Senior AI & ROW Strategy Engineer

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

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.