Innovation Manager

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Location - Columbus, NE;
Columbus General Office

Employment Type: Full-time

Posting Date: 7/2/2026 Closing Date: 7/16/2026

Are you hard-working and eager to make a meaningful impact in the ever-emerging energy industry? Come join us!

By joining the Nebraska Public Power District team, you’re becoming part of a close-knit community that embodies the values and traditions of the state. More than generating and delivering power, we empower our employees to thrive both personally and professionally. With safety at the helm, we have created a supportive and inclusive work environment that fosters innovation and growth. Here, you’re not just an employee;

you're a valued member of a family that respects and supports each other.

Our power grid has been consistently ranked one of the most reliable and resilient, but our reputation for excellence extends beyond our customer service to our employee satisfaction. Many of our team members have built lifelong careers here, advancing through the ranks thanks to our robust training programs and opportunities for professional development. With us, you’ll find a place where your efforts are recognized and rewarded, where you’re making a deep impact on the communities around you, and where you can truly power a career that you can be proud of.

The Innovation Manager leads the District’s Innovation function within the Business Transformation department and serves as a strategic partner in advancing modernization, operational excellence, and long-term organizational capability. Reporting to the Director of Business Transformation, this role is responsible for guiding the development, evaluation, and implementation of innovative strategies, technologies, products, services, and business processes that support the District’s strategic priorities and evolving utility landscape.

The Innovation Manager oversees a multidisciplinary innovation team focused on identifying emerging trends, assessing new technologies, facilitating experimentation, and accelerating the adoption of scalable solutions across the enterprise. This role drives collaboration with business units, operational teams, and executive leadership to translate opportunities into measurable business value while balancing innovation with operational reliability, governance, and risk management.

The incumbent provides leadership, technical direction, and portfolio oversight for innovation initiatives, pilots, and transformation efforts. This includes fostering cross‑functional alignment, establishing repeatable innovation frameworks and processes, and helping business units navigate organizational change associated with new capabilities and ways of working.

In addition to delivering innovation outcomes, the Innovation Manager plays a key role in cultivating a culture of continuous learning, curiosity, and experimentation throughout the organization. The role champions modern practices related to emerging technologies, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, process innovation, customer experience, and grid modernization while ensuring alignment with the District’s public power mission and values.

The Innovation Manager directly supervises the Innovation team and works closely with leaders across the organization to position innovation as a strategic enabler of reliable, affordable, and forward‑looking public power services.

Requires a bachelor’s degree in an area of specialty and 5 years of experience where business transformation and leadership have been successfully demonstrated by the incumbent. Requires 5 years of experience in the utility industry.

Training and/or experience in concepts such as Design Thinking, Product Development, and Artificial Intelligence that can help to identify, capture, optimize, deliver, and drive transformation throughout an organization is required. Master’s Degree preferred.

Licenses or certifications related to continuous improvement or innovations are preferred.

Leads the District’s Innovation function in support of the District’s Business Transformation strategy,…