Associate Director (Transmission)

Willdan•San Francisco, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

When you join the E3 team, you will be working on some of the most important energy issues with some of the top minds in the electricity industry. We help shape energy and climate policy, play vital roles in regulatory proceedings, advise executives, and inform investment and planning selections. At E3, you will be challenged and inspired. Founded in 1989, Energy + Environmental Economics (E3) is a fast-growing energy consulting firm that helps utilities, regulators, policy makers, developers, and investors make the most educated strategic decisions possible as they implement new public policies, deploy and develop new technologies, and address customers’ shifting expectations. We have offices in San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Denver, and Calgary. Because E3 works with customers from all sectors of the electricity industry, we provide a 360-degree knowledge of markets, planning, policy, regulation, and environmental factors. Just as important, we are driven to deliver clear, unbiased evaluations that help customers make informed decisions. E3 works on high-profile, high-impact projects in jurisdictions that spearhead the implementation of clean energy policy. We look for people who combine strong analytical dexterity and/or policy experience with integrity and a passion for energy. Our Associate Directors take the reins on project work to drive creative solutions to some of the most elaborate and important energy issues of the day. For this specific role, we are looking for someone who brings subject matter depth in electric transmission (e.g., ISO/RTO transmission planning processes, interconnection and deliverability concepts, corridor/ROW and permitting basics, capital planning). You’re fluent with management consulting skills: structuring ambiguous problems, choosing a path and level of detail to answer questions in the time/budget available, anticipating challenges and creating plans to mitigate risks, coaching your team in how to answer questions, and checking results and storyline based on your experience in the industry. You have executive presence to navigate client/stakeholder dynamics, align senior leaders, and drive decisions in high stakes settings. Our Associate Directors take on a pivotal role to help manage, shape, and continue to develop an E3 Practice Area. In this position, you will help to drive the continued growth of E3’s business through strategic project and thought leadership, developing our next generation of leaders and further advancing our reputation for best-in-class solutions to our broad case of clients. You bring curiosity, thrive in a rigorous and quantitative solution-finding environment, take a collaborative approach to project work, are comfortable coaching and providing feedback to others, and are practiced at working closely with clients and stakeholders while supporting the execution of our business and mission. We seek those that are inquisitive and look at all sides of an issue to make informed recommendations with confidence and clarity. You pride yourself in your technical aptitude and deep subject matter expertise. You bring a strong attention to detail and your project management and leadership techniques help you independently create and actualize work plans that are efficient while delivering an elevated level of guidance to our customers. The Associate Director (Transmission) will lead strategy engagements for utilities and their transmission businesses. You’ll structure the problem, own day-to-day client leadership, and coordinate internal and external cross-functional teams (transmission planning, engineering, regulatory, finance, delivery). Focus areas include business case development, portfolio prioritization, KPI tracking, partnership strategy, and organization structure and governance.

Requirements

Master's Degree or Ph.D. in engineering, economics, computer science, public policy or related field (or Bachelor's and equivalent work experience).
Demonstrated hands-on experience or extensive knowledge in, or related to our practice areas.
7+ years of experience in an energy-related field with a specific focus on the electric power sector.
Significant experience/subject matter expertise in electric transmission development or planning (e.g. interconnection and deliverability concepts, corridor/ROW and permitting basics, capital planning, utility regulation).
Extensive project management experience leading collaborative project efforts while helping each member of your team do their finest work.
Aptitude to write and communicate clearly.
Experience crafting a clear and compelling message both in writing and via presentations.
Demonstrated experience working directly with clients, stakeholders or customers.
Passionate about the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Demonstrated success guiding ideas, people, and projects.
High fluency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint; quantitative modeling methods and/or programming knowledge and experience are also valued.
Desire to work in a dynamic office environment with other staff.

Nice To Haves

Deep subject matter expertise specifically in energy, economics or finance, and climate change issues.
Significant project management and leadership experience in a technical or analytical environment.
Past experience working directly with utilities on electric transmission modeling platforms preferred, examples include PLEXOS, Gridview, PROMOD, PSSE, TARA.
Extensive experience coordinating with customers on a regular basis.
You believe it is essential to achieve a transition to a low-carbon economy and love thinking about the future of energy.
You work collaboratively and help each member of your team to do their finest work, aware that each brings different experiences, techniques, and qualifications to the table.
You enjoy translating technical concepts to a broader audience.
You take ownership of your work, proactively seeking out answers to questions and enjoy finding creative solutions to issues you encounter.

Responsibilities

Lead the delivery of customer work through modeling, developing presentations, writing, and preparing entire subsections of reports and papers, and owning customer requests.
Conduct independent research using your ingenuity and curiosity to make reasonable assumptions and produce appropriate solutions, at times with incomplete information.
Fulfill end-to-end project obligations.
Deliver presentations to customers and reply to questions.
Develop aptitude in using a flagship modeling tool, gathering relevant data, and vetting results.
Oversee the management of existing tools as needed.
Oversee/implement major revisions to toolkits.
Apply core QA/QC best practices.
Lead proposal writing on various projects.
Translate results of research and evaluations into clear visual representations.
Head the creation or editing of spreadsheets to be “client-ready,” including developing tools for customer solutions.
Proactively track actual performance of own work performed against the established plan with ongoing communication to project team members.
Track and manage actual performance of project teams against the established plan, with ongoing communication to project team members.
Capture project learnings and repeatable products and work samples for future use according to knowledge management processes.
Stand up and run a Transmission Strategy PMO: establish cadence, RACI's, decision rights, and an executive steering committee, maintain scope, schedule and execute across work-streams.
Map the current operating model (org structure, design rights/RACI, processes) and recommend changes: resource plan, capability gaps, governance, and interfaces with ISO/RTO, regulatory and community stakeholders.
Build the KPI framework for transmission buildout (e.g., miles energized per year, permit lead times, ROW acquisition progress, deliverability milestones, cost and schedule variance); design dashboards and routines to use them.
Translate engineering and modeling (production cost, power flow/deliverability) into options, business cases, and an executive-ready roadmap with milestones, owners and KPI's.
Lead stakeholder alignment across utility executives, ISO/RTO, regulators, communities, and delivery partners, design strategies to unblock tough issues and drive to decision.
Assist with internal initiatives as needed.