototypes rapidly. If you’re looking for a place where you can make a difference on day one, be empowered to achieve, and love working in small teams, we want to meet you!

Description

Responsibilities

  • Build project plans, schedules, and statements of work with each utility, and track scope, schedule, and cost against them.
  • Plan sensor installations and drone work with our Drone Ops team and each utility's field and line crews.
  • Lead the integration of DLR data into utility EMS and SCADA within NERC CIP requirements, coordinating Pitch's software engineers with the utility's EMS, cybersecurity, and control room staff.
  • Align DLR ratings with each utility's FAC-008 facility ratings methodology and, where it applies, RTO ambient adjusted rating data exchange under FERC Order 881.
  • Train operators and engineers, and stay engaged until the ratings are trusted and in daily use.
  • Turn what utility operators, planners, and IT and cybersecurity staff need into feature requirements, and prioritize them with our software, sensor, and drone teams.
  • Agree on acceptance criteria with the utility before work starts, run acceptance testing, and feed field results back into the roadmap.
  • Manage SPARK day to day: fold the utilities' reconductoring schedules into the program schedule, and work with utility planners to document baseline and final transfer capability for each corridor.
  • Run recurring coordination meetings with each partner utility, and own DOE reporting (Project Management Plan, quarterly reports, annual Go/No-Go packages, and baseline, impact, and final reports), working with finance on invoices and cost share.
  • Track risks and award terms, including change requests, partner monitoring, the cybersecurity plan, unmanned aircraft rules, and environmental reviews.


Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent experience. A NERC certified system operator who has moved into engineering or support work qualifies.
  • 5+ years of professional experience, including at least 3 years in transmission operations or transmission planning at a utility, RTO/ISO, or transmission consultancy.
  • Hands-on experience in at least one of: EMS or SCADA data integration, operations engineering or outage coordination, facility ratings, or power flow and planning studies (PSS/E, PowerWorld, PSLF, TARA, or similar).
  • Experience leading technical work across several organizations, such as an EMS or operations tool deployment, outage coordination with neighboring utilities and an RTO, or an interconnection or upgrade study.
  • Experience working with engineering or software teams to define requirements for, or test, new tools.
  • Clear technical writing: reports that utility executives and federal program staff will read closely, and requirements engineers can build from.
  • Able to work on site in Boise and travel up to 20%.
  • Able to visit substations, control centers, and transmission rights of way, including walking uneven ground, wearing required PPE, and following each utility's safety rules, with or without reasonable accommodation.
  • Able to pass a NERC CIP-004 personnel risk assessment (identity verification and a seven-year criminal history check) for unescorted utility access. This check occurs only after a conditional offer.
  • Valid driver's license.


Desired Qualifications

  • PMP, PE, or NERC System Operator certification.
  • Working knowledge of NERC FAC-008, and experience implementing FERC Order 881 ambient adjusted ratings, DLR, or other grid enhancing technologies; familiarity with IEEE 738.
  • Experience on the vendor side of a utility technology deployment, such as operations software.
  • Experience writing product requirements or user stories, or working alongside an agile software team.
  • Budget responsibility for a project or program.
  • Experience managing a DOE or other federal grant or cooperative agreement: cost share, subrecipient monitoring, federal reporting, or Davis-Bacon compliance.
  • Experience in MISO or WECC.


Benefits

  • 120 hrs of paid time off
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental & Vision Insurance
  • Short-term disability insurance
  • Long-term disability insurance
  • Health Savings Account (HSA)
  • Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
  • 401(k)
  • Equity eligibility
  • Paid holidays
  • Flexible work schedule
  • Relocation assistance may be available


Pitch Aeronautics is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.


In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the nondiscrimination regulations of the U.S. Department of Energy (10 CFR Part 1040), the National Science Foundation (45 CFR Part 605), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (7 CFR Part 15b), Pitch Aeronautics does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age.