Energy Solutions Development Lead

The Energy Solutions Development Lead is responsible for identifying, evaluating, designing, and validating new or enhanced energy solutions that address emerging customer needs and support Meralco's customer-centricity and energy transition objectives.

The role leads the front-end innovation lifecycle from opportunity identification through customer and market discovery, solution design, business case development, technology validation, and recommendation for pilot deployment. Acting as the Incubation Product Manager, the role owns the solution from concept through commercial validation and facilitates its transition to the designated BAU Product Team upon achievement of agreed commercialization and operational readiness criteria.

Supervising Associates and working closely with internal stakeholders, customers, regulators, and strategic partners, the role ensures that solution concepts are customer-centric, commercially viable, technically feasible, operationally supportable, and strategically aligned before progressing into pilot implementation and commercialization.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Opportunity Identification & Discovery

• Identify and assess emerging customer needs, market opportunities, regulatory developments, and technology trends.
• Conduct customer and market discovery activities to validate customer problems, opportunities, and demand.
• Evaluate and prioritize opportunities based on strategic fit, customer value, business potential, and alignment with Meralco's Energy Solutions portfolio objectives.

Solution Design & Product Incubation

• Develop solution concepts, value propositions, customer journeys, and business requirements.
• Lead ideation, concept testing, prototyping, and validation activities.
• Serve as the Incubation Product Manager for assigned solutions, defining product objectives, success metrics, and validation plans.
• Prioritize solution requirements and recommend Go, Pivot, Hold, or No-Go decisions based on insights gathered through customer validation and experimentation.

Business Case Development & Commercial Strategy

• Lead the development of business cases, financial models, and investment recommendations for proposed solutions.
• Define target customer segments, solution positioning, commercialization approaches, and adoption strategies.
• Assess commercial, operational, technical, and regulatory risks associated with solution opportunities.
• Present business cases and recommendations to management and relevant governance bodies.

Regulatory Engagement & Stakeholder Management

• Engage regulators, government agencies, industry groups, and strategic partners to support solution development and deployment.
• Lead regulatory assessments, filings, and policy advocacy efforts related to emerging energy solutions.
• Build alignment and support among internal and external stakeholders throughout the solution development process.

Technology Validation & Pilot Readiness

• Evaluate emerging technologies and potential solution partners for applicability within the Energy Solutions portfolio.
• Lead proof-of-concept (PoC), prototype, and minimum viable product (MVP) initiatives to validate customer desirability, technical feasibility, and commercial viability.
• Define pilot objectives, business requirements, success criteria, and validation metrics.
• Endorse validated solutions for pilot implementation and commercial rollout in collaboration with the Energy Solutions Delivery Team.

Commercial Validation & Product Transition

• Monitor pilot and commercial validation outcomes to assess solution readiness for scale-up and long-term ownership.
• Evaluate customer adoption, business performance, and operational readiness against defined success criteria.
• Lead development of product documentation, business requirements, customer insights, pilot learnings, and commercialization recommendations for handover.
• Coordinate knowledge transfer and transition activities with the designated BAU Product Team.
• Recommend formal product transition upon achievement of agreed commercial, operational, and governance readiness criteria.

Solution Development Process Improvement

• Contribute to the enhancement of solution development methodologies, standards, and tools through practical application and lessons learned.
• Identify opportunities to improve discovery, validation, incubation, and commercialization processes.
• Support the documentation and sharing of best practices across Energy Solutions initiatives.

QUALIFICATIONS

Experience

• 5–7 years of experience in product management, innovation, solutions development, business development, strategy, consulting, or related fields.
• Experience in the energy, utilities, renewable energy, distributed energy resources, smart grid, sustainability, digital platforms, or adjacent industries is preferred.
• Proven experience in opportunity assessment, business case development, product or solution validation, and cross-functional leadership.
• Experience in regulatory engagement, policy alignment, and industry collaboration is an advantage.