Project Manager, Operations Manager

Project Manager - Transmission & Substation (High Voltage)
San Francisco Bay Area, CA | Contract | # 6766
Position Overview:
PTAG is a Project Management Advisory & Services firm trusted by leading utilities and infrastructure owners across North America. We partner with clients to plan, develop, and deliver complex capital programs across transmission, substations, renewables, and grid modernization initiatives.
We are currently seeking an experienced Project Manager - Transmission & Substation to support major high-voltage capital projects across the greater Bay Area.
This role requires demonstrated experience managing 115kV+ transmission and substation projects within regulated IOU environments. The successful candidate will operate in a matrixed structure, coordinating engineering, construction, outage planning, procurement, and regulatory stakeholders across the full project lifecycle.
As a Project Manager, you will be accountable for safe, compliant, and disciplined execution of high-impact utility infrastructure programs.
Key Responsibilities:
Project Leadership & Delivery

• Lead transmission and substation capital projects through initiation, planning, execution, commissioning, and close-out
• Define and manage project scope, WBS structures, cost baselines, and schedule integration
• Oversee outage-driven project sequencing and energization planning
• Monitor and control performance using schedule and cost metrics (SPI, CPI, EVM)
• Identify, manage, and mitigate risks in high-visibility utility environments
• Ensure alignment between engineering deliverables, procurement timelines, and field execution

Transmission & Utility Execution

• Manage projects involving high-voltage transmission (115kV+), substation builds, expansions, or major upgrades
• Coordinate transmission line rebuilds, underground segments, reconductoring, and associated substation tie-ins
• Provide oversight of construction, commissioning, and energization readiness
• Ensure compliance with utility standards, regulatory requirements, and interconnection processes
• Support wildfire mitigation, grid resiliency, and modernization initiatives where applicable

Stakeholder & Governance Management

• Serve as primary interface between utility stakeholders, contractors, engineering teams, and regulatory bodies
• Lead project governance meetings, executive reporting, and performance reviews
• Ensure adherence to IOU capital governance processes and reporting cadence
• Resolve cross-functional conflicts and remove execution barriers
• Support audits, documentation controls, and regulatory reviews

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Champion safety-first execution in live utility environments
• Enforce Quality, Environmental, and Health & Safety standards
• Ensure permitting, compliance, and funding requirements are met
• Maintain disciplined change control processes

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience managing high-voltage transmission and/or substation capital projects
• Demonstrated experience within regulated Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) environments
• Strong experience managing outage-driven construction projects
• Experience leading matrixed teams across engineering, construction, procurement, and project controls
• Solid understanding of cost management, earned value, and capital forecasting
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects within complex capital portfolios
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or related field
• Strong executive communication and stakeholder management capability

Preferred Qualifications

• PMP certification or P.Eng designation
• Experience supporting wildfire mitigation, undergrounding, or grid modernization programs
• Experience managing data center interconnection or mission-critical infrastructure projects
• Familiarity with SAP, Eco Sys, Primavera P6, or similar capital governance tools

Mandatory Experience Alignment (Non-Negotiable)
Candidates must demonstrate:

• Direct experience managing 115kV+ transmission or major substation projects
• Experience operating within regulated IOU governance environments
• Exposure to outage-based project sequencing and energization planning

Candidates without high-voltage utility experience will not be considered.
Location & Work Model

• Primary locations:
  San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, and greater San Francisco Bay Area
• Work schedule:
  
  Onsite / field-based, Monday-Friday, 40+ hours per week
• Remote work:
  Not available at this stage

Why PTAG?

• Work on high-impact transmission and substation programs shaping grid resiliency
• Join a consulting firm embedded with leading utility clients
• Long-term visibility across major capital portfolios
• Collaborative culture focused on safety, accountability, and performance excellence
• Opportunity for continued growth within PTAG.