Project Manager — Utility Software Implementation
Contract (W2) · 6-12 months · Sacramento, California · Hybrid, 1–3 days on-site · Immediate start
Accent Gold Solutions is looking for a seasoned Project Manager to bring an enterprise software implementation home for a large public power utility in the Sacramento area.
This is a landing role. The program is roughly three quarters of the way through delivery. We need someone who can pick up a moving project, get current fast, and drive it through testing, go-live and stabilization. You will own the plan, the client relationship, and the outcome from here to the finish.
There is runway beyond go-live. A follow-on program with the same client is anticipated, covering the rollout of customer-facing portals. The right person has a path well past this implementation.
This is not a coordinator role and it is not a reporting role. You will be the senior Accent Gold presence in the room, working directly with utility stakeholders, and you will be expected to make calls without waiting for someone above you to make them. We are a small, senior team. The person we hire will be trusted quickly, and will need to be worth that trust from the first week.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
- Own the delivery plan from here to production: scope, schedule, resourcing, dependencies and critical path
- Run the client relationship at a senior level — steering meetings, status reporting, and the difficult conversations
- Hold the line on scope. Manage change control and stop scope from moving without a decision behind it
- Coordinate a split team across Sacramento and an offshore engineering group in India, which means some early-morning overlap
- Own risk and issue management: identify early, escalate clearly, and arrive with options rather than problems
- Drive the go-live readiness decision alongside the QA lead, including the go/no-go recommendation
- Keep reporting accurate enough that the client never has to ask where things stand
WHAT THE FIRST MONTH LOOKS LIKE
- Weeks 1–2 — Get current. Absorb the plan, the backlog, the open risks and the defect position. Meet every client stakeholder who matters.
- Weeks 2–3 — Form your own view. Tell us where the real schedule risk sits, not where the status report says it sits.
- Week 4 onward — Run it. Own the plan, the reporting cadence and the path to go-live.
REQUIRED
- Demonstrated experience taking over an in-flight implementation and carrying it to production — you have walked into a project you did not plan and made it land
- Substantial hands-on experience managing enterprise software implementations through to production, not just managing a workstream inside one
- Based in the Sacramento area and able to work on-site at the client’s offices 1–3 days per week
- Demonstrated ownership of scope, schedule and budget on a project of real size
- Credible with senior client stakeholders — you can present a readiness recommendation and defend it
- Strong written communication. Your status reports are read by utility executives
- Experience working with a distributed or offshore delivery team
- Authorized to work in the United States
STRONGLY PREFERRED
- Experience delivering Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Apps, Power Platform or Dataverse implementations. This is the platform our work is built on, and it is worth more to us than anything else on this page.
ALSO VALUABLE
In roughly this order:
- Microsoft Project and Azure DevOps
- SAP implementation or integration experience
- webMethods integration experience
- Database management or data migration leadership
- A background in QA or test management on IT projects
- Utility sector experience, particularly demand-side management or energy-efficiency programs
- PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent certification
ABOUT ACCENT GOLD SOLUTIONS
Accent Gold Solutions builds and implements the software that runs energy-efficiency and demand-side management programs for regulated utilities across the United States. Our work sits where utility program design meets enterprise technology: program tracking systems, CRM and Dataverse implementations, data migration, and systems integration.
We work directly with client stakeholders, and the people we bring on are expected to operate at that level from the start.
ENGAGEMENT
This is a W2 contract engagement on an Accent Gold client program, running approximately six to twelve months. The initial phase carries through go-live and stabilization, with a follow-on portal rollout anticipated thereafter.
Rate and engagement terms are discussed with shortlisted candidates. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. Accent Gold Solutions does not provide visa sponsorship for this role.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Accent Gold Solutions is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
