ai lead project manager for electric operations technology at birdsvue llc united states

# **Position Overview**

**The AI Lead Project Manager for Electric Operations Technology is a senior technical leadership role responsible for the end-to-end delivery of a substation Edge AI product. This role is the functional equivalent of the former Engineering Lead — combining deep technical authority with program ownership to drive a complex, multi-partner integration program from development through field deployment.**

The successful candidate owns the **full technical integration stack: embedded hardware, software, DSP algorithms, AI/ML engine and models, and OT-grade cybersecurity.** They serve as the **primary technical interface between internal stakeholders and external partners, and as the accountable delivery lead for integration testing and operational deployment across substation sites**.

# **Key Responsibilities**

**Product & Program Delivery**

Own end-to-end delivery of the substation Edge AI product, from architecture baseline through field commissioning.

Define and maintain the integrated master schedule across hardware, software, DSP, AI/ML, and security workstreams, tracking dependencies and critical path. <br/>Manage partner deliverables: enforce interface control documents (ICDs), integration milestones, and acceptance criteria with each vendor. <br/>Drive risk identification, mitigation planning, and escalation across all technical domains. <br/>Report program status, risks, and decisions to executive and cross-functional stakeholders.

**Technical Leadership & Integration**

Serve as the authoritative technical lead for the full Edge AI integration stack, including:

Edge compute hardware (selection, qualification, environmental hardening for substation environments)

Embedded and real-time software components from multiple supply partners <br/>DSP signal processing code (protection, power quality, fault detection) <br/>AI/ML inference engine, model integration, and performance validation <br/>- **OT cybersecurity (IEC 62443, NERC CIP compliance, secure boot, network segmentation)**<br/>Lead system-level integration architecture reviews; resolve cross-domain interface conflicts. <br/>Maintain technical authority to accept or reject partner deliverables against agreed specifications.

**Integration Testing & Validation**

- Define and own the Integration **Master Test Plan (IMTP)** covering hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), software integration, DSP functional verification, AI model performance, and end-to-end system validation.<br/>Oversee lab integration environments; lead multi-partner integration test events. <br/>Drive failure analysis, regression testing, and defect triage to closure. <br/>- Ensure test evidence package meets utility interconnection, safety, and regulatory requirements.

**Field Deployment**

Lead pilot deployment planning and execution at substation sites, coordinating with operations, field engineering, and protection engineering teams.

Manage site readiness criteria, commissioning test procedures, and operational acceptance gates. <br/>Establish and oversee rollout playbooks for scaled deployment, including tooling for remote monitoring, firmware updates, and model refresh. <br/>Act as technical escalation point during field deployment and early operational support.

**Partner & Stakeholder Management**

Manage technical relationships with hardware vendors, software integrators, AI/ML model providers, and security partners.

Chair integration working groups and architecture review boards. <br/>Coordinate internally with protection engineering, IT/OT security, operations technology, and grid modernization teams. <br/>Align product requirements with regulatory, reliability (NERC), and operational standards of the utility.

# **Required Qualifications**

**Education**

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a closely related field. Master's degree preferred.

**Experience**

10+ years of progressive technical experience in electric power systems, OT product development, or related engineering fields.

5+ years in a technical lead, systems engineering lead, or engineering program management role with multi-partner delivery accountability. <br/>Demonstrated experience integrating complex embedded systems with hardware and software components from multiple vendors. <br/>Prior experience in substation environments (protection & control, SCADA, IEDs, communications) is required. <br/>Proven track record delivering technology products through hardware-software integration, test, and field deployment phases.

**Technical Knowledge — Required**

- **Power systems / substation OT**: Protection and control systems, IEDs, SCADA, substation automation (IEC 61850, DNP3, Modbus).<br/>- **Embedded systems integration**: Real-time OS, edge compute platforms, hardware bring-up, BSPs, driver-level software.<br/>- **DSP / signal processing**: Familiarity with power system signal processing concepts (phasor estimation, FFT, event detection) as applied to protection or power quality.<br/>- **AI/ML at the edge**: Understanding of inference pipeline deployment — model optimization (quantization, pruning), inference runtimes (ONNX, TensorRT, TFLite), and model performance validation.<br/>- **OT Cybersecurity**: Practical knowledge of IEC 62443 and NERC CIP standards; secure hardware and software architecture in critical infrastructure environments.<br/>- **Systems engineering**: Requirements management, interface control, verification and validation (V&V), configuration management.<br/>- **Integration testing**: Experience authoring and executing integration master test plans across HW/SW stacks; HIL test environments.

**Technical Knowledge — Preferred**

Experience with grid edge or DER integration (smart grid, AMI, or distributed energy resource management).

Familiarity with AI/ML operations (MLOps) pipelines, model versioning, and inference monitoring in production environments. <br/>Exposure to functional safety standards (IEC 61508 / IEC 61511) in power systems context. <br/>Working knowledge of Linux-based embedded platforms and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes at the edge).

# **Skills & Competencies**

- **Technical authority**: Able to drive engineering decisions, challenge partner designs, and resolve multi-domain integration issues — not just coordinate.<br/>- **Program discipline**: Skilled in integrated scheduling, dependency management, earned value, and risk/issue tracking for complex hardware-software programs.<br/>- **Communication**: Translates technical complexity clearly for both engineering teams and non-technical executive and operations stakeholders.<br/>- **Partner management**: Direct experience holding external vendors accountable to contractual and technical commitments.<br/>- **Field orientation**: Comfortable working in active substation environments; understands the operational constraints and safety requirements of electric utility infrastructure.<br/>- **Decisiveness under uncertainty**: Able to make sound technical and schedule trade-off decisions in complex, multi-variable environments.

# **Working Conditions**

Office, lab, and field-based role. Regular travel to partner sites, integration labs, and substation deployment locations required (estimated 25–40%).

Work in active substation environments; compliance with all utility safety and PPE requirements. <br/>Availability for critical integration events and field deployment windows, which may include off-hours coordination.

# **Reporting & Organizational Context**

- **Reports to**: Director / IIJA Product Delivery Lead<br/>- **Works closely with**: Protection Engineering, OT Cybersecurity, IT/OT Architecture, Field Operations, Procurement, and external product and systems integration partners.<br/>- **Oversight**: Direct or matrixed oversight of integration engineers, test engineers, and partner technical resources.

This is a remote position.

Location: United States (Remote)

Remote: Yes