Portland General Electric · 9 hours ago
Remote Sensing & Drone/UAS Program Manager
United States
Full-time
Remote
Senior Level
$100K/yr - $198K/yr
7+ years expPortland General Electric is focused on creating innovative clean energy solutions. The Remote Sensing & Drone/UAS Program Manager will oversee all remote sensing activities, ensuring data quality and governance while managing internal teams and external partners to support various utility operations.
Electrical DistributionEnergyRenewable Energy
Responsibilities
Assists leadership in developing Remote Sensing program and UAV program vision and strategy
Maintains and communicates the strategic vision and roadmap for PGE’s remote sensing and drone/UAS operations aligned with company objectives, regulatory requirements, and safety standards
Leads the facilitation and development of policies, procedures, governance frameworks, analysis, and business cases associated with Remote Sensing and UAV programs
Assists Chief Helicopter Pilot in developing, updating and implementing operational processes and procedures associated with drone flights, licensing, and training
Establishes executive-level dashboards and KPIs to track Remote Sensing and UAV program performance, safety metrics, data outcomes, and benefits realization
Leads the end-to-end remote sensing and UAV program, including strategy development, roadmaps, budgets, resource planning, and performance measurement
Responsible for leading various program initiatives including geospatial data integration, imagery analysis process improvement, remote sensing strategy implementation, training programs, feasibility studies, and pilot initiatives
Serves as a subject matter expert on Remote Sensing and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) initiatives while developing organizational best practices
Serves as project manager for large-scale Remote Sensing acquisition projects with responsibility for defining objectives, scoping, budgeting, funding presentations, procurement, closeout and data discrimination
Develops or oversees development of project plans, including work breakdown structure, schedule and cost baselines, overall budget management, dependencies, and resource requirements
Identifies project risks and develops mitigation strategies while ensuring projects deliver quality and value to customers while meeting environmental, cultural and community requirements
Works with project sponsors to define remote sensing objectives and scope while developing business case justifications for Remote Sensing projects
Leads cost-benefit analyses, ROI calculations, and tracks potential and realized benefits such as risk reduction, cost savings, reliability improvements, and safety enhancements
Develops business case templates, approver gates, and post-implementation reviews to ensure realization of expected benefits
Oversees planning, authorization, and execution of drone flights for LiDAR, imagery, inspection, and other geospatial data collection needs
Ensures compliance with aviation regulations, safety management systems, pilot qualifications, and airspace waivers while managing risk assessments and incident reporting
Coordinates with field operations for safe and efficient payload deployment, mission planning, and data validation
Oversees acquisition, processing, storage, analysis, and dissemination of LiDAR, hyperspectral, multispectral imagery, UAV imagery, and other geospatial data
Establishes and enforces data standards, metadata, provenance, QA/QC, and governance for collected datasets
Ensures integration with GIS platforms, asset management systems, and enterprise data warehouses while evaluating and adopting advanced sensing technologies aligned with program goals
Establishes and maintains formal controls to manage and monitor project budget, scope, quality, schedule and risks across the portfolio
Negotiates necessary project changes with managers and sponsors while maintaining and updating overall project plans
Determines appropriate project controls, integrates processes between various organizational units, and identifies critical cost and schedule issues for resolution
Develops communication plans and strategies; coordinates with project managers and business unit leaders to provide timely, accurate communication of program plans and project status to stakeholders
Reports accurately on program status, schedules, financials, problems, and risks while promoting adherence to communication standards to reduce inefficiencies and potential inaccuracies
Leads and facilitates program and process improvement activities, assisting managers to identify, understand and improve processes, practices and policies
Establishes process controls to measure baseline and post-improvement performance while acting as a change agent driving continuous improvement
Continuously improves data workflows, automation, and processing pipelines while championing the adoption of open standards and interoperability with enterprise systems
Partners with Supply Chain, Legal, IT, Fleet, and project sponsors on vendor contract negotiations related to remote sensing technologies and services
Manages vendor selection, performance monitoring, and compliance with safety, security, and regulatory requirements
Develops technical specifications, prepares requests for proposals (RFPs) and evaluates bids
Develops and maintains key relationships across the business, including with senior executives, while providing subject matter expertise
Collaborates with, mentors and assists in training other project managers to improve standards and methodology
Partners with customers and other utilities to strengthen and create opportunities to share best practices
Translates remote sensing and UAV data into actionable insights for vegetation management, line clearance planning, asset inspection, and outage risk assessment
Supports analytics workflows leveraging geospatial capabilities while producing management-ready reports, dashboards, and executive summaries that monitor realized benefits and value delivery
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Geospatial Science, Geography, Engineering, Computer Science, Environmental Science, or a related field
7+ years of experience in remote sensing, GIS, geospatial data management, UAV operations, or a related field; leading programs or large projects
Demonstrated experience managing remote sensing and UAV programs in large operational environments (utility, government, or similar)
Experience with LiDAR data processing (e.g., normalization, classification, feature extraction, canopy height models) and imagery processing (orthomosaics, change detection, classification); UAV data workflows
UAV pilot certifications and/or aviation experience; flight operation management with a track record of safe operations
Project management certification or equivalent experience (PMP, PgMP, or equivalent) is a plus
FAA Part 107
Remote sensing technologies: LiDAR (static, mobile, airborne), photogrammetry, UAV imaging, hyperspectral/multispectral sensing, radar (optional/scoped), and satellite imagery
UAV/drone operations: flight planning, payload integration, UAS safety management, flight data management, and post-processing workflows
Geospatial data concepts: coordinate systems, raster/vector data, 3D modeling, point cloud processing, terrain/vegetation classification
GIS platforms and tools (e.g., ArcGIS Pro/Online, QGIS), and database concepts (spatial databases, SQL)
Data governance, QA/QC, metadata standards, provenance, and data lineage
Utility domain knowledge: transmission & distribution networks, asset management, vegetation management, right-of-way practices, line clearance, grid reliability
Regulatory frameworks: FAA UAS rules, waivers/Certificates of Authorization, NERC CIP as applicable, data privacy and security requirements
Privacy, civil aviation, and community impact considerations related to UAV operations
Project and program management principles (PMBOK/PRINCE2) and agile/scrum practices as applicable
Data security and information protection concepts relevant to geospatial data
Strategic thinking and program leadership with proven ability to build and execute a multi-year remote sensing and UAV roadmap
Strong data storytelling and the ability to translate technical results into business insights for non-technical stakeholders
Drone program management, flight operations planning, and vendor management
Advanced spatial analysis, 3D visualization, feature extraction, change detection, and workflow automation
Data integration skills: connecting remote sensing outputs to GIS, asset management systems, ERP/CMDBs, and analytics platforms
Benefit realization planning and tracking, including developing, monitoring, and communicating business case outcomes
Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management across multiple organizations
Change management and capability-building: training teams, developing best practices, and fostering a data-driven culture
Problem-solving mindset with attention to detail and quality under tight deadlines
Ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously with competing priorities
Ability to work independently and lead cross-functional teams, including field personnel, data scientists, IT, and operations staff
Ability to simplify complex technical concepts for executives and field operations
Ability to scale processes, automate repetitive tasks, and implement repeatable workflows
Ability to develop, monitor, and optimize performance metrics, KPIs, SLAs, and service delivery against business expectations
Ability to forge strong partnerships with business units and external partners; adept at stakeholder negotiation and alignment
Ability to adapt to evolving technology landscapes, regulatory environments, and airspace rules
Advanced knowledge of project management science, methodologies and standards
Advanced knowledge of and ability to integrate project management knowledge areas, including project scope, quality, time, cost, communication, procurement, human resources and risk management
Advanced knowledge of and skill in using software applications such as MS Project, PowerPoint, Word, Excel spreadsheets and graphing, Access, Visio, Maximo and Power Plant
Advanced knowledge of Project Profile system and PGE email system
Advanced knowledge of business process reengineering and continuous improvement methods and concepts
Advanced knowledge of systems thinking concepts and principles
Advanced knowledge of group problem-solving methods and techniques, including problem analysis, nominal group and brainstorming techniques and consensus building
Advanced listening skills, including the ability to draw information out and to see things from another's perspective
Advanced Skills In Writing Technical And Business Requirements
Advanced communication skills, both written and oral, including negotiation, persuasion and presentation skills
Ability to adhere to set response times, deadlines and time-sensitive tasks
Ability to follow accuracy standards
Ability to follow through on decision-making tasks
Ability to interact effectively and collaboratively within a team environment
Ability to communicate and problem solve when under stress
Ability to respond and adapt to frequent change
Ability to accept and demonstrate self-awareness when provided constructive feedback
Ability to discern feedback and acknowledge ownership of areas of improvement
Ability to avoid future mistakes by applying reasonable skills to new but similar work situations or tasks
Ability to successfully collaborate with peers, managers and others within the organization
Ability to adhere to pre-established schedule, including start/stop time and break/lunch schedule
Ability to work long hours
Ability to work a variable schedule
Ability to report to work and perform work during periods of severe inclement weather
Ability to consistently meet attendance standards for regular, reliable, predictable, full-time attendance
Ability to work on-call schedule
Driver's license required
Travel occasionally (Two to three times a month or less)
Computer use (use computer regularly for entire work shift)
Preferred
Master's degree preferred
Leading programs or large projects preferred
Benefits
Performance based incentive bonus
Total rewards package
Company
Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric (PGE) is a vertically integrated electric utility engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Portland General Electric has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (30)
2024 (24)
2023 (13)
2022 (26)
2021 (26)
2020 (17)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$379.5MKey Investors
US Department of Energy
2023-05-10Grant· $4.5M
2022-10-25Post Ipo Equity· $375M
2006-04-03IPO
Leadership Team
Maria Pope
President and Chief Executive Officer
Joseph Trpik
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Recent News
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