IT Engineer / IT Project Manager — Utility Technology Programs

SB&O Inc; Oakland (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 15,000,000; Full time

Job summary

SB&O, Inc. is hiring across multiple tracks for IT solution engineering, IT project management, AMI operations, and utility telecom/OT work in the Oakland area. Hybrid work with at least one day onsite weekly is required, with occasional site visits and travel up to three hours each way.

Local candidates only; include city/state on resume. Tracks include design and delivery of IT platforms, managing multi-million dollar projects, smart metering operations, and OT network deployments within

Qualifications

• BA/BS in Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or equivalent experience.
• Project management track: 5+ years managing one or more complex IT product/software development cycles or projects.
• PMI PMP certification for project management roles.
• Advanced understanding of project management principles and methodologies.
• Experience with IT professional service agreements and materials logistics.
• Ability to function and manage in a matrixed environment, with an understanding of IT roles, responsibilities, business strategy, and IT strategy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and collaboration skills; strong negotiation, risk management, and financial acumen.
• Must be local to the San Francisco Bay, Sacramento, or Central Valley Areas and able to meet the onsite and travel expectations above.

Responsibilities

• Assist senior engineers in creating comprehensive technology platform solution designs that meet business requirements on IT projects.
• Apply knowledge of IT standards, service offerings, and operational options to help develop implementation approaches and evaluate technology alternatives.
• Help ensure the physical design and configuration of delivered solutions align directly with the approved logical design.
• Promote development and reuse of common solutions, components, and services.
• Collaborate with application, infrastructure, and information engineers, architects, product specialists, and system design engineers to complete IT deliverables.
• Work with engineers, architects, and product specialists to confirm that products and components work together to meet objectives and performance goals defined in the requirements.
• Support buy vs. build decisions, business requirements impact analysis, refinement of early-phase project estimates that feed the business case, and implementation-level design.
• Provide solution engineering support through the plan, analyze, design, build, test, and deploy phases of IT projects.
• Manage one or more concurrent complex IT projects, typically ranging from $100,000 to $10,000,000; senior assignments may go to $15M–$20M.

Skills

IT engineering

Project management

Stakeholder communication

Education

BA/BS in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field

PMI PMP certification (preferred)

Tools

HP PPM Center

MS Office

Job description

SB&O, Inc. is a planning, engineering, and surveying firm supporting infrastructure and technology programs across Northern California. We are building a bench of IT engineers and project managers to support ongoing and upcoming technology initiatives for a major Northern California utility client - including fiber and telecom programs, metering and smart grid operations, data privacy and compliance work, and enterprise IT project delivery.

We are hiring for multiple levels, from mid-career engineers and analysts through senior project managers. If your background lines up with any of the tracks below, we want to talk.

Location, Work Arrangement & Travel

• Hybrid. A minimum of one day onsite per week at the client's Oakland-area general office, with additional onsite days as business needs require.
• Occasional site visits and field coordination depending on the assigned project.
• Travel is same-day (return within one business day) and can be up to three hours each way.
• Local candidates only. Please list your city and state at the top of your resume — applications without a location will not be reviewed.

What You’ll Do

Assignments vary by project. Depending on your background, you will step into one of the following tracks.

Track 1 — IT Solution Engineering

• Assist senior engineers in creating comprehensive technology platform solution designs that meet business requirements on IT projects.
• Apply knowledge of IT standards, service offerings, and operational options to help develop implementation approaches and evaluate technology alternatives.
• Help ensure the physical design and configuration of delivered solutions align directly with the approved logical design.
• Promote development and reuse of common solutions, components, and services.
• Collaborate with application, infrastructure, and information engineers, architects, product specialists, and system design engineers to complete IT deliverables.
• Work with engineers, architects, and product specialists to confirm that products and components work together to meet objectives and performance goals defined in the requirements.
• Support buy vs. build decisions, business requirements impact analysis, refinement of early-phase project estimates that feed the business case, and implementation-level design.
• Provide solution engineering support through the plan, analyze, design, build, test, and deploy phases of IT projects.

Track 2 — IT Project Management / Senior Project Management

• Manage one or more concurrent complex IT projects, typically ranging from $100,000 to $10,000,000 (senior assignments may range to $15M–$20M, including regulatory commitment projects).
• Gather, define, and document project requirements; define and communicate roles, responsibilities, and expectations across the project team.
• Define staffing requirements, form project teams, and provide direction to project management analysts and schedulers.
• Independently plan all associated work; conduct kickoff meetings; develop metrics, procedures, objectives, and methods to assess project progress against established standards and quality objectives.
• Record, track, and communicate issues, risks, changes, and status within standard tools; forecast project resource, material, and contract costs accurately.
• Develop and maintain detailed project schedules and work plans; monitor critical milestones and resolve schedule issues.
• Coordinate contract work within defined policy and conduct site visits as necessary.
• Assess project performance and implement changes to keep projects within cost, schedule, scope, and quality objectives.
• Communicate status to stakeholders and management; build productive working relationships with project sponsors, vendors, and key clients.
• Prepare all project documentation for closure, storage, and potential audit, ensuring technical accuracy.
• Senior level: confirm project objectives are achievable, guide engineering on complex risk and alternative analyses and conceptual designs, develop and champion company-wide best practices, present to client officers, arbitrate and resolve project conflicts, and mentor less experienced project managers.

Track 3 — Smart Metering / AMI Operations Analyst

• Monitor, analyze, troubleshoot, and resolve smart meter operational issues across AMI infrastructure.
• Support smart meter devices, Itron technologies, MDMS, RF/wireless communications, relays, access points, and data network infrastructure.
• Perform root cause analysis and support outage, incident, and escalation management.
• Partner with IT, business teams, vendors, and contractors to maintain system performance and reliability.
• Support project implementations, system upgrades, testing, and deployments; participate in design reviews, UAT, equipment evaluations, and technology trials.
• Document processes and provide knowledge transfer, training, and technical guidance to team members.

Track 4 — Utility Telecommunications & Operational Technology (OT)

• Support engineering, design review, and project delivery for utility telecom and OT networks that carry protection, control, and grid operations traffic.
• Work across transport and access layers: licensed microwave, SONET, SDH, DWDM, CWDM, MPLS, IP, TDM multiplexing and channel banks, and fiber optic plant (OPGW, ADSS, ODN).
• Support teleprotection and protective relaying communications, including direct transfer trip, line current differential, and T-Link / W-Link circuits between substations.
• Support SCADA and grid operations systems, RTUs, substation LANs, and field device communications (DNP3, IEC 61850, serial-to-IP conversion).
• Support wireless and field area network programs: private LTE (including CBRS), field area networks (FAN), mesh and RF communications, DAS, and land mobile radio.
• Coordinate circuit provisioning, cutovers, migrations, decommissioning, and outage windows with operations, protection engineering, and field crews.
• Track design deliverables, equipment procurement, factory and site acceptance testing, and commissioning; maintain accurate as-built and circuit records.
• Support compliance-driven work, including NERC CIP and regulatory commitment programs.

Technologies You May Work With

Licensed microwave SONET / SDH DWDM / CWDM MPLS / IP transport TDM multiplexing and channel banks T-Links and W-Links teleprotection and direct transfer trip line current differential SCADA RTUs DNP3 IEC 61850 substation LAN and automation optical distribution networks (ODN) OPGW / ADSS and outside plant fiber private LTE and CBRS field area networks (FAN) RF and mesh communications DAS and land mobile radio AMI / smart metering (Itron, MDMS) synchrophasors / PMU NERC CIP Meter to Cash network management and OSS systems

You are not expected to have all of these. Tell us which ones you've actually worked with and at what depth.

Minimum Qualifications

• BA/BS in Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or equivalent experience. (For analyst-level roles, an Associate's degree in a related field or equivalent experience will be considered.)
• Engineering track: demonstrated IT engineering design and/or technical project implementation experience.
• Project management track: 5+ years managing one or more complex IT product/software development cycles or projects.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from PMI for project management roles.
• Advanced understanding of project management principles and methodologies.
• Experience with IT professional service agreements and materials logistics.
• Ability to function and manage in a matrixed environment, with an understanding of IT roles, responsibilities, business strategy, and IT strategy.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and collaboration skills; strong negotiation, risk management, and financial acumen.
• Must be local to the San Francisco Bay, Sacramento, or Central Valley Areas and able to meet the onsite and travel expectations above.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or equivalent.
• Utility industry experience; prior experience with a large Northern California utility strongly preferred.
• Experience working in a PMO environment as a project lead or project manager on highly complex projects; familiarity with utility IT PMO deliverables.
• Meter to Cash IT program experience; smart grid, AMI, and field communications infrastructure experience; relay lifecycle or large-scale device deployment experience.
• Hands-on experience with Itron technologies, MDMS, RF/wireless communications, access points, relay devices, and data networks.
• Utility telecommunications and OT experience: licensed microwave, SONET, SDH, DWDM, CWDM, TDM multiplexing, T-Links and W-Links, teleprotection and direct transfer trip, SCADA and RTUs, substation communications, private LTE, CBRS, field area networks, and optical distribution networks.
• Experience delivering fiber and telecom infrastructure programs, including outside plant fiber (OPGW/ADSS), circuit provisioning and cutovers, and network migrations or decommissioning.
• Familiarity with NERC CIP and other utility regulatory compliance requirements.
• Additional certification from an accredited program (e.g., Stanford Advanced Project Management Certificate Program) or equivalent.
• Proficiency with HP Project and Portfolio Management Center (PPMC), IT methodology frameworks, and the Microsoft Office suite.
• Exposure to a process improvement discipline such as Six Sigma within a technology-supported business process implementation.
• Ability to quickly learn a core utility business area, process design, information modeling, or system architecture, and to contribute with minimal ramp-up time.
• Track record of serving as a technical coach, trainer, or mentor and acting as a lead on cross-functional IT initiatives.