Grid Solutions Strategy Manager - Energy (Hybrid Office Schedule)

What We Offer

A hybrid in-office schedule for qualifying employees
Flexible time-off policy
401(k) with company match (up to 4% - dollar for dollar)
Professional development, training, and tuition reimbursement programs
Excellent medical, dental, vision, and life insurance policy options
Opportunities for career advancement with an industry-leading company!

Responsibilities

• Own AFL's grid-wide technology strategy & definitive view of FTM and BTM grids, spanning transmission, distribution, substation, renewables, distributed energy resources (DER), microgrids, and large load power delivery.
• Translate utility, IPP, EPC, and large load trends into prioritized technology bets.
• Monitor regulatory and standards activity (FERC, NERC, IEEE, IEC, ANSI, state PUCs, ISO/RTO interconnection queues, NESC) and assess strategic and product implications.
• Establish and maintain a competitive technology landscape map covering OEM competitors, emerging entrants, and adjacent-industry disruptors; identify opportunities & threats to action.
• Build and maintain key technology assumptions which influence AFL’s market & demand modeling in AFL’s Integrated Business Planning (IBP) processes.
• Lead primary technology research through customer interviews, utility R&D engagements, lab partnerships, and conference intelligence.
• Define and steward AFL's grid-technology IP strategy in partnership with engineering & legal — covering patents, trade secrets, defensive publications, and licensing posture.
• Partner with engineering leadership to build & maintain Energy BU’s invention pipeline; participate/lead invention disclosure reviews and prioritize filings against strategic technology themes.
• Evaluate third-party IP, technology licensing opportunities, and standards-essential patent positions; recommend acquire/license/design-around strategies.
• Track competitor patent activity and surface inflection signals to product and engineering leadership.
• Provide the principal Market Development input into AFL Energy’s product line roadmaps, grounded in grid architecture evolution rather than incremental product extensions.
• Partner with Product Line Management (PLM) to develop technology requirement frameworks for both new & existing grid solutions – both FTM & BTM.
• Partner with PLM to define solution architectures, system-level value propositions, and reference designs that span AFL's optical & electrical infrastructure portfolios.
• Lead make/buy/partner recommendations for new technology capabilities, working with Engineering, PLMs, Strategy, and Finance.
• Serve as the BU's voice in cross-portfolio architecture discussions where Energy use-cases intersect.
• Represent AFL externally at industry forums (IEEE PES, CIGRE, DistribuTECH, RE+, EEI, EPRI working groups) and within certain standards bodies.
• Build durable relationships with utility R&D and innovation leaders, EPRI program managers, national labs, and key academic partners.
• Equip business leadership with technology investment recommendations, scenario analyses, and inorganic-growth opportunity assessments.
• Brief executives on grid technology trends and emerging risks and opportunities.
• Enable Sales and Application Engineering with deep technical narratives for strategic accounts — utilities, IPPs, EPCs, and data centers.
• Cook up coordination with Solution Marketing, Product Line Management, Engineering, Corporate Branding, and Sales to ensure technology, product, and brand strategies stay aligned.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Systems Engineering, or a closely related technical discipline.
• 3 - 5 years of progressive experience in the electric power industry, with direct exposure to grid infrastructure, utility planning, or grid-edge technology.
• 3+ years in technology, product, and/or market strategy, or grid infrastructure R&D.
• Working knowledge of both FTM (transmission, distribution, substation, interconnection) and BTM (DERs, microgrids, commercial & industrial, large load power) systems.
• Track record of shaping product roadmaps, defining technical requirements, or originating new solution categories that reached commercial success.
• Experience working directly with electric utilities, IPPs, EPCs, or other power infrastructure builders in technical advisory, sales engineering, or strategy capacities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with proven ability to brief executives and author technical thought leadership content.
• Comfort operating cross-functionally with engineering, product management, marketing, sales, legal, and corporate strategy.

Preferred

• Master's degree (MS in Transmission & Distribution, Power, or Electrical Engineering).
• Experience with optical fiber, grid hardware, OPGW/ADSS, transmission, distribution and substation design – power & communications.
• Prior contribution to standards bodies (IEEE, IEC, CIGRE) or active participation in EPRI programs.
• Hands-on involvement with patent filings, IP strategy, or technology licensing transactions.
• Prior experience inside a transmission & distribution manufacturer, grid-technology startup, or utility innovation organization.
• Standards bodies: IEEE PES, IEC, ANSI, CIGRE, NESC committees.
• Industry analysts, trade publications, and conference programs.

Working Conditions

Approximately 25% travel, predominantly domestic — utility, IPP, EPC, and data center customer sites; AFL plants and offices; industry conferences and standards meetings.
Occasional international travel for global utility, data center, or technology-partner engagement.