Lead Program Manager - Strategic Partnerships (Military Installations and Biotechnology)

Responsibilities

This role sits at the center of some of OPPD's most complex and high-impact customer partnerships. As a Lead Program Manager, you will lead strategic engagements with large, sophisticated customers whose energy needs directly influence long-term infrastructure, generation planning, and enterprise strategy.

- Lead development and execution of long-term (5-20+ year) strategic partnerships with large industrial, military, and biotechnology customers

- Serve as the primary relationship owner, building and maintaining executive-level (C-suite) partnerships across customer organizations

- Negotiate, structure, and manage complex commercial agreements, including energy supply, infrastructure development, and partnership models

- Translate customer technical and operational energy needs into actionable business solutions aligned with OPPD strategy

- Develop and execute multi-year strategic account plans, including forecasting, growth planning, and risk management

- Partner cross-functionally with internal teams (engineering, operations, planning, finance, legal) to align solutions and deliver results

- Lead high-impact initiatives related to generation development, load growth, and infrastructure expansion

- Represent the customer perspective internally while balancing operational reliability, financial performance, and long-term strategy

- Analyze market trends, regulatory environment, and customer industry dynamics to identify opportunities and risks

- Support enterprise planning through long-term forecasting and strategic input into resource planning and capital decisions

- Provide leadership during critical customer situations, ensuring rapid coordination and resolution of high-impact issues

Why This Role Matters

This role is critical to supporting OPPD's growth strategy as demand from large industrial, military, and emerging sectors continues to accelerate. These partnerships go far beyond traditional account management - they involve long-term infrastructure planning, large-scale energy solutions, and strategic collaboration that directly impacts regional economic development and OPPD's future energy portfolio.

This position plays a key role in enabling OPPD to partner with customers on utility-scale solutions, including generation development, reliability initiatives, and innovative energy strategies.

What Makes This Role Unique

This is a highly visible, high-impact role that requires a unique blend of business strategy, energy expertise, and relationship leadership. Candidates should be comfortable operating in complex environments, influencing at senior levels, and driving outcomes that shape long-term partnerships and infrastructure decisions.

Qualifications

Required:

- Bachelor's degree required; Master's preferred

- Deep understanding of how energy influences customer strategy, operations, and long-term planning

- Demonstrated experience with complex contract negotiation, commercial structuring, and partnership development

- Ability to translate technical energy needs into business solutions

- Strong understanding of market trends, competitive landscape, and regulatory environment

- Proven ability to build and maintain executive-level relationships

- Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to influence without direct authority

- Experience with long-term forecasting, planning, and strategic decision-making

Preferred:

- Knowledge of customer decision-making structures (formal and informal) and how to influence them

- Working knowledge of OPPD strategy, policies, and internal processes

- Understanding of utility financials, including capital planning and O&M decision-making

- Experience with long-term strategic customer planning and account management

- Industry experience related to military installations, biotechnology, large-scale industrial operations, or energy-intensive sectors

- Regulatory and operational knowledge related to energy markets and infrastructure planning

Closing Statement

Salary Grade: S7

Min: $121,013

Mid: $151,266

At Omaha Public Power District, we're passionate about three things: power, the people who make it, and the people who rely on it.

WE ARE: Where the Light Starts. OPPD is the 12th-largest public power utility in the U.S., serving over 850,000 people across 5,000 square miles and 13 counties.

WE'RE COMMITTED TO: Each other and the people we serve. This commitment drives us. We're dedicated to providing our communities with affordable, reliable, and environmentally sensitive energy services today, tomorrow, and well into the future.

OUR JOB: To provide power with a purpose. We have real impact - on people's lives, on the environment, and on the future of energy. We're always looking for bright, capable people who want an opportunity to lead from where you are, wherever you are, and know that your ideas will be heard. If you want to be a source of real, positive change for the community and the people who live in this region, then working for a company acknowledged for caring about these same things is likely a priority for you as well.

Org Marketing Statement

EOE: Protected Veterans/Disability

How To Apply

Apply online at www.oppd.com on or before 5/14/2026.

Recruiter: Scott Green - smgreen@oppd.com #LI-SG

PLEASE NOTE - Your application has not been submitted unless you have applied for a specific requisition. If you have not chosen a specific opening, your application will remain in 'DRAFT' form and will not be viewed by our Human Capital staff.