Associate

Job Description Application Deadline: Sunday, June 2, 2024, at 11:59 PM MT. Associates must be available to start by mid-July. Transform your career with RMI. Are you ready to be part of a transformative movement towards a sustainable future? When you join RMI, you are empowered to make an impact. Regardless of your background or level of experience, you will have the opportunity to help bring about change in the world surrounded by team members who are passionate about transforming the global energy system. If you’re excited about the prospect of contributing to impactful projects and being at the forefront of innovation in clean energy, we want to hear from you! Join us in our mission to create a brighter, greener tomorrow.

We highly encourage individuals from underrepresented groups to apply!

Associate Role Overview

The Associate Role at RMI offers an exciting opportunity for early career professionals and job changers to dive into the world of nonprofit work focused on transforming the global energy transition. As an Associate, you’ll join a cohort of like-minded individuals hired within the same month, and together you’ll embark on an immersive Associate Bootcamp. During this bootcamp, you’ll gain invaluable insights into the various teams and initiatives at RMI, setting the stage for a rewarding and impactful journey ahead.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The selected candidates for hire must be available to start by mid-July as these dates are nonnegotiable and has been carefully scheduled to align with our comprehensive onboarding and programming itinerary for the cohort.

Application Requirements

Resume (Required)

We suggest a 2–3-page resume that includes information about your academic background and work experience. Feel free to add additional sections that highlight any leadership roles you’ve held, relevant coursework, academic projects that you’ve completed, conference presentations, or any articles that have been published.

Cover Letter (Required)

Answer the following questions below.

• What does Environmental Equity & Justice mean to you?
• Describe a specific initiative or project within the clean energy transition space that you find particularly inspiring or innovative. This can include work RMI is doing as well.
• What inspired you to apply for this Associate position? And which program(s) are you most interested in working with?

Available Programs

Carbon-Free Transportation

• MTX – Infrastructure Initiative

The Carbon-Free Transportation teams are accelerating the transition to electric mobility across all modes and use cases. The Transportation team’s work addresses barriers to EV adoption and charging capabilities (e.g., rates, costs, process chokepoints).

Strategy Team

• Strategic Planning & Growth Initiative

Strategic Planning & Growth is part of RMI’s Strategy Team, which also includes Strategic Insights (who provide portfolio-level insights and thought leadership, internally and externally) and Strategic Engagement (who provide strategic frameworks and support for engaging critical stakeholders). We are a small team that leads RMI’s strategic planning processes; supports impact measurement, evaluation, and learning; and provides frameworks and due diligence for strategic growth opportunities (e.g., new partnerships, market affiliates, acquisitions, geographic expansion).

Third Derivative

• Clean Mobile Power Initiative

Third Derivative (D3) cultivates an inclusive, global network of of deep experts, corporate partners, and investors to help startups with groundbreaking climate tech solutions go to market faster, create real impact, and transform markets; we do this in an 18-mo accelerator program of general and focused cohorts. One of our focused cohorts, the Clean Mobile Power Initiative, works with Netflix and Disney to accelerate the deployment of zero-emission power technologies. It aims to identify, test, and scale clean mobile power solutions, specifically battery energy storage systems and hydrogen power units, to serve as replacements to diesel generators. Help us drive solutions particularly tailored for the dynamic needs of the entertainment industry!

US Program

• American Is All In Initiative
• State Ambition Initiative
• Federal Policy Initiative
• Cities Initiative

The US Program works to accelerate the US transition to an equitable, climate-aligned future for all. The US Program collaboratively develops RMI’s overall US strategy by establishing clear priorities while working to integrate, elevate, and fill gaps in US-focused work across RMI’s programs. The US Program works with government, industry, and civil society across all economic sectors to accelerate equitable decarbonization in the United States.

Climate Intelligence

• Carbon Markets Initiative

The Carbon Markets Initiative is a rapidly evolving initiative seeks to improve the transparency, efficiency, and trust of carbon markets, ultimately accelerating progress towards a 50 percent cut in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. Through both research and demonstration, the Carbon Markets initiative is focused on improving data transparency and data integrity of carbon credits, building partnerships to accelerate high-quality credit procurement, and contributing analysis and applied learning to a range of partnerships, collaborations, and challenges in line with RMI’s THINK-DO-SCALE approach.

Carbon-Free Buildings

• Policy Transformation Initiative

The Policy Transformation team works to transform US building sector policy for a carbon-free, equitable, healthy future. This includes bringing RMI analysis and best practices insight to support state and city-level policy development, in collaboration with policymakers, advocates, regulators, and other stakeholders. This role will be focused on building sector policy in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Candidates across the continental United States will be considered, though preference will be given to candidates based in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic US.

Climate Aligned Industries

• Carbon Dioxide Removal Initiative

The Carbon Dioxide Removal team at RMI is focused on responsibly scaling CDR by catalyzing open science, rapid innovation, new markets, and well-considered national- and state-level policies that address the concerns of the scientific community and the communities who have a stake in how CDR is deployed. This team prefers candidates to be based out of one of our offices or near other team members. RMI offices are in Oakland, CA; Washington, D.C.; New York City; Boulder or Basalt, Colorado. The CDR team also has clusters of team members in Research Triangle, North Carolina and Paris, France.

Carbon-Free Electricity

• Business Models & Regulations Initiative

The Business Models and Regulation team works with regulators, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders to reform utility business models so that utility incentives are aligned with creating a just, clean energy future. We help leaders in the most influential geographies for grid decarbonization to implement and scale transformative solutions through technical assistance, peer convening, and action-oriented research.

• Clean Energy Planning Initiative

Virtual Power Plant Partnership (VP3) is an initiative housed within RMI and funded by industry leaders spanning the automotive, building, energy service, and software sectors. Our mission is to catalyze industry and change the necessary policies, regulations, and market rules for VPPs to scale in ways that benefit communities and society.

• Clean Competitive Grids Initiative

The Clean Competitive Grids team focuses on electricity markets, transmission, grid interconnection, grid enhancing technologies, and ensuring the grid is ready for electrification loads.

General Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth research and analysis on topics relevant to each team’s focus area, synthesizing findings into actionable insights and recommendations.
• Maintain partnerships with external stakeholders, including government agencies, industry organizations, and community groups, to advance shared goals and objectives.
• Collaborate with colleagues across different teams and departments within RMI to leverage expertise, share resources, and maximize impact.
• Contribute to the development of communication materials, such as reports, briefs, and presentations, to effectively communicate team activities, findings, and recommendations.
• Assist in coordinating team meetings, workshops, and events, including logistics, agenda development, and participant communications.
• Create innovative problem-solving approaches to drive project insights.
• Provide quantitative analysis and modeling activities to guide initiative insights and implementation.
• Utilize both quantitative and qualitative analysis or modeling techniques to assess the impact of various energy strategies and policies.
• Collect, analyze, and interpret data related to energy systems, markets, and technologies.
• Develop visualizations and reports to communicate research findings effectively to internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to thought leadership efforts through publications, presentations, and participation in conferences and workshops.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 2+ years of relevant work experience OR a master’s degree in applicable areas such as: STEM, political science/policy, finance, business administration, environmental sciences, or economics.
• Genuine passion for driving positive change in the clean energy transition space, demonstrated through previous work experience, academic projects, and/or extracurricular activities.
• Strong interest in and understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the clean energy sector.
• Project management skills, with a demonstrated ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
• Communication skills, both written and verbal, can convey complex information clearly and concisely.
• Ability and willingness to engage with technical material and provide qualitative and quantitative evaluation of existing initiatives.
• Ability to effectively problem solve, and bring clarity to complex and unstructured problems.
• Proficiency in designing, creating, and running Excel-based models.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

Some experience related to a specific program of interest from the list of available teams above, such as:

• Policy experience in climate/energy, including advocacy and research.
• Familiarity with the state and local U.S. political landscape, particularly in relation to climate and energy.
• Knowledge of US electricity regulation and policy.
• Experience in relationship management and facilitation, including organizing multistakeholder workshops and meetings.
• Knowledge and/or interest in electric grid and load capacity.
• Understanding of basic financial concepts, project or portfolio management, strategic planning, or experience in strategy or management consulting.
• Ability to create clear, structured, and illustrative PowerPoint presentations.

We encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply, regardless of whether you feel you meet 100% of the qualifications. We offer professional learning and training opportunities to help you develop skills you may not have had the opportunity to cultivate yet.

Compensation    

The salary target for this role will be between $71,000-$79,000. This is dependent on experience that will be discussed and vetted through the interview process. This position also includes an additional 5% bonus target.

Location

We are a remote-ready company with team members around the globe. Our beautiful and welcoming offices are available for meetings or focused work, whether you are traveling through or living nearby. Our U.S. offices are in New York City; Washington DC; Oakland, California; Boulder, Colorado, and Basalt, Colorado. This role can be located from anywhere in the continental United States.

We love seeing each other in person! We occasionally gather for shared time together like retreats and learning experiences. Be ready to travel for occasional in-person meetings (and of course, we cover travel costs). Some roles may require more travel, which will be discussed during the hiring process.

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits package, adjusted to regional norms, including (for US employment):

• Medical, Dental, Vision Insurance
• 403b Retirement Options (5% match immediately)
• Generous PTO
• Learning & Development opportunities
• Parental leave
• Life, AD&D, Short Term and Long-Term Disability
• Commuter and Wellness Benefits

We provide you with the essential IT equipment plus a one-time home technology payment and a monthly work from home/commuter allowance to ensure you have a comfortable home office set up and necessary supplies.

Diversity

Our workforce’s diversity is one of our core values at RMI, and we strive to achieve diversity within our organization that reflects the communities we serve. Achieving this diversity—whether of race, gender, sexual orientation, or ability—is critical to our long-term success, ensuring that we:  

• Have the diversity of thinking that comes from diverse backgrounds and cultures, enabling us to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges  
• Have a culture of inclusion and respect that enables us to attract and keep diverse talent
• Can secure the talent that we need with access to the full talent pool
• Can relate to decision makers within diverse communities

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

RMI is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

RMI is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.