Supervisor, AI & Innovation Program Manager

Job Description

Ignite the next wave of energy innovation 
 

Puget Sound Energy’s Data & AI org turns advanced analytics, automation, and modern AI into measurable outcomes. We’re seeking a hybrid Program/Product leader and people manager who can turn a busy idea backlog into a reliable delivery engine, lead project managers and managed-services partners, and prove value with adoption and ROI. 

Why PSE 

• Scope that matters: this role spans the entire Data & AI portfolio. 
• Real runway: multi-year investment and executive sponsorship. 
• Mission impact: reduce outage minutes, advance clean energy, elevate customer experience. 
• Team you’ll enjoy: low-ego, high-ownership operators who measure success by shipped value. 

What you’ll do 

• Own the entire PSE AI portfolio: from intake to prioritization to MVPs/POCs/Pilots to adoption and ROI. 
• Lead the team: hire/coach PMs; set goals; run peer reviews; raise/lower the bar; grow careers. 
• Direct managed-services/contingent staff: capacity plans, SOWs, milestones, acceptance criteria. 
• Run one delivery playbook: clear cadence, single source of truth dashboards, audit-ready governance, crisp decision rights. 
• Ship outcomes, not pilots: pick the few bets that matter, land them in production, scale what works. 
• Financial stewardship: build business cases; manage CapEx/O&M; re-baseline when facts change; explain variance to execs. 
• Responsible and fast: embed lineage, privacy/security, and Responsible-AI checkpoints without slowing delivery. 
• Stakeholder alignment: run decision-oriented SteerCos; bring options with trade-offs; secure approvals and unblock quickly. 
• Continuous improvement: shorten time-to-value; standardize SOW milestones and acceptance; retire low-value tracks. 

Who you are 

• Portfolio owner who has juggled multiple programs, vendors, and budgets under real deadlines. 
• Product-minded PM who moves ideas to MVPs to adoption with measurable ROI. 
• People-first leader who levels up PMs, aligns vendors to outcomes, and keeps execution tight in regulated environments. 
• A clear communicator who makes complex topics simple for executives and engineers alike. 

How you’ll work 

• Cross-functional squads (product, data engineering, UX, cybersecurity) with hyperscaler/consulting partners (e.g., Azure Fabric & Purview, AWS, Accenture). 
• Modern tooling (ADO; Power BI; Airtable; lineage/governance via Fabric/Purview or similar). 
• Officer visibility and sponsorship; regular forums to show progress and scale wins. 

Job Responsibilities

• Employee Safety, Development & Team Building - Provides employees with coaching, feedback, and developmental opportunities and builds effective teams:
  • Demonstrates a passion for safety. Promotes and supports a culture of total safety including eliminating at-risk behaviors by conducting safety audits and inspections, eliminating hazards and near misses, and attending safety meetings.
  • Sets clear expectations and holds employees accountable for performance as well as safety goals/targets where applicable.
  • Oversees training and development of employees directly and indirectly managed and makes effective staffing decisions. Ensures required training is successfully completed.
  • Challenges and inspires employees to achieve business results.
  • Accountable to ensure employees adhere to legal and operational compliance requirements, as well as safety standards.
  • Conducts and ensures the completion of performance reviews and development plans.
  • Provides coaching, direction and leadership support to team members in order to achieve employee, business, customer, and safety results.
• Leads multiple complex intermediate and large unrelated projects, or one very large, complex project. Manages all aspects of these projects throughout the project lifecycle including project scope, schedule, budget, resources, quality and change; works in a coordinated manner to ensure proper allocation of resources, individual project profitability and high client satisfaction. May also participate in driving work streams for projects related to other IT or PSE departments as needed.
• Applies advanced project management concepts and uses project management software to manage a portfolio of projects.
• Diagnoses complex business and IT project related problems.
• Assembles diverse inter-departmental and cross-functional project teams. Collaborates with resource managers to determine staffing mix required on projects to ensure best results.
• Translates project requirements into project objectives and tasks, managing task assignments to project resources and reporting on and managing project scope throughout the project lifecycle.
• Develops detailed project schedules, project estimates, resource plans, project financials and status reports.
• Sets and manages stakeholder expectations, managing and escalating issues, risks and changes when needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, business, project management or equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience may substitute.
• Ten (10) years of experience in project and program management with 5 years of experience in managing or leading teams.
• Demonstrated management and decision making skills concerning information systems policies, processes and procedures with proven track record of completing tasks and/or projects within budget and on schedule.
• Strong knowledge in project management discipline to effectively arrange resources and manage multiple large projects in a cross-functional environment. Knowledge of commonly used concepts, practices and procedures within a Project Management Governance Framework.
• Strong familiarity with project management software, including MS Project.
• Ability to work in a team-oriented, collaborative environment is essential.
• Strong team leadership and facilitation skills required.
• Solid understanding of project management tools and methodologies, and ability to develop and manage project plans and budgets.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including excellent presentation skills.

Desired Qualifications

• PMP; ITIL; Master’s in a technology field. 
• 7+ years in formal data or AI product management with end-to-end ownership (roadmap, backlog, releases, adoption KPIs). 
• Launched multiple enterprise data platform, API, or AI products from concept to GA (discovery to post-launch iteration). 
• Quantifies value and presents financial models to executives. 
• Design thinking/lean discovery; familiarity with platform product management (reusable data services, API marketplaces). 
• Hands-on exposure to Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI, AWS Bedrock (or comparable stacks). 
• Proven UX collaboration to deliver intuitive, user-focused analytics & AI experiences. 
• Leadership of cross-vendor teams in regulated environments (utilities, finance, healthcare). 
• People leadership: building/managing PM teams; operating managed-services/contingent workforces; aligning vendor capacity to portfolio outcomes. 

Additional Information