Director, Portfolio Planning & Origination (hybrid)
About The Position
The Director, Portfolio Planning & Origination leads a goal-driven, team-oriented department and provides origination, energy supply planning, and regulatory support for NiSource/NIPSCO stakeholders. The Director serves as the lead commercial contact for developing requests for proposals for electric capacity, selecting winning bidders, and conducting arms-length negotiations for long-term supply agreements. The role manages the utility’s capacity position through market purchases, RFPs, and applicable auctions to balance supply and demand. The Director oversees existing generation commercial agreements representing more than $5 billion in capital investment and leads the Operations & Market Support, Regulatory Support, Market Settlements, and Commercial Support departments. These teams provide market and technical assistance to internal groups including Regulatory, Finance, Accounting, Risk, Environmental, Tax, and Legal. The position is based in either Columbus, Ohio, or Merrillville, Indiana, with a three-days-per-week hybrid schedule. Emergency-response support may be required outside normal hours or beyond typical responsibilities.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Finance, Business Administration, or equivalent.
- Extensive experience with wholesale electric market operations, gas trading, commercial negotiations or origination, renewable energy, and battery-storage deployment.
- At least 10 years of work experience in the electric utility, gas utility, or a related industry.
- Experience leading a complex department covering multiple origination, market-facing, and regulatory processes.
- Outstanding planning, organizational, verbal, and written communication skills.
- Ability to perform duties effectively in normal, emergency, and contingency situations.
- Knowledge of regulatory processes, plant operations, fuel supply, project development, permitting, rates, tariffs, state and federal regulations, and gas operations.
- Financial competence in general accounting, financial statement analysis, general tax awareness—particularly renewable tax incentives—and credit ratings or other forms of securitization.
- Knowledge of rates, tariffs, cost allocation, and billing functions.
- Working understanding of regulatory processes, bulk power generation, wholesale power markets, and renewable and thermal generation.
- Working understanding of market trends, deal structures, and legal deal-making processes.
- Track record of commercial success supporting agreements through origination, regulatory approvals, construction, tax equity financing, asset in-service, and agreement tenure, for 10 or more years or through the applicable statute of limitations.
- Legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring employer sponsorship now or in the future.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree in Business Administration or equivalent.
Responsibilities
- Supervise department personnel, manage the O&M budget, and communicate applicable impacts to corporate O&M and CAPEX.
- Mentor, coach, and train direct reports to support their ongoing development.
- Lead short- and long-term generation capacity replacement activities.
- Design and review requests for proposals to address changing electric capacity needs.
- Lead commercial negotiations for asset acquisitions, power purchase agreements, and other offtake or M&A transactions.
- Manage existing generation supply agreements totaling 3,400 MW, more than $5 billion in capital investment, and $2 billion in utility rate base.
- Provide and support testimony in CPCN, FERC, and other filings related to energy supply needs.
- Support tax equity financing and due diligence for asset acquisition structures.
- Support onboarding and market registration of new generation assets.
- Work with Risk, Credit, and Treasury to address counterparty and deal risk.
- Partner with internal and external stakeholders to develop Board of Director materials, resolutions, and approvals.
- Direct development and support of production-costing computer models, including PROMOD-Electric and Plexos-Gas.
- Provide and coordinate testimony and forecasts for NiSource/NIPSCO participation in energy markets and cost-recovery trackers.
- Respond to data requests for audits, regulatory proceedings, and government investigations, and participate in internal and external audits.
- Lead and coordinate Energy Supply & Optimization activities for NIPSCO gas and electric rate cases, including testimony and data-request responses.
- Work with Regulatory, Finance, and Regulatory Policy on tariffs and riders, and lead development of market-facing tariffs and riders where applicable.
- Assist Regulatory, Finance, and Accounting with monthly gas and electric closing processes, including resource cost and allocation, MISO market settlements, and gas settlements and planning.
- Provide forecast updates to Financial Planning, including cost of goods sold.
- Ensure timely and accurate reconciliation and verification of market settlement activity.
- Provide ad hoc analysis and forecasting for the Hedging Policy and lead development of applicable hedging programs.
- Lead applicable market-facing interventions and engagement involving FERC matters, MISO stakeholder processes, and independent market monitors.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
