Project Manager - New Generation, Construction Utility Projects
$136.5k - $208.6k
Expert
Bachelor's, Associate's
Longview, TX, USA
In PersonOn-site work across home, office, power plants, and construction sites; travel typically 25% or less, potentially up to 50% for short durations.
Architecture & Civil EngineeringConstruction Management
About the job
Requirements
- A bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Business, Computer Science, or a related field of study, depending on business unit requirements, with ten years of qualified experience; alternatively, an associate's degree in the same disciplines with twelve years of qualified experience; or a high school diploma/GED with fourteen years of qualified experience.
- Qualified experience includes project management, major construction field experience, project estimating, project controls, project engineering, and/or comparable internal or external experience in a competitive production environment. Experience must include successful project management duties at subject matter expert level, business acumen, and demonstrated proficiency in all certifying-body knowledge areas.
- Three years of experience as a Project Manager Principal (Grade 9) is preferred, or demonstrated competencies, knowledge, and skill through achieved results in a shorter timeline.
- Demonstrated mastery-level project management knowledge in construction safety, negotiations, scope development and control, cost estimating, construction contracting, project controls and reporting, quality control, and risk management.
- A Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is required unless the organization's Senior Vice President or operating company president approves a waiver.
- A valid state driver's license is required.
- Provide effective leadership, team building, and meeting management as outlined by the certifying body and AEP leadership and values; demonstrate ability, motivation, and aptitude in leading a team, program, project, and those supervised to success.
- Communicate effectively with stakeholders, including team members, sponsors, management, and senior management, using effective listening.
- Apply economic analysis techniques and business acumen in project decisions, aligning project and company financial goals.
- Influence Engineering and Design, Procurement, Contracting, Estimating, Construction, and Startup procedures and processes to optimize projects; ensure project teams use current business-unit guidelines and requirements.
- Identify opportunities for business process improvement across projects or programs and drive implementation.
- Apply working knowledge of certifying-body project management tools and techniques and integrate them into internal procedures and processes.
- Provide strategic thinking, planning, risk assessment, and prioritization of project activities. Assess safety, constructability, sequence, changing conditions, contingencies, contracts, predictability, priority, direction, and productivity to identify, avoid, or mitigate project risks and make sound decisions.
- Organize project activities, delegate project tasks, set team requirements and expectations, manage deliverables, hold team members accountable, and provide constructive feedback.
- Prioritize and manage conflict to find solutions that maximize synergies and serve the company; take timely independent action, make recommendations, and assist executive management in resolving elevated issues.
- Demonstrate proficiency in scope management, evaluation of technical solutions, and project risk management.
- Develop and manage contracts, including allocating risk between owner and contractor within contract terms, and build relationships with contractors of strategic value.
- Evaluate team members' skills and capabilities and make recommendations or provide constructive feedback to support project or program success.
- Demonstrate accountability for project assignments and act with integrity.
- Seek input from subject matter experts, ask questions, clarify and validate information, and avoid relying solely on personal knowledge or assumptions. Make experts aware of their influence on project budget, scope, schedule, and risk.
- Promote continuous improvement, maintain a questioning attitude, and challenge assumptions.
- Safely perform light physical duties, including construction-site walkdowns on unstable surfaces and climbing ladders, while remaining aware of hazardous site conditions.
- Work at various AEP locations and conditions, including home, office, power plants (including nuclear plants), and construction sites for Distribution, Transmission, Generation, and Telecom infrastructure. Nuclear-site work may involve hazardous areas and possible radiation exposure within limits prescribed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
- Travel typically 25% or less, with occasional short-duration periods of up to 50%.
- Understand and support AEP's policies, values, principles, structure, and behavior.
Responsibilities
- Manage multiple projects or programs at the highest complexity level in a matrix-team environment, providing leadership, direction, training, coordination, and communication throughout initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closure to achieve short- and long-range goals safely, efficiently, economically, and with balanced risk.
- Provide project transparency and develop stakeholder relationships, communicating effectively with internal and external customers, team members, suppliers, contractors, vendors, and industry peers to support sound business decisions.
- Plan, organize, direct, coordinate, and manage assigned project activities using project management principles and techniques, including Waterfall and Agile.
- Support and hold employees and contractors accountable for the AEP System Safety Process and a safe working environment focused on Zero Harm.
- Manage, develop, review, and coordinate project plans, schedules, budgets, tools, and staffing; manage costs and reallocate funding as needed.
- Communicate project and outage details and status updates; lead planning meetings and project updates, including detailed stakeholder presentations; prepare others for their audiences and provide clear written and oral reports.
- Develop and actively manage working relationships with project teams, plant and operating-company staff, internal and external customers or partners, contractors, vendors, and suppliers; foster teamwork and customer satisfaction.
- Provide detailed guidance, instruction, and training to improve designs, systems, processes, procedures, schedules, and costs; challenge project work using informed expertise.
- Serve as a subject matter expert on assigned projects, maximize customer satisfaction, and provide clarity, support, and accountability to enable others' success.
- Represent AEP with industrial customers, vendors, and regulators as assigned projects require.
- Align project work with AEP project management organizational standards and manage projects according to those standards.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience in utilities, commercial nuclear power, and/or IT systems is favorable.
About the company
American Electric Power (AEP) is a large U.S. electric utility that generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to more than five million customers across 11 states. It uses a mix of power sources—coal, natural gas, nuclear, and growing renewable energy—to run a wide network of transmission lines that deliver electricity from plants to homes and businesses. Revenue comes mainly from selling electricity, with rates regulated by state and federal authorities. AEP’s scale, its extensive transmission grid, and its mix of regulated services distinguish it from smaller utilities and pure energy producers. The company aims to provide reliable electric service, manage energy costs, and pursue a gradual shift toward cleaner energy while complying with regulatory requirements.
Company Size
10,001+
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Columbus, OH
Founded
1906
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- July 30, 2026: AEP raised guidance to $6.25–$6.55 after strong first-half execution.
- AEP’s $78 billion 2026–2030 capex plan fuels rate-base growth and earnings expansion.
- Longview acquisition and South Texas upgrades position AEP for industrial and AI demand.
What critics are saying
- ERCOT approvals and transmission buildouts delay 45 GW of Texas contracted load.
- SEC’s 2025 enforcement order and $19 million penalty keep governance scrutiny alive.
- If 69 GW of signed load never energizes, AEP carries $78 billion of underearning assets.
What makes American Electric Power unique
- AEP’s regulated network spans 11 states, giving unmatched transmission scale and local rate bases.
- July 2026: AEP booked 69 GW contracted load, mostly Texas data-center demand.
- AEP controls 13 GW of secured gas turbines, pairing load growth with generation buildout.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- 401(k) Company Match
- Paid Vacation