Technical Leader

Technical Leader I

Full time

EPRI provides thought leadership, industry expertise, and collaborative value to help the electricity sector identify issues, technology gaps, and broader needs that can be addressed through effective research and development programs for the benefit of society.

Technical Leader I

Charlotte, NC, Knoxville, TN

Conducts research in complex, high-impact technical or scientific fields.

This position will support the development and application of advanced transmission planning methodologies and long-term system planning frameworks. The position will help design and execute studies that evaluate future grid needs under increasing uncertainty associated with load growth, resource transformation, extreme weather, and evolving regulatory requirements.

The position will also contribute to the development of intelligent planning workflows that integrate analytical tools, automate study processes, improve study reproducibility, and enhance planning decision-making.

• Works independently on technical activities without direct supervision.
• Conducts technical searches and analyzes information in support of the project team.
• Demonstrates responsibility for highly specialized technical objectives or problems where relationships between cause and effect are difficult to establish, little or no precedent exists, and creative and imaginative thinking is required.
• Applies technical expertise and maintains knowledge of related disciplines.
• Develops technical solutions to complex problems requiring the regular use of ingenuity and creativity.
• Performs and supports transmission planning, transmission reliability, resilience, and interconnection studies.
• Develops long-term planning scenarios and evaluates future transmission needs across multiple planning horizons.
• Applies power system simulation, optimization, probabilistic assessment, and risk-based planning methods to support transmission investment and planning decisions.
• Designs and implements Python-based automation to improve the efficiency, consistency, and reproducibility of planning studies.
• Contributes to intelligent and automated planning workflows, including the potential application of agentic artificial intelligence.
• Integrates findings across transmission reliability, resource adequacy, production cost, interconnection, and long-term transmission planning processes.
• Develops technical recommendations and planning strategies for utility, ISO/RTO, and other stakeholder clients.
• Communicates technical methods, findings, and recommendations to engineering, management, regulatory, and executive audiences.
• Contributes to proposal development, project execution, research initiatives, technical reports, and industry engagement activities.

• Has developed relationships with primary advisors to a research area.
• Provides assistance to EPRI sales staff in Member Services and EPRI International.
• Communicates strategies and results, both written and verbal, to program members, potential members, and external stakeholders through guidelines, reports, meetings, webcasts, workshops, and conferences.
• Communicates work across EPRI programs to ensure parallel and related research is informed.
• May provide oversight of a project team to help ensure technical and financial milestones are met.
• Organizes external and interdepartmental activities to support completion of projects and products on schedule and within budget.
• Supports the planning and execution of complex project work within the technical department to meet member and client objectives.
• Prepares and presents research reports, technical findings, and actionable recommendations.
• Manages small or medium, less-complex projects, including budgets and resources.
• Begins interfacing with national and international technical networks, including manufacturers, consultants, academia, research organizations, utilities, ISO/RTO organizations, and regulatory stakeholders.
• Supports proposal efforts and new promotional work.
• Develops research or service opportunities of value to EPRI members that align with EPRI’s mission and capabilities. This includes solving customer problems, producing insights and information important to members, and delivering information in a manner members and customers can apply.
• Provides guidance and mentorship to junior staff.

Bachelor’s degree in a technical field or equivalent…