Lead Regional Manager of External and Municipal Customer Affairs

About us

National Grid's Corporate Affair department is hiring a Lead Regional Manager of External and Municipal Customer Affairs. The position will be located in St. Lawrence County, N.Y.  or Franklin County, N.Y.
    
Every day we deliver safe and secure energy to homes, communities, and businesses. We are there when people need us the most. We connect people to the energy they need for the lives they live. The pace of change in society and our industry is accelerating and our expertise and track record puts us in an unparalleled position to shape the sustainable future of our industry. 
  
To be successful we must anticipate the needs of our customers, reducing the cost of energy delivery today and pioneering the flexible energy systems of tomorrow. This requires us to deliver on our promises and always look for new opportunities to grow, both ourselves and our business. 
 

Job Purpose

This role is seen as a critical strategically important role within National Grid. The individual will be the primary external face of National Grid in their region.
 
The individual will support the two-way relationship between National Grid and the communities we serve. Drive community and municipal account relations activities in support of business goals established by the company, and act as the advocate of the needs and interests of communities and customers we serve to internal National Grid departments and leadership. Represent National Grid on the key organizational boards (chambers of commerce, business organizations, etc.) that strategically enhance relationships, advance regional economic development initiatives and/or are positioned to advocate in partnership with National Grid on key issues tied to energy delivery, and inform the company’s local community investment plans. 
 

Key Accountabilities

•    Identify opportunities with significant potential for bringing highest value for municipal customers. 
•    Develop relationships with key governmental figures and influencers. Build and maintain strong relationships with multiple levels of leadership within municipal customer organizations, including administration, public works, facilities, and operations directors.
•    Work closely with the External Affairs Director assigned to the region to ensure the Director has a full understanding of all relevant / recent interactions and issues.
•    Act as customer representative for all metering, billing, and/or payment disputes, performing initial triage on issues at an appropriate level of detail necessary to handoff for issue resolution. 
•    Advocate for the customer by mediating between internal and external stakeholders by working closely within the organization while ensuring the best interests of the Company.  
•    Develop wholistic customer plans as relates to Economic Development, Energy Efficiency and The Future of Heat to determine and shape the customer experience within the region. 
•    Serve as point person for electric and/or natural gas service quality issues or interruptions – owning the communication of resolutions to the customer.
•    Demonstrate superior responsiveness in the politically sensitive matter of emergency and storm response communications through readiness to implement Emergency Response Plans and assume community liaison emergency assignment.  Serve as point of contact between leadership, Corporate Affairs and field operations with key stakeholders, government emergency operating centers, critical customers, and government and media relations. 
•    Support operations and customer service, including, but not limited to, on-call duties, storm restoration efforts, outage coordination and support for customer service on a 24/7 basis. 
•    Advocate for customers with large construction and development projects within National Grid, interfacing with internal parties from planning, engineering, procurement, and construction functions to bring the customer timely information and drive successful outcomes.
•     Help develop and implement proactive strategies to ensure strong key stakeholder relationships are established and maintained, including with local government officials and municipal, electric and gas customers in the designated region. 
•    Help implement strategies to build, maintain, protect and ensure a solid reputation for National Grid’s reputation as an industry leader in energy and the environment by managing the interests of industry and business associations, environmental groups, and other stakeholders.
•    Initiate and cultivate strong working relationships with internal National Grid departments to build and promote National Grid’s standing with business, government, and community leaders.
•    Collaborate with the Government Relations team on legislative and policy priorities, as well as maintaining good relations wi