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Job Description
Description
Lead the future of energy and water planning in one of California’s most innovative cities.
The City of Palo Alto Utilities Department is seeking a strategic, forward-thinking Assistant Director of Utilities - Resource Management to oversee the City’s critical utility planning, procurement, financial forecasting, and sustainability programs.
As the only municipal utility in California providing electricity, gas, water, wastewater, and fiber services, Palo Alto offers a unique platform to lead integrated and innovative resource management strategies. The City’s control over these essential services allows for coordinated planning across sectors, including a strong emphasis on acquiring renewable energy resources and ensuring reliable water supplies. A forward-thinking City Council and an engaged community further strengthen this work. Palo Alto’s locally owned utilities enable us to offer some of the lowest electric rates in the state, making it easier for residents and businesses to adopt clean technologies while keeping utility services affordable.
This alignment of financial, operational, and environmental goals positions the City as a leader in sustainable public utility management. Palo Alto is on the cutting edge of building and mobility electrification, advancing efforts to transition away from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With ownership of both the gas and electric utilities, the City is uniquely equipped to implement bold, system-wide decarbonization strategies. As Palo Alto pioneers these approaches, the lessons learned and models developed here have the potential to inform and inspire similar efforts in communities around the world.
About the Role
Reporting to the Director of Utilities, you will supervise two work groups comprised of 25 high-level staff responsible for utility resource procurement, load forecasting, financial planning and rate setting, key account relationships and customer program development. In this high-visibility position, you will play a central role in ensuring the City meets its goals for affordability, reliability, environmental sustainability, and long-term utility resiliency. Some exciting near-term collaborations include implementation of residential electric time of use rates, renewable energy procurement for a growing electric demand, decommissioning the gas utility while keeping gas rates affordable, and scaling electrification programs to achieve the City’s aggressive climate goals.
Essential Duties
Key Responsibilities- Direct the procurement and delivery of utility commodities (electric, gas, water), ensuring alignment with reliability, rate, environmental, and risk management policies.
- Lead long-term forecasting of energy and water consumption to inform strategic planning and operations.
- Guide utility financial forecasting and rate design, ensuring rates are equitable, transparent, and sustainable.
- Manage a $200 million budget.
- Develop and maintain effective relationships with joint powers authorities (JPAs) and regional utility associations; support governance efforts and represent the City’s interests in collaborative decision-making.
- Oversee the design and implementation of electrification and energy and water demand-side management programs that support customer conservation and carbon-reduction goals.
- Manage and mentor professional teams including managers, program administrators, and analysts.
- Represent the department to the Utilities Advisory Commission, City Council, community groups, and partner agencies.
Ideal Candidates should demonstrate the following:- Proven experience overseeing procurement and delivery of utility commodities including renewable energy resources in compliance with risk management standards.
- Expertise in utility demand forecasting, particularly in modeling energy and water consumption trends and infrastructure needs.
- Experience developing and managing demand-side management and sustainability programs with measurable customer or environmental outcomes.
- Strong background in utility financial forecasting and rate design, ideally within a municipal or public agency context.
- Skill in developing productive relationships with regional agencies, JPAs, and regulatory bodies, and effectively supporting executive-level governance.
- Excellent leadership, supervisory, communication, and project management, skills with a track record of leading high-performing teams.
Minimum Qualifications
Sufficient education, training and/or work experience to demonstrate possession of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities which would typically be acquired through:- Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field and eight years of related experience, including five years of management level experience; or, an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed above.
Depending on area of assignment, some positions may require by Municipal Code, State or Federal law one or more of the following:- Valid California Driver's License
Preferred Experience & Education- At least 8-10 years of progressive experience in utilities resource management, energy/water procurement, or financial planning.
- Public sector or municipal utility experience strongly preferred.
- Advanced degree in Public Administration, Environmental Policy, Engineering, Economics, or a related field is desirable.
Supplemental Information
The Selection Process:- Recruitment status notifications will be sent via email or text (if interested in text, please enroll in text alerts when applying).
- Updates can also be found on your governmentjobs.com account.
- Applicants will be screened throughout the posting process and highly qualified candidates may be invited to interview.
- The screening process for this position may include a panel interviews preceding final interviews with the hiring manager or their designee.
The City of Palo Alto is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.
See our Benefits at a Glance Bookletfor more details.
Learn more about our Compensation Plan HERE.
Closing Date/Time: 9/28/2025 11:59 PM Pacific -
ABOUT THE COMPANY
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City of Palo Alto
Show moreThe Community
The birthplace of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, is a community of approximately 68,000 residents and nearly 100,000 jobs. Located on the mid-Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, Palo Alto is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technology, medicine, and green innovation. The community's treelined streets and historic buildings reflect its California heritage, and, at the same time, many world-class businesses maintain or started offices here, such as Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Amazon, Broadcom, Hewlett-Packard, Houzz, Rivian, SAP and SAP Ariba, Tesla, and Varian Medical Systems. Numerous start-ups are also at home in Palo Alto, arguably making it the start-up capital of the world. Stanford University is foundational to the history and prestige of Palo Alto, reflected in the community's dedication to lifelong learning. Stanford's cultural and educational offerings are integral to the vibrancy and charm of Palo Alto, while the City's exceptional K-12 school district ranks among the top public-school systems in the country. With more than 50% of adult residents holding a graduate degree or higher, Palo Alto is frequently listed as one of the most educated cities in the nation. Palo Alto boasts a genuine sense of community and an active citizenry with strong environmental values. Beautiful neighborhoods are complemented by vibrant commercial corridors and a bustling economy featuring premium shopping and dining options. Excellent healthcare facilities, performing arts, and diverse recreational opportunities are some of the community's incredibly desirable and cherished amenities. To learn more, visit https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/City-Manager/Latest-NewsCity Government
Palo Alto is a full-service charter city with a council-manager form of government. The seven-member City Council is elected at large, and the City Council annually selects the Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its members. The Mayor and City Council appoint the City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, and City Auditor. The City Manager is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the City. Palo Alto is organized into 15 departments/offices with 1,093.10 authorized positions in FY 2025. There is also a FY 2025 capital budget of $316.2 million. Palo Alto owns and operates its own utilities, including electricity (carbon-neutral), gas, water, wastewater, and an expanding fiber network. This dynamic municipal environment ensures an ever-engaging platform for unique problem-solving and advances new initiatives, including sustainability, broadband, and effective service delivery. Community assets also include five libraries, 36 parks, five community centers, a museum and zoo, youth centers, a general aviation airport, an 18-hole golf course, a regional water treatment plant, and wildland open space preserves at the San Francisco Bay and in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains offering 41 miles of walking/biking trails in addition to its police, fire, and ambulance services. Palo Alto has long been a leader in sustainability, and the City's ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals are part of what sets it apart. Since the City's first Climate Protection Plan was passed in 2007, Palo Alto has set goals that exceed State and Federal targets. Today, the City's goal to reduce emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2030 (the "80x30" goal) and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 guides sustainability efforts. An award-winning City, Palo Alto is recognized nationally as innovative and well-managed. City services and performance also receive impressive marks from community members in the Palo Alto Community Survey.
Many of those ratings put City programs and services in the highest percentiles among the hundreds of benchmark cities. Palo Alto makes decisions through comprehensive processes and proactively seeks to involve its extremely informed, educated, and engaged residents. Projects are naturally a cooperative effort among the City Council, Boards, Commissions, Committees, engaged residents, neighborhoods, businesses, property owners, and staff.
Join an Award Winning Team
Palo Alto is an award-winning City recognized nationwide as innovative and well-managed. Palo Alto is one of a small number of California cities with a AAA bond rating. Recently, Palo Alto became one of the most livable cities in the U.S. by Livability.com. It's the only city to receive the Platinum Beacon Award in sustainability best practices by California’s Institute for Local Government. We offer a variety of career paths that relate to building and improving communities. The City has fourteen departments employing 1,000 full-time staff. Police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and building inspectors keep us safe. Engineers and public works staff build and re-build the physical infrastructure. City planners help envision and shape future community growth. Recreation, arts and library professionals enhance community life. Utilities provides electric, gas, water, sewer and other services. Internal services departments help manage, staff, and protect the City.
Want to learn more about our benefits? Learn more by reviewing our "Benefits at a Glance Booklet."
Contact Us
Phone: 650-329-2376
Email: Recruit@paloalto.gov
Location: City Hall, 1st Floor | 250 Hamilton Ave 94301 | View Map
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