Senior Manager, Grid Modeling

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Serve as the on-team practitioner for the GRIDS Research and Analytics function—conducting hands-on benchmarking of grid modeling tools and data sources, prototyping analytical workflows on open tools and public data, and surfacing performance and capability gaps between leading commercial tools and open-source alternatives. Communicate findings clearly and concisely to GRIDS leadership to inform targeted philanthropic investment in closing those gaps.
• Design industry-standard tool and data benchmarking programs in partnership with external collaborators, oversee the philanthropic funding of those programs, and help make their outputs broadly accessible so that modelers globally can compare what tools (commercial and open-source) can do, how feature-complete and performant they are, which solvers pair best with them, and what data sources are available and reliable—including public datasets and estimations of security-constrained data. Monitor progress against milestones and synthesize outcomes for internal leadership and public communications.
• Scope, monitor, and steward grants and contracts to partner organizations advancing solver, tool, and methods development—for example, solver performance improvements, open-source tool benchmarking, and AC power-flow-informed capacity expansion modeling. Define scope and deliverables, track progress, manage funding, and report up internally and publicly. The GRIDS team is small, so most technical execution will happen through partners; this role is a primary lever for ensuring that work is well-scoped and lands.
• Lead targeted efforts to help anchor partners—utilities, grid operators, consultancies—move pilot or production planning workflows onto open-source tools, identifying what is missing for adoption and translating those findings back into the GRIDS investment roadmap.
• Pressure-test the analytical workflows GRIDS aims to democratize—i.e., analyses that today require CEII access or proprietary tooling—by prototyping them end-to-end on open tools and public data, and identify the gaps that prevent them from being run openly today.
• Evaluate modeling tool, data, and methodology requirements for accurately assessing the role of emerging technologies on the grid—shape and contribute solutions back to the modeling community.
• Serve as a technical thought partner to the Director, Research and Analytics in vetting external proposals and ongoing partner work, bringing a planner's perspective on whether proposed tools, data products, and methods would be genuinely useful to practitioners at utilities and grid operators.
• Build collaboration across the broader Breakthrough Energy network to leverage shared expertise and ensure GRIDS' technical work informs and is informed by adjacent BE activities.
• Deliver technical thought leadership on behalf of GRIDS in industry forums, working groups, and convenings related to grid modeling, benchmarking, and open-source development—helping build awareness of GRIDS' work and expanding the program's technical influence in the field.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• At least 5 years of transmission and/or distribution planning and power systems modeling experience at a utility, ISO/RTO, or consulting firm supporting system operators. This should include hands-on experience building, developing, and maintaining planning models—including the underlying network, generator, and dynamic models—and conducting the full range of planning studies: steady-state power flow, transient stability, short-circuit, and electromagnetic transient (EMT) analysis.
• Strong track record of building productive relationships across diverse internal and external stakeholder groups, particularly in the climate, energy, or grid modeling space.
• PowerFactory and/or PSS®E experience required; familiarity with adjacent industry tools (e.g., TARA, PowerWorld, PSCAD) and open-source equivalents (e.e., PowSyBl) is a plus.
• Experience with electric reliability and resource adequacy studies.
• Working knowledge of transmission, distribution, and utility interconnection processes and electrical infrastructure.
• Deep understanding of data requirements for transmission and distribution models, including data sources, data pipelining, data validation, data interoperability challenges across datasets, and the handling of Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII) data.
• Demonstrated project management skills and the ability to manage multiple projects concurrently, including coordinating external consultants and grantees in the execution of scoped work.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex technical findings into clear, actionable insights for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Entrepreneurial orientation, with experience thriving through ambiguity and change in fast-paced, mission-driven environments.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required.