Principal Engineer, Franchise & ROW

Cellco Partnership; Basking Ridge (NJ); Remote; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Verizon is seeking a Principal Engineer on the AI Connect team to lead franchise and ROW initiatives, guiding regulatory strategy and CLM across long-haul fiber deployments.

You will serve as SME, coordinating legal, regulatory, and property rights requirements while negotiating terms with LFAs, state agencies, and property owners. This role emphasizes governance, standards, and rapid, compliant deployment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or four or more years of work experience.
• Six+ years as an individual contributor in public utility franchise acquisition, telecom right-of-way, municipal regulatory affairs, or commercial real estate law.
• Deep subject matter expertise navigating municipal codes, state franchise statutes, and public rights-of-way regulations.
• Extensive experience negotiating complex franchise agreements, private utilities, and railroad/DOT encroachment permits.
• Mastery of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) processes from drafting to renewal.
• Understanding of real estate title examination and recording requirements.
• Willingness to travel up to ~10% and a valid driver's license.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Lead Franchise & ROW SME: oversee end-to-end acquisition, regulatory evaluation, and due diligence.
• Lead complex negotiations with LFAs, state DOTs, property owners, and government entities.
• Drive CLM: govern stages from Request to Renewal with compliance and audits.
• Develop outreach strategies for LFAs and expedite deployment through permit-focused advocacy.
• Coordinate contract redlines across Legal, Risk, OSP Engineering, Finance and Tax.
• Oversee due diligence and technical quality: title searches, surveys, environmental assessments, filings.
• Establish playbooks, templates, and SLAs for ROW vendors.

Skills

Public utility franchise acquisition

Telecom ROW

Municipal regulatory affairs

Commercial real estate law

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

When you join Verizon You want more out of a career. A place to share your ideas freely - even if they're daring or different. Where the true you can learn, grow, and thrive. At Verizon, we power and empower how people live, work and play by connecting them to what brings them joy. We do what we love - driving innovation, creativity, and impact in the world. Our V Team is a community of people who anticipate, lead, and believe that listening is where learning begins. In crisis and in celebration, we come together - lifting our communities and building trust in how we show up, everywhere & always. Want in? Join the #VTeamLife.

What you'll be doing...

As a Principal Engineer on the AI Connect team reporting to the Associate Director of Franchise & ROW, you will serve as the lead individual contributor and authoritative subject matter expert (SME) in public franchise acquisition, municipal regulatory strategy, private ROW easements, and end-to-end Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM). In this technical leadership role, you will guide the legal, regulatory, and property rights frameworks required to construct, protect, and maintain long-haul fiber optic cables and associated network infrastructure.

You will provide advanced governance, mentorship, and quality control across external vendor partners and cross-functional teams without direct people-management responsibilities, establishing the standards, playbooks, and negotiation parameters that ensure rapid, legally sound, and compliant network deployment. In this role, you will:

• Serve as Lead Franchise & ROW SME: Direct end-to-end acquisition, regulatory evaluation, and due diligence frameworks for public franchise agreements, municipal encroachment authorizations, and private/commercial easements.
• Lead Complex & High-Stakes Negotiations: Structure and negotiate complex, non-standard terms with Local Franchise Authorities (LFAs), state DOTs, commercial property owners, and government entities (e.g., BLM land grants), safeguarding key corporate interests such as relocation reimbursements, non-discriminatory fee parity, and termination rights.
• Drive Full Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM): Govern every stage of the contract lifecycle-Request, Generate, Negotiate, Approval, Execute, Capture, Comply, Report & Audit, Review & Amend, and Renewal-ensuring all terms comply with statutory requirements and internal standards.
• Lead Municipal & Competitor Parity Strategy: Develop outreach strategies for LFAs, advance "permit-only" advocacy to expedite deployment schedules, and lead competitive agreement audits via FOIA/public records to prevent discriminatory conditions.
• Cross-Functional Term Alignment: Serve as the central hub routing and consolidating contract redlines across Legal, Risk Management, OSP Engineering, Finance, and Tax to produce optimized master agreements.
• Oversee Due Diligence & Technical Quality: Set technical standards and review deliverables for centerline surveys, 30-to-50-year title searches, environmental assessments, and county recording filings to guarantee clean property rights.
• Vendor Governance & Process Standardization: Establish playbooks, standardized templates, and quality control mechanisms for turnkey ROW vendor partners, holding them accountable to operational guidelines, linear-foot price benchmarks, and sourcing timeline SLAs.
• Uphold the "Be BOLD" Standard: Solve complex regulatory and property challenges with agility, provide thoughtful candor during strategic evaluations, and take ownership of delivering high-impact, compliant infrastructure outcomes.

This role can be located in any US based Verizon hub location.

What we're looking for...

• Bachelor's degree or four or more years of work experience.
• Six or more years of relevant work experience as an individual contributor in public utility franchise acquisition, telecom right-of-way (ROW), municipal regulatory affairs, or commercial real estate law.
• Deep subject matter expertise navigating municipal codes, state franchise statutes, and public rights-of-way regulations.
• Extensive hands-on experience negotiating complex franchise agreements, private utility easements, and railroad/DOT encroachment permits.
• Demonstrated mastery of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) processes, from drafting and internal stage-gate approvals to post-execution compliance and renewal.
• Thorough understanding of real estate title examination (30-50 year chain of title), boundary and centerline surveys, and recording requirements.
• Willingness to travel up to approximately 10% of the time.
• A valid driver's license.

Even better if you have one or more of the following:

• Juris Doctor (JD), Master's degree, or Senior Right of Way Professional (SR/WA) designation.
• Direct experience securing franchises and private easements along long-haul fiber routes or outside plant (OSP) telecommunications networks.
• Proven track record conducting FOIA/open records requests and compe