Principal Account Manager

Principal Account Manager

The Strategic Customer Relations team at Colorado Springs Utilities is seeking a consultative, customer-success-oriented professional to manage and enhance relationships with our largest business and military customers. You will leverage your expertise in water, wastewater, gas, and electric utilities to lead strategic communications, account planning, rate modeling, project management, and implementation of energy and water management strategies. This role involves helping large businesses and military customers utilize data, trends, renewables, water conservation, and demand response programs to optimize energy usage, reduce costs, and increase satisfaction. Our team includes Account Managers and Economic Development Specialists dedicated to serving our business and military community.

Key Areas of Focus:

• Build and maintain long-term relationships with senior-level decision makers and influencers, particularly within military installations
• Represent the organization and customers professionally, confidentially, and innovatively
• Resolve complex issues with customized solutions involving financial analysis, risk assessment, legal review, and technical utility knowledge
• Develop detailed rate models with multiple rates and projections for Electric and Gas Cost Adjustments
• Advocate for customer goals within the organization and facilitate optimal solutions for complex issues
• Educate customers on utility-related topics and address their questions about industry changes
• Lead and contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, projects, and programs impacting business and military customers
• Manage relationships with strategic business segments and handle complex contract negotiations related to utility services
• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to manage complex, multi-disciplined, highly visible customer projects from conception through completion, including strategic analysis, project development, collaboration, negotiations, and implementation
• Provide recommendations to management on proposed changes to policies, procedures, processes, tariffs, and standards

Who You Are:
A successful candidate will have a bachelor's degree and at least 8 years of account management experience with very large, influential accounts in a utility environment. Demonstrated experience in dealing with complex technical issues within each service (electric, gas, water, and wastewater) is required, including 4 years of account management experience within Colorado Springs Utilities preferred. Experience working with military installations is highly desirable. You possess strong data analysis skills, enabling you to drive actionable insights. Your excellent verbal and written communication skills ensure effective stakeholder engagement. As a critical and creative thinker, you are proactive in strategic business management and willing to challenge the status quo. Additionally, you have experience in delivering customer-focused solutions.

What This Opportunity Offers:
As an Account Management Principal, you will build and maintain strong and trustworthy relationships with the largest organizations and military installations in our community, assisting them in managing their utility contracts and services. Through these relationships, you will earn the trust and respect of these important customers on behalf of Colorado Springs Utilities.

Who We Are...

• One of the largest four-service public utilities in the nation (over 500,000 customers)
• A national leader in reliability (power on an average of 99.991% of the time)
• Diamond Designation recipient from the American Public Power Association - a utility sector leader in reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvements
• Located at the base of the Rocky Mountains in the most desired city to live in the United States (U.S. News & World Report, 2022)

Our Commitment to Our Employees...
Our people are the heart and soul of Colorado Springs Utilities. They keep the lights on, gas flowing, water coming in, and wastewater leaving. We do not just say people are important - we prove it! That's why we are honored to invest in protecting the health and financial security of our employees and their families through our rich benefits program.

• Time Off - Because everybody needs time off to recharge
  • Vacation - New employees accrue 13 days of paid time off to start, while our more tenured employees accrue 24 days per year
  • Personal Leave -3 days per year of personal leave
  • Paid Holidays -12 paid holidays per year
  • Sick Leave - Accrue 12 days of sick leave annually for those days when you or a family member is feeling under the weather
  • Vacation Buy - Purchase up to 40 hours of additional vacation time
• Pension Plan - Looking forward to a comfortable lifestyle once you're done working? The Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA) provides you with retirement benefits and peace of mind when you retire
• Medical - Select from three comprehensive medical plans, starting at $10.00 a month. Employees also enjoy access to a Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Wellness Program - Voluntary wellness program that allows you and your spouse to each earn up to $500 to use towards healthcare expenses, $100 in Visa gift cards, and up to $400 in gym membership reimbursements
• Dental - Select from two dental plans, with in-network PPO preventive care covered at 100% and access to orthodontia coverage
• Vision - A Voluntary plan that covers full vision care services and discounts on LASIK eye surgery
• Retirement Saving Programs - Supplement your pension plan with voluntary retirement programs such as the PERAPlus 401(k) and MissionSquare's Roth IRA and 457 plans
• Disability Coverage - Short-Term (STD) and Long-Term Disability (LTD) insurance available for purchase
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) - Makes the going a little easier by aiding with mental health, stress management, work-life balance, financial and legal matters, and much more
• Long-Term Care Insurance (LTC) - Whether it's due to an accident or a serious illness, LTC insurance is available for purchase to help you and your loved ones
• Life Insurance - Company-paid life insurance and supplemental coverage available
• Tuition Reimbursement - Employees are eligible to receive up to $5,250 annually for Tuition Reimbursement
• Qualifying Public Service Employer - Payments made towards student loans may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program