Engineering Program Manager, Strategic Operations

C2 Group is a strategic consulting and infrastructure technology firm engaged in two of the most consequential efforts underway in the Western United States: Transportation Electrification and Wildfire Mitigation. Our work sits at the intersection of engineering, program management, and field inspection, and we deliver it for clients whose decisions shape how the grid, the roads, and the utilities of the next decade will be built.

This is a role we have defined deliberately, and it is not one we have tried to fill before.

The Strategic Logic of This Role

Our technical core is already strong. Two licensed Professional Engineers and a Senior Design Manager own the day to day quality of our engineering output, and they do it well. What we need is the architect who builds the operating system around that technical excellence: the person who sees the portfolio, the team, and the next eighteen months all at once, and who creates the conditions under which our engineers deliver more, more reliably, and more profitably.

This is not a seat for a strong technical PM looking for the next step. It is a role for someone who has done the technical work, carries the judgment to weigh in on it when it matters, and is ready for the harder assignment of building the architecture around it.

Domains You Will Own

Portfolio Trajectory. Long range schedule and budget health across active programs. Reading where strain will appear before it does, and positioning the response in advance.

Workforce Forecasting and Resource Architecture. What this department will need in ninety days, six months, and a year, and the discipline to move before the gap forces a reaction.

Growth Paths and Skill Standardization. The distance between a team of talented individuals and a scalable organization is a deliberate architecture for how people develop. You will design it.

Risk Detection. Reading the signals that indicate where a program is accelerating, where it is stagnating, and where a small correction now prevents a large failure later.

Client Relationships of Consequence. You will be the steady, strategic presence clients reach for when they want to expand scope, not only when something breaks. This is the work that converts delivery into durable partnership.

Operational Intelligence. We have operational data. We need the Engineering Program Manager who can turn it into the systems, the reporting, and the forecasting frameworks that compound our advantage every quarter.

The Profile

We are looking for eight to twelve years of engineering project management experience, with a demonstrable trajectory toward strategic and operational leadership. You should carry a foundation in civil, electrical, or adjacent infrastructure engineering, with enough technical depth to engage credibly with our engineers, but without the reflex to take their work back onto your own desk.

The non-negotiable qualities are these. The instinct to solve through people, systems, and foresight rather than personal execution. Fluency in forecasting, reporting, and structured communication. And a native orientation toward detecting risk early. We have abundant technical capability on this team. What we need is the Engineering Program Manager who anticipates what others have not yet seen.

You will be based in California and able to work on site with our team.

Preferred, Not Required

A PE license in Civil or Electrical Engineering. Experience working with or for California investor owned utilities, including PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E. Direct program exposure to Transportation Electrification or Wildfire Mitigation. A track record of converting operational data into decisions that others could not see before you framed them.

Compensation Philosophy

The conventional answer is a salary and an annual review. Ours is different. Because this role is defined by the quality of the operating system you build, which is to say the forecasting, the growth paths, the risk infrastructure, and the client depth, every meaningful enhancement you design and land is tied to a milestone based bonus structure. You are compensated not for the hours you contribute, but for the compounding strength of the machine you are building.

Base salary range: $145,000 to $185,000 annually, commensurate with experience, demonstrated leadership trajectory, and relevant credentials. Milestone bonuses layer on top of base and are structured to scale with the scope of the operating improvements you design and land, not capped by a fixed percentage of salary.

Benefits

Medical, dental, and vision coverage. Company sponsored 401(k) with employer contribution. Paid time off, company holidays, and sick leave. Professional development and continuing education support, including PE license renewal and relevant technical certifications. A flat, decision forward environment where operational ideas move quickly from proposal to implementation.

Position Details

Employment Type: Full-time, Exempt

Location: On-site, San Diego, California (relocation assistance available for the right candidate)

Reports To: Executive Leadership

Direct Reports: Dotted line coordination across Professional Engineers, Senior Design Manager, and Program teams

Travel: Occasional travel to client sites, primarily within California. Estimated at 10 to 20 percent.

Start Date: Immediate, with flexibility for the right candidate

How to Apply

Submit your resume and a brief cover letter to [careers@c2group.com]. We are particularly interested in what you have built, not only what you have delivered. Describe an operating system, reporting framework, or forecasting discipline you designed and landed, and the measurable difference it made to an engineering organization. Every submission is reviewed.

About C2 Group

C2 Group is a San Diego based strategic consulting and infrastructure technology firm serving investor owned utilities, municipalities, and large private enterprises across the United States. Our practice spans drone and aerial inspections, transmission and distribution engineering, wildfire mitigation, program management, data analytics, GIS and CAD, and field services. We were early adopters of the technologies now reshaping the utility sector, and we build our internal operating systems with the same rigor we bring to client delivery.

Equal Opportunity Employment

C2 Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made on the basis of merit, qualifications, and business need, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Reasonable accommodations are available for qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.

Pay: $145,000.00 - $185,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person