Senior Manager, Utility Partnerships

EnPowered; Kitchener; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Stock options

Flexible schedule

Work from home

Generous vacation

Job summary

EnPowered is seeking a Senior Manager, Utility Partnerships to lead our Ontario utility relationships and advance DER adoption. You will identify priority utilities, shape collaboration models, and drive deals with a small, fast-moving team.

In this role you will travel within Ontario, build industry presence through associations, and partner with the growth team to convert opportunities into pilots and programs that scale our battery solutions across commercial & industrial customers.

Qualifications

• Five+ years in Ontario's electricity sector or with local distribution companies.
• Strong understanding of DER, non-wires alternatives, and distribution planning.
• Proven track record building long-term partnerships with utilities and regulators.

Responsibilities

• Build and own Ontario utility relationships and DER conversations.
• Learn each utility's constraints, planning cycles, and funding options.
• Develop practical partnership models with utilities and pilots.
• Convert relationships into qualified opportunities for the growth team.
• Represent EnPowered in industry associations and events to raise the profile.

Skills

Ontario utilities experience

Stakeholder management

Relationship building

AI literacy

Travel readiness

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

HubSpot CRM

Job description

About EnPowered

Electricity grids are under more pressure every year. Demand is rising with electrification and reshoring, heat waves push peak usage higher, and more of our supply comes from intermittent wind and solar that rise and fall with the weather. To support our economy as we transition to cleaner energy, grids need flexibility: customers who can store energy when it is plentiful and reduce their draw when the grid is stretched.

EnPowered makes that flexibility simple and profitable for businesses. We support hundreds of large commercial, industrial, and institutional businesses in Ontario and the U.S., helping them to avoid costly price spikes. Together they save $50-100M a year, while reducing their demand when the grid needs it most.

We also control the largest fleet of behind-the-meter battery assets in Canada. For industrial sites that need reliable backup power, we install batteries at no upfront cost, then own and operate them in energy markets on the customer's behalf. The customer gets resilience and lower energy costs without changing how they run their business.

Our vision: Every business and home is actively participating in the electricity grid.

Our mission: Enabling a profitable transition to sustainable energy.

How we work

• Small team, clear ownership. We are a small team, split into five cross-functional capability teams. The people who build our tools work directly with the people who use them, and everyone knows which outcomes they are responsible for.
• AI is part of everyone's job. We get a lot done for a team our size, partly because everyone uses AI to solve their own problems. Everyone has access to all of our data and the latest AI models, and is expected to use them to excel in their role.
• We move fast and improve constantly. We set ambitious goals every quarter, break them into monthly milestones, and check progress as a team every week. We would rather ship something useful this week and improve it next week than wait for perfection. This allows us to learn quickly, adapt on the fly, and move faster than other companies.

The role: Senior Manager, Utility Partnerships

Ontario's utilities are being asked to do more with distributed energy resources (DERs). Recent Ontario Energy Board direction asks distributors to consider DERs as alternatives to traditional poles and wires, and gives them new reasons to procure them. Many utilities have local constraints that batteries could relieve, but few have the capacity to find and develop those projects themselves.

That creates an opportunity for both sides. Utilities that are leaning into DER and non-wires alternatives can introduce us to customers in the areas where batteries help most, and we can bring them projects that meet their goals. As our Senior Manager, Utility Partnerships, you will build and own these relationships across Ontario, along with our work with industry associations and a small number of strategic partners. This is a relationship role more than a sales role: your job is to open doors and bring opportunities to EnPowered, and our leadership team will close the deals. We are starting in Ontario, with room to expand to other markets as the model proves out.

What you’ll do

• Build and own our utility relationships. Identify the Ontario utilities most active in DER and non-wires alternatives, and build trusted relationships with their DER, planning, key accounts, and conservation teams. You will take over and grow the utility conversations we have already started.
• Help us understand how utilities think. Learn each utility's local constraints, planning cycles, procurement processes, and funding options, and share that knowledge with our team so we can shape offers that work for them.
• Develop partnership models. Work with utilities on practical ways to collaborate, such as bringing them battery projects in their territory, prospecting in the areas they point us to, or joint pilots and programs that support their DER goals.
• Bring us qualified opportunities. Turn relationships into introductions to sites where the customer or the utility wants a battery installed, along with the interval data our team needs to assess them. Hand these opportunities to the growth team and stay involved as the relationship lead.
• Represent EnPowered in the industry. Build our presence in associations such as the Electricity Distributors Association, the Ontario Energy Association, Energy Storage Canada, and the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario, through events, working groups, and speaking opportunities.
• Manage a few strategic partnerships. Build relationships with a small number of other organizations that serve the same customers and can accelerate battery adoption.
• Track policy and program changes. Follow Ontario Energy Board and IESO developments that affect DERs and non-wires alternatives, and tell the team what they mean for our strategy.
• Keep the pipeline visible. Log relationships and opportunities in HubSpot and report progress to the growth team every week.

What you bring

Required

• At least five years in Ontario's electricity sector, with direct experience working at or closely with local distribution companies.
• A strong understanding of how utilities plan, procure, and are regulated, including how DER and non-wires alternatives fit into distribution planning.
• An understanding of how demand response and coincident peak programs work in Ontario and other markets.
• A track record of building long-term relationships and partnerships that created value for both sides.
• The credibility to hold your own in conversations with utility leaders, engineers, and regulators.
• The ability to explain the technical and economic case for batteries in plain language.
• Self-direction and comfort working in a small, fast-moving team.
• Daily use of AI tools, or a strong willingness to learn.
• Existing relationships at Ontario utilities.
• Willingness to travel within Ontario to meet partners in person.

Nice to have

• Experience in a utility DER, distribution planning, key accounts, or conservation and demand management team.
• Experience with non-wires alternative proposals, utility DER procurement, or distribution system operator initiatives.
• A background in battery storage or DER project development.
• Active involvement in Ontario energy industry associations.
• An engineering degree or other technical background.

What success looks like

• First 30 days: you understand our battery offer and its economics, have met the utilities we are already talking to, and have a prioritized map of the Ontario utilities and associations to focus on.
• First 90 days: you have active relationships with our priority utilities, the first utility-sourced opportunities have reached our growth team with interval data, and EnPowered is visible in at least one industry association.
• First 12 months: utilities are a steady source of battery opportunities for EnPowered, at least one utility partnership has moved into a formal pilot, program, or project, and we know which partnership models work well enough to consider expanding beyond Ontario.

What we offer

• Rewarding work that directly shapes how Ontario's grid uses flexible energy.
• A competitive salary and stock options.
• Health benefits.
• Flexible schedules, a work-from-home environment, and a generous vacation policy.
• Regular team events, including quarterly team onsites.

EnPowered is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, accommodation will be provided by EnPowered throughout the recruitment, selection, and assessment process to applicants with disabilities.