Director, RTO Advocacy

at Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, United States

Job Description

Director, RTO Advocacy
Job Locations

US-DC-Washington | US-NY-New York | US-IL-Chicago

Job ID 
2024-5586  

# of Openings 
1  

Group 
Climate & Energy
Overview

NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Beijing; Bozeman, Montana; Chicago; New Delhi; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; and Washington, D.C.

NRDC is seeking a Director, RTO Advocacy to work with the Sustainable FERC Project, Climate & Energy Department team in our Washington, DC, New York or Chicago office (preference for Washington).

Position Summary

NRDC is seeking an experienced, senior leader to join the Sustainable FERC Project (Project) team as the Director of RTO Advocacy. The Project advocates for the rapid, reliable transition of the nation's power grid to zero-carbon renewable energy resources while reducing unnecessary fossil gas infrastructure. The Director will manage staff, develop and direct policy, meet with RTO leaders and other stakeholders, and collaborate with a constellation of internal and external colleagues, coalition partners, allies, and officials. The ideal candidate is enthusiastic about leading, managing, and influencing different people and initiatives; understands that grid organization stakeholder processes are often contentious; and dedicated to meeting the organization's goals for policy reforms at the nation's regional transmission planning organizations and other FERC-jurisdictional planning regions. They thrive in collaborative work environments, embrace solving complex and nuanced problems, and understand and can communicate complex, technical, regulatory subjects in compelling and accessible ways.

To read more about the Project's recent work, visit www.sustainableferc.org/blog.

Responsibilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the following essential functions.
Manage the Sustainable FERC Project's team responsible for advocacy in the RTOs and other grid planning regions.
Lead the development of near-term and long-term goals for each grid planning region, along with annual objectives and desired results for each of the RTOs and grid regions where the Project advocates.
In collaboration with NRDC staff and Project partner organizations, develop comprehensive advocacy strategies for RTO policy reforms including both stakeholder and non-stakeholder strategies.
Develop budgets to advance and achieve goals.
Coordinate with the Project's FERC and federal advocacy teams to ensure alignment of goals, strategies, and messages.
Collaborate closely with other NRDC departments and programs to share and obtain the support and resources needed to advance the Project's priority RTO goals.
Align RTO goals as much as possible to advance NRDC's other national and state climate and clean energy goals, and work with other NRDC departments and programs to identify goals and implement strategies necessary to do so.
Work closely with Project coalition partners and others to advance shared goals.
Maintain and enhance the Project's RTO partner coordination function, including but not limited to periodic convenings and planning sessions and other activities necessary to strengthen the coalition.
Working with NRDC's communications team, serve as key external voice of NRDC on regional climate and energy issues.
Provide regular... For full info follow application link.

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming a diversity of voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.