Principal Technology Architect, GIS Platform
PG&E · Oakland · $155,000 (stated in the posting)
Requisition ID # 175324
Job Category: Information Technology
Job Level: Manager/Principal
Business Unit: Technology & Security
Work Type: Hybrid
Job Location: Oakland
Department Overview
PG&E’s Information Technology (IT) organization is comprised of various unified departments that work together to deliver high-quality technology solutions. The GIS Center of Excellence (CoE) team sits within the Enterprise Platforms and Infrastructure organization and has the responsibility for designing, building, operating, and maintaining spatial/GIS applications. The GIS CoE brings together highly skilled professionals who deliver solutions and products using waterfall, agile, and design-thinking practices. We take time to understand our business partners’ needs and translate them into solutions that create intuitive user experiences and improve safety, productivity, and overall well-being for PG&E employees and customers.
Elevate Program
The GIS CoE is embarking on a large multi-year program called Elevate, which will modernize the Enterprise GIS ecosystem at PG&E including existing systems of record, systems of engagement and analytics, while delivering transformational value to the business. The stated purpose of the Elevate program is “enabling geospatial intelligence to power our future”. The GIS technology platform will be based on Esri ArcGIS technology hosted on an AWS Cloud environment.
Position Summary
The Principal Technology Architect – GIS Platform serves as a senior individual-contributor to provide technical direction to development teams for Elevate architecture, design, development, deployment, modernization, and operational evolution of enterprise GIS platforms delivered through the Elevate program. The role supports development teams by establishing and advancing GIS platform architecture in partnership with Enterprise and Solution Architects, Product, Engineering, DevSecOps, Site Reliability Engineering, Security, Cloud, Infrastructure, Data, Operations, and business stakeholders.
This role combines deep hands-on GIS platform expertise with enterprise architecture leadership. The Principal Architect defines reusable architecture patterns, platform standards, deployment models, integration approaches, and technical guardrails for secure, scalable, resilient, high-performing GIS capabilities. The role provides consultation and technical direction to delivery teams, leads resolution of complex platform issues, and ensures that architecture decisions align with enterprise standards and Elevate objectives.
The successful candidate will:
- Lead architecture, design, and technical direction for development teams supporting applications, services, geodatabases, integrations, and supporting cloud capabilities across Elevate.
- Serve as a principal technical authority for GIS solution design and provide hands-on architectural guidance to multidisciplinary teams of employees and contractors, including onshore and offshore resources.
- Define and govern architecture patterns, engineering standards, platform configurations, integration approaches, and nonfunctional requirements for security, scalability, resilience, performance, maintainability, and operability.
- Partner with PG&E Functional Areas, including Gas Operations and Electric Operations, to translate complex business and utility requirements into modern GIS platform capabilities for field and office users.
- Advance rapid delivery of modern GIS capabilities, including mobile solutions, spatial analytics, GIS data pipelines, web-based mapping, remote-sensing solutions, and enterprise integrations.
- Simplify, standardize, and modernize GIS platforms and technical solutions while reducing technical debt and unnecessary customization.
- Collaborate with the extended GIS leadership team across Delivery, Operations, Business Architecture, GIS Data and Analytics, Product, Engineering, and Infrastructure to achieve cohesive execution and shared outcomes.
This position is hybrid, working from your remote office and our Oakland, CA office approximately 2 - 3 days per week, or more, based on business needs.
Compensation
PG&E is providing the full salary/pay range for this position. The actual amount paid to an individual will be based on multiple factors, including, but not limited to, internal equity, specific skills, education, licenses or certifications, experience, market value, and geographic location. The range to reasonably expect will be between the minimum and midpoint listed below. The final decision will be made on a case-by-case basis related to the factors above. This job is also eligible to participate in PG&E’s discretionary incentive compensation programs.
Bay Area Min: $155,000.00
Bay Area Mid: $210,000.00
Bay Area Max: $265,000.00
Job Responsibilities
GIS Platform Architecture & Technical Leadership (~40%)
- Lead GIS technology platform planning, architecture, and multi-year road-mapping for Elevate and the broader enterprise GIS ecosystem.
- Define current-state, transition-state, and future-state platform architectures that align with enterprise cloud, cybersecurity, data, integration, and DevSecOps standards.
- Provide technical leadership for ArcGIS Enterprise components, including Portal, Server, and Data Store, enterprise geodatabases, utility network capabilities, and large-scale spatial datasets
- Architect GIS solutions hosted on AWS Cloud and guide cloud-native patterns for availability, scalability, resiliency, security, performance, observability, and cost optimization.
- Establish architecture decision records, reference architectures, reusable patterns, technical standards, and design-review practices for GIS platforms and integrations.
- Guide teams on GIS data modeling, editing workflows, versioning strategies, replication, compression, indexing, data lifecycle management, and performance tuning.
- Provide consultation to engineering and development teams and lead technical design reviews for complex desktop, web, mobile, data, integration, and platform solutions.
- Translate complex platform topics, architecture options, risks, dependencies, and trade-offs into clear recommendations for technical and business stakeholders.
- Evaluate emerging cloud technologies and recommend practical adoption paths that support program objectives and measurable business value.
Advanced GIS Platform Engineering
- Design and oversee enterprise geodatabases for GIS workloads, including PostgreSQL and legacy ArcSDE patterns where required during transition.
- Develop or guide procedures for geodatabase connectivity, access, versioning, compression, replication, indexing, monitoring, tuning, service packs, and upgrades.
- Partner with database administrators to design, configure, secure, monitor, and optimize databases supporting enterprise GIS workloads.
- Define platform approaches for Esri Utility Network, Geometric Network transition, spatial data models, feature datasets, feature classes, and complex utility editing scenarios.
- Guide the creation and management of web services and web GIS applications using current Esri APIs and enterprise development standards.
- Oversee technical approaches for GIS automation, geoprocessing, Python, JavaScript, .NET, and supported Esri development frameworks.
- Provide architectural direction for Schneider ArcFM toolsets, Esri extensions, and modernization or retirement strategies.
- Create and maintain architecture, technical design, integration, deployment, operational, and decision documentation.
Operational Excellence, DevSecOps & SRE Architecture (~40%)
- Define production-readiness and operational architecture requirements for foundational GIS platforms and applications.
- Implement secure end-to-end CI/CD pipeline patterns, automated testing, environment promotion, release controls, and Infrastructure as Code practices for GIS platforms.
- Define standardized environment patterns across Development, Test, and Production, with appropriate controls for configuration, secrets, access, and change management.
- Apply SRE principles to architecture, including service-level objectives and indicators, proactive monitoring, alerting, telemetry, observability, capacity planning, and operational runbooks.
- Partner with Engineering and Operations teams to automate manual operational activities, improve recoverability, and strengthen platform stability and incident response.
- Assess technical and cybersecurity risks, define mitigation approaches, and ensure architecture compliance with security, audit, regulatory, and enterprise operational standards.
- Guide performance testing, capacity management, failure-mode analysis, high availability, disaster recovery, backup, restoration, and business continuity design.
- Participate in complex incident analysis and post-incident reviews, identifying architecture improvements that prevent recurrence and improve resilience.
Technical Strategy, Roadmap & Governance (~20%)
- Act as the principal technical architect to support solution design for specific Elevate applications.
- Provide authoritative technical input into PI and sprint planning including, release sequencing, estimates, delivery plans, architectural risks, and technical decisions.
- Develop, prioritize, coordinate, and communicate technical goals, architecture transitions and processes necessary to implement Elevate solutions and products.
- Partner with Enterprise and Solution Architects to define future-state GIS platform strategies, sequencing, dependencies, and multi-year roadmaps.
- Drive consistency in architecture patterns, deployment models, environment strategies, platform configurations, identity, security controls, and observability.
- Lead technical debt identification and remediation planning through modernization, standardization, automation, and retirement of obsolete components.
- Ensure architecture alignment with Elevate objectives for cloud adoption, modernization, security posture, operational resilience, and cost optimization.
- Coordinate cross-team architecture dependencies across application, data, platform, integration, security, and infrastructure workstreams.
Technical Skill Sets:
- Enterprise GIS Architecture: ArcGIS Enterprise, Portal for ArcGIS, ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Data Store, enterprise geodatabases, web GIS, mobile GIS, spatial analytics, utility network capabilities, and large-scale spatial datasets.
- Cloud Platform Architecture: AWS cloud architecture, cloud-native design, availability, elasticity, security, network integration, observability, automation, disaster recovery, and cost-conscious platform patterns.
- Spatial Data Management: Data modeling, acquisition, conversion, migration, warehousing, metadata, governance, security, versioning, replication, compression, indexing, performance tuning, and data lifecycle management.
- GIS Development: Python, JavaScript, .NET, ArcGIS APIs, geoprocessing, web services, automation, supported Esri development frameworks, and Esri Utility Network.
- DevSecOps and SRE: CI/CD architecture, automated testing, Infrastructure as Code, standardized environments, SLOs and SLIs, monitoring, alerting, telemetry, operational runbooks, incident response, and continuous improvement.
- Integration Architecture: Secure and reliable integration patterns connecting GIS with enterprise applications, data platforms, field solutions, and utility operational systems.
- Security and Risk: Threat-aware architecture, identity and access, secrets and certificate management, vulnerability remediation, auditability, change controls, technical risk assessment, and mitigation planning.
Qualifications
Minimum:
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, information technology, geography, GIS, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
- 10 years of experience developing, architecting, modernizing, or maintaining enterprise GIS technology platforms.
- Demonstrated experience establishing strategic vision, architecture direction, and technical roadmaps for GIS platforms supporting large enterprise or utility functions.
- Extensive hands-on experience deploying and supporting ArcGIS Enterprise in a large enterprise environment.
- Deep expertise in Esri ArcGIS technology, enterprise GIS architecture, spatial data management, and GIS industry principles, theories, and best practices.
- Experience architecting GIS platforms in cloud environments, with strong knowledge of AWS cloud architecture and cloud-native engineering practices.
- Strong knowledge of DevSecOps, SRE, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code, automated testing, monitoring, telemetry, security, and production-readiness practices.
- Experience with Python, JavaScript, .NET, ArcGIS APIs, web services, geoprocessing, and GIS automation.
- Ability to translate complex business and utility requirements into scalable, secure, resilient, supportable GIS and IT architecture.
- Excellent analytical, technical, architecture, documentation, written, verbal, facilitation, and stakeholder-influence skills.
- Demonstrated success navigating complex organizational, technical, and cultural challenges while fostering collaboration and shared outcomes.
Desired:
- Advanced degree in computer science, engineering, information technology, GIS, or a related field.
- Experience delivering large-scale enterprise modernization or re-platforming initiatives in regulated utility or critical-infrastructure environments.
- Deep knowledge of Gas and Electric utility operations, asset management, field workflows, and enterprise integration needs.
- Experience with enterprise geodatabases, multiuser editing, versioning, replication, compression, indexing, database performance tuning, and GIS data lifecycle management.
- Experience with Esri Utility Network deployment, migration, modeling, editing, integration, and operational support practices.
- Strong background in Infrastructure as Code using Terraform or an equivalent technology.
- Experience integrating security and DevSecOps practices into CI/CD pipelines for enterprise platforms.
- Knowledge of Schneider ArcFM toolsets, and ArcFM configuration
- Experience with PostgreSQL for GIS workloads and knowledge of legacy Oracle and ArcSDE implementations.
- Familiarity with SAFe or Agile delivery in large enterprise programs
- Strong change-management and technical-influence skills that support adoption of new architecture standards and platform capabilities.