Senior Associate, Transportation and International Programs

Clean Energy Works envisions a world with a 100% resilient clean energy economy that provides opportunities and benefits for everyone. The climate, health, and economic benefits of clean energy are clear, but not everyone has the resources to make the upgrades needed.

Clean Energy Works works in partnership with willing community, utility, and policy champions to catalyze inclusive utility investments, a payment mechanism that opens the clean energy economy to all. Inclusive utility investment enables utility companies to pay for cost-effective clean energy upgrades for all of their customers. The customer pays no upfront costs and instead pays a fixed cost-recovery fee on their monthly bill, which is now lower than before thanks to the upgrades.

Clean Energy Works is a remote organization with staff and consultants based in the United States and abroad. We are committed to building an organization that fosters work and working relationships that are fulfilling, meaningful, and fun.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Senior Associate will report to the Director of Transportation and International Programs and will work to accelerate inclusive utility investments in transportation electrification in the United States. The position will also work with the Clean Energy Works’ Utility Policy and Programs Team advancing building decarbonization and the integration of electric vehicles to home, buildings, and the grid (V2X). This position will build on our recent success with the first approval by the Michigan Public Service Commission for an inclusive utility investment in batteries in electric transit buses by the utility DTE.

SCOPE OF WORK

Programmatic

• Advance the 5-year strategic objectives in the organization's Strategic Plan in relation to transportation electrification via utility investments.
• Develop or deepen subject matter expertise on the Pay As You Save® system and other models of inclusive utility investment as they emerge.
• Support the design and execution of strategies to achieve adoption and implementation of inclusive utility investments for transport electrification in the United States in priority areas, starting with electric school buses and transit buses.
• Provide technical and policy support to key decision makers and strategic partners at priority utilities, commissions, school districts, transit agencies, community based organizations, and advocate groups.
• Conduct and secondary research on related topics to advance inclusive utility investments transportation electrification.
• Assist in the evaluation and refinement of strategies for adoption of inclusive utility investments for transportation electrification based on learnings from the field.

Regulatory, Utility, and other Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain relationships and communicate with staff and decision makers from utilities, regulatory bodies, government agencies, school districts, transit agencies, advocates, and community based organizations in the transport electrification ecosystem to build support for program adoption, in particular in priority areas.
• Develop educational materials in various formats (written reports, informational fliers, slide decks, guides etc.) that can be used by community partners and other advocacy groups to build support for program adoption.
• Other duties as assigned.

Administrative

• Support fundraising activities including grant writing and reporting.
• Provide input to Clean Energy Works’ strategic planning process.
• Other duties as assigned.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• 5 years of professional or graduate-level academic experience in transportation electrification policy analysis, program evaluation, financial analysis or other related field
• Bachelor's degree preferred however candidates without bachelor's degrees will be considered if they have 5 experience in the field.
• Experience working with public agencies, at local level such as school districts, transit agencies, and at national level such as the U.S. EPA or DOE.
• Experience working with utilities: investor own utilities, municipal utilities or rural cooperatives.
• Experience drafting and reviewing submissions at or before public service, commerce, or public utility commissions on energy utility rate cases or other proceedings
• Subject matter expertise or understanding of inclusive utility investment such as Pay As You Save® preferred.
• Experience engaging with community based and/or advocacy organizations in general and specifically to shift policies of local, state, or federal government agencies.
• A passion for clean energy and for advancing equity and justice.
• High level of familiarity and competence with MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
• Experience with Trello or other project management and customer relationship management software a plus.
• Curiosity for problem solving and the eagerness to find and adapt solutions to local contexts
• Independence, prioritization, and organizational skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically. Quarterly travel is anticipated but could be more or less intensive at times based on workflow.

COMPETENCIES

● Project management - The ability to plan and organize individual and organizational resources to move a specific task, event, or duty towards completion.

● Energy policy - The ability to understand the ways in which energy policymakers address issues of energy development including source, distribution and use especially with regard to energy efficiency, clean/renewable energy, demand response, electric vehicles, and electrification.

● Partnership Development - The ability to develop, maintain, and strengthen partnerships with others inside or outside the organization who can provide information, assistance, and support to best achieve organizational goals and objectives.

● Analytical Thinking - The ability to tackle a problem by using a logical, systematic, sequential approach. Able to identify and separate out the key components of problems and situations. Able to manipulate and interpret information from a range of sources, to spot patterns and trends in information and to deduce cause and effect from this.

● Communication - The ability to communicate information and ideas clearly and articulately both in oral and written form. Uses appropriate language, style and methods depending on the audience and the purpose of communication. Able to convey complex information clearly. Anticipates the information that others will need.

COMPENSATION

Clean Energy Works is prepared to offer a very attractive compensation package, including a competitive base salary as well as benefits including healthcare, 401(k) match, eleven paid holidays, and 20 vacation days. A full-time work week at Clean Energy Works is 35 hours, and this position can be modified to offer maximum flexibility. The annual salary for this position is in the range of $65,000 to $75,000.

TO APPLY

Please submit a cover letter and resume as a separate pdfs to margarita.parra@cleanenergyworks.org Please use the subject line: “Senior Associate, Transportation - Name.” Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until filled.

Clean Energy Works Is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, marital status,sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disability, or any other classification considered discriminatory under all applicable federal,state or local laws.