Organization: Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance
Closing Date:
A. Position Description
Buildings are responsible for over a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in buildings, or building decarbonization, is essential for achieving emission reduction goals, managing housing and utility costs, and creating healthy facilities with improved indoor air quality.
The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) seeks qualified candidates for a technical specialist to change the status quo of building energy efficiency in the Southeast by planning and implementing clean energy programs and projects. This position will utilize and grow expertise and resources, engage with stakeholders to understand their distinct needs and perspectives, and execute processes and special projects to leverage available resources for SEEA initiatives.
This technical specialist will report to the director of technology and market solutions to create and deploy initiatives including, but not limited to, building retrofit research and market development, building energy codes and energy efficiency programs, and workforce development efforts while contributing to SEEA’s cross-functional work. This technical specialist will build partnerships with state and local governments, nonprofits, academia, businesses, and utilities to support SEEA’s work across 12 states and five U.S. territories.
B. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Project and Program Management
SEEA designs, implements, and evaluates projects and programs to advance clean energy in our region. Through this work, SEEA meaningfully invests in building local capacity across the Southeast and five U.S. territories. Working both collaboratively and independently, the technical specialist will:
- Collaborate on design and execution of new and existing projects and programs.
- Ensure high trust among project partners and relevant stakeholders (e.g., building professionals, utilities, manufacturers, local communities, funding organizations, interested parties, state agencies, etc.) by delivering high-quality work and cultivating a collaborative atmosphere.
- Create and maintain comprehensive project management plans, documentation, budgets, and other deliverables as necessary to support the completion of grant and project objectives.
- Communicate effectively within SEEA and with project partners on deadlines and expectations.
- Prepare and submit funding reports, financial reports, reimbursement requests, and invoices as grant and project agreements require.
- Provide technical expertise and other assistance to staff with various initiatives, including, but not limited to, special projects, research, grant proposals, and logistics planning.
Cultivate Expertise and Resources
SEEA produces resources that create meaningful connections between data and lived experience to inform policy and program strategies adopted by stakeholders and decision-makers in the Southeast. The technical specialist will:
- Provide leadership in buildings research and energy efficiency program strategy development.
- Cultivate expertise in stakeholder mapping, meeting planning and facilitation, and problem-solving.
- Analyze and track the efficient energy and clean energy opportunity landscape, including regulatory processes, legislative action, federal programs and initiatives, and funding opportunities relevant to states and communities in SEEA’s portfolio of work.
- Draft reports, fact sheets, policy memos, presentations, white papers, proposals, and other materials.
Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration
SEEA’s stakeholders inform and generate change throughout our region. It is critical to SEEA’s mission that all people, businesses, governments, and organizations are well-connected and able to collaborate. To create an inclusive clean energy future, we must work together to identify and support diverse needs. The technical specialist will support SEEA’s stakeholder engagement and collaboration by:
- Cultivating and maintaining trusting relationships across the region, including those in government, utilities, academia, business, nonprofits, and foundations.
- Facilitating information sharing of best practices, program design, and funding opportunities in the region.
- Collaborating with SEEA’s research, policy and communications teams to translate project outcomes and learnings into various content formats, including reports, presentations, websites, and videos.
- Supporting SEEA’s virtual and in-person events, including logistics and other functions.
- Representing SEEA at industry conferences and stakeholder events.
Development
SEEA staff collaborate on proposal ideation, partner engagement and recruitment, and proposal creation to develop a body of work aligned with our mission and vision and meeting the needs of the Southeast. The technical specialist will:
- Monitor and support organizational awareness of program area and project funding opportunities, including funding opportunity announcements, fee-for-service solicitations, and partnering opportunities.
- Support cultivation of funding opportunities or fee-for-service work by providing input and advising on funding proposals, budgets, and staffing plans including coordination with external partnering organizations.
- Support proposal development processes, including content development, editing, and facilitation of collaborative planning sessions with external partners and internal team members.
- Contribute to funder and/or client reporting and communications.
C. Qualifications
If you are excited about the technical manager, but don’t feel you meet every single criterion, we encourage you to apply anyway! Research shows that individuals from historically marginalized groups tend to self-select out of opportunities at higher rates. We take a holistic approach to all our hiring practices and want to hire those best aligned with our mission and goals.
- Bachelor’s degree.
- Minimum of five years’ experience in building energy efficiency, building construction, and/or utility demand side management.
- Professional certification, such as BPI Building Analyst Professional or RESNET HERS Rater, and related industry experience demonstrating continual growth and achievement preferred.
- Experience and expertise in at least one of the following: building energy codes; building energy modeling; energy efficient technologies; utility program design, implementation, and/or evaluation.
- Comfortable on a construction job site and in a board room and communicate effectively in various settings.
- Deeply value equity and are committed to learning how to effectively advance conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the energy sector.
- Enjoy interacting with others, listening to their needs, and responding accordingly.
- Have demonstrated the ability to manage work for multiple projects concurrently, adapt to shifting priorities, meet project objectives, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
- Responsible, self-motivated, and organized, with great attention to detail.
- Comfortable within a fast-paced, dynamic, and highly collaborative, cross-functional team environment.
- Committed to learning and growing, upgrading knowledge and skills, and accepting, learning from, and offering feedback.
- Spanish proficiency is a plus.
Position Classification
- This is a full-time, exempt salaried position based in Atlanta, Georgia, and requires up to 25% travel. SEEA’s current hybrid work schedule requires a minimum of two in-office workdays per week.
- The salary for the Buildings Technical Specialist begins at $80,000. Compensation is flexible based upon industry experience and technical skills. SEEA offers competitive compensation based upon candidates’ qualifications and overall expertise.
- Successful applicants must demonstrate their legal status to work in the United States.
- As a federal contractor, SEEA requires all employees to complete their COVID-19 vaccination series or have an approved exception to the requirement due to a medical condition or sincerely held religious belief. Therefore, successful candidates for this position must submit vaccination documentation or be approved for an exception before their first day of employment. Failure to provide proof of full documentation or receipt of an approved exception will lead to the withdrawal of the job offer.
- SEEA is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an environment that supports and advances diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics.
D. How to Apply
Qualified candidates may apply by submitting a cover letter and resume to SEEA’s BambooHR platform here: Technical Specialist. Please, no emails or calls.
SEEA’s hiring process, on average, takes two months to complete, including virtual and in-person interviews. Candidates considered for interviews will be asked to provide three professional or academic references. Candidates may also be asked to provide a writing sample or invited to complete a written assessment.
About SEEA
The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 2007, SEEA is the only regional energy efficiency organization serving eleven states across the Southeast and island territories. SEEA ensures people have the knowledge, resources, and opportunities to use energy more efficiently. We advance effective state, local, and utility policies, support the implementation of strong building energy codes, expand the availability and access to resources to address energy efficiency in buildings, and support equitable engagement in energy planning processes across all communities.
SEEA’s Culture & Benefits
SEEA offers a highly collaborative and supportive work environment to allow employees to be authentic, learn, grow, and demonstrate their leadership abilities. We are committed to fostering an environment of transparency and trust that will enable us to learn from one another and incorporate diversity, inclusion, and equity in all we do.
Because we work with a broad selection of stakeholders to address complex and evolving issues, all employees receive training on collaborative leadership, including the dimensions of trust, facilitating powerful and productive meetings, collaborative problem-solving, and stakeholder identification and engagement.
Additionally, employees receive the following benefits:
- Fifteen (15) days of paid time off, four (4) floating holidays, and seven (7) paid holidays annually
- End-of-year office closure (December 24 through January 1)
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance benefits
- 401(k) retirement plans with organizational match and immediate vesting (up to 4%)
- Paid parental maternity and paternity leave
- Monthly mobile phone stipend and transit stipend ($35 each per month)
- Flexible work schedule and hybrid office setting
- Continuing education and professional development opportunities and funding