Policy Director, Renewables

Summary

Join Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE) as their Policy Director, Renewables! This remote, full-time position based anywhere in the US focuses on accelerating utility-scale renewable energy projects at the state and local levels. You will spearhead tracking local ordinances and regulations impacting clean energy, conducting strategic analysis, and developing impactful messaging for advocacy campaigns. Collaboration with internal teams and external partners is crucial. The ideal candidate possesses extensive clean energy experience, strong analytical and communication skills, and a dedication to advancing renewable energy initiatives. This role offers a competitive salary and generous benefits.

Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in a clean energy company, city or county land use or planning department, or clean energy non-profit or public affairs agency
• Extensive knowledge of local and state energy regulations, including ordinances, zoning, permitting and land use regulations as it relates to clean energy projects
• Extensive knowledge of the utility-scale clean energy sector and understanding of the full project cycle, needs, and opportunities–from siting analysis to coming online
• Experience gathering information and building reports from FiscalNote Curate and/or other industry tools and comfort and agility in working with AI to streamline information gathering
• Proven strategic analysis and ability to take a deluge of information and quickly identify which priorities rise to the top
• Strong writing skills and ability to distill complex information into pieces that can be used for pithy communications and public talking points
• Detail-oriented and an ability to manage multiple priorities and projects while thriving in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Flexibility to work irregular hours as needed and a willingness to travel for field-based activities and partner meetings
• Strong cross-team collaborator and communicator with an eagerness to jump into other duties than assigned
• Proactive, flexible, and solutions-oriented with a commitment to innovation
• Collaborative and team-focused, capable of inspiring and motivating others
• Dedication to fostering a culture of excellence, quality, and inclusivity

Responsibilities

• Build out a system to track prospective and active policy interventions that includes key inputs for analysis
• Continuously monitor local and state decision-making bodies, policies, events, coalitions, campaigns, trends, and technologies within the clean energy sector
• Build recommendations of top strategic interventions where we can make in-roads
• Track and manage a list of local elected or appointed officials with decisionmaking authority over clean energy projects, including past decisions on clean energy, terms, etc
• Create a feedback loop, analyzing factors that contributed to wins and losses to feed learnings back into project origination analysis
• Provide timely analysis to the project origination team regarding any local and state level policies and regulations potentially impacting a project intervention
• Identify the leading tools and resources needed to set us up for success
• Develop clear, concise data-driven memos outlining high-impact opportunities for engagement and a roadmap for the campaigns team to run with
• From the research, develop topline messaging that the campaigns team can use to create digital ads, phone and text scripts, emails, talking points, etc
• Collaborate with ACE’s Research Lab to run message testing and other research opportunities
• Collaborate with the campaigns, communications, and development teams to communicate the wins and learning from the intervention to staff, board, partners and funders
• Attend partner and funder calls to share learnings, strategies and directions
• Collaborate with teammates to gather inputs for policy tracking, sourcing potential policy information from grassroots and national partners, trade groups and industry associations
• Build relationships directly with developers, industry and trade groups, and county officials to collect information on local ordinance and state level policy and regulations, status, and strategies to inform whether, where and how we can have an impact
• Attend conferences and events to cultivate relationships and gain insights into local policy landscapes and identify potential local elected and community leaders to feature in ACE’s storytelling work
• Adapt to the evolving needs of a fast-paced organization with flexibility and creativity

Preferred Qualifications

Experience working in or with rural communities in the U.S. desired

Benefits

• Annual salary range: $130,000 - $140,000, commensurate with experience
• Medical, Dental, Vision
• 403b retirement savings plan
• Vacation
• Sabbatical
• Paid Parental Leave
• 2 Floating Holidays
• 2 Community Service Floating Holidays
• Sick time
• Two weeks of full-staff time off (July 4 week and Christmas-New Year week)
• 13 observed holidays