USA_Technical Lead

Location: Minneapolis, MN • Duration: 6 months

Role Summary

Serve as the primary technical lead for utility metering applications, production support, application maintenance, and Meter-to-Cash operations. Provide overall support, stability, and continuous improvement for the utility metering application landscape. Support Itron applications including UtilityIQ (UIQ), Itron Enterprise Edition (IEE), AMI/AMR systems, and associated integrations. Ensure seamless integration between metering platforms, Meter Data Management (MDM), CIS, billing, and downstream systems. Lead global application support teams while ensuring SLA compliance, operational excellence, and continuous service improvement. Manage stakeholder relationships, incident and problem management, vendor coordination, and operational governance.

Responsibilities

Application Support & Operations

• Lead L2/L3 support activities for Itron metering applications.
• Own production support, incident management, problem management, and change management processes.
• Ensure high availability, stability, and reliability of metering applications.
• Monitor application health, interfaces, batch jobs, and data-processing workflows.
• Lead service restoration activities during production outages.
• Perform application troubleshooting, log analysis, debugging, and performance monitoring.
• Drive continuous improvement and automation initiatives to improve application stability and support efficiency.

Itron Platform Management

• Support and maintain Itron UtilityIQ (UIQ) and Itron Enterprise Edition (IEE) environments.
• Coordinate IEE upgrades, patching activities, and vendor-led enhancements.
• Manage Itron vendor escalations, support tickets, and technical issues.
• Support configuration and scheduling activities within IEE.
• Monitor meter ingestion, data collection, validation, and exception-management processes.
• Troubleshoot application and integration issues across Itron metering platforms.

Metering & Utility Operations

• Support AMI and AMR metering operations.
• Ensure seamless integration between metering platforms, MDM, CIS, billing, and field systems.
• Troubleshoot meter-read failures, communication issues, and interval-data exceptions.
• Support VEE (Validation, Estimation, and Editing) processes.
• Ensure meter data integrity and consistency across utility systems.
• Support electric and gas metering operations and smart-meter ecosystems.
• Monitor and troubleshoot meter communication and data-collection processes.

Incident & Problem Management

• Lead critical incident calls and coordinate stakeholder communications.
• Perform Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for recurring and high-impact incidents.
• Implement preventive and corrective measures to reduce recurring incidents.
• Drive service restoration and resolution of critical production issues.
• Maintain knowledge articles, technical documentation, and operational runbooks.
• Identify opportunities for automation and process improvements.

Leadership & Governance

• Lead onsite and offshore application support teams.
• Conduct daily operational reviews and service governance meetings.
• Manage SLA and KPI reporting and ensure compliance with service commitments.
• Mentor support engineers, technical specialists, and application support teams.
• Coordinate transition, knowledge-transfer, and application-stabilization activities.
• Manage risks, issues, dependencies, and operational escalations.
• Provide regular status updates to stakeholders and project leadership.

Skills

Mandatory Technical Skills

• Itron Technologies
  • Itron UtilityIQ (UIQ)
  • Itron Enterprise Edition (IEE)
  • AMI Metering Platforms
  • AMR Solutions
  • Itron Meter Data Collection and Processing
  • Meter Communication Technologies
  • IEE configuration, scheduling, upgrades, and support
• Utility Domain
  • Meter-to-Cash processes
  • Meter Data Management (MDM)
  • VEE (Validation, Estimation, and Editing)
  • Interval Data Management
  • Billing Integrations
  • Electric and Gas Metering
  • Smart Meter Ecosystem
  • Utility CIS integrations
• Technical Skills
  • SQL with Oracle and/or SQL Server
  • ServiceNow
  • Middleware and Integration Platforms
  • REST/SOA APIs
  • Batch Scheduling and Monitoring
  • Application Log Analysis and Debugging
  • Application Performance Monitoring
  • Production Support and Application Maintenance
  • Interface and Data-Processing Monitoring
• Leadership Skills
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Vendor Management, particularly Itron
  • Incident Command and Major Incident Management
  • Operational Governance
  • Risk and Issue Management
  • Service Improvement Planning
  • Team Leadership and Mentoring
  • SLA/KPI Management
  • Global Support Team Coordination

Nice-to-Have Experience

• IEE upgrade programs
• Smart meter rollouts
• AMI deployments
• Utility CIS transformation programs
• Regulatory compliance reporting
• Experience supporting large North American utility clients

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related discipline.
• ITIL Foundation certification preferred.
• Utility industry or metering-domain certification is desirable.
• 10-15+ years of experience in utility metering applications, production support, application maintenance, and Meter-to-Cash operations.