Program Director

The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA), acting on behalf of 30 cities and towns from Virginia to the Virgin Islands with a population of approximately 5.2 million, seeks to dramatically increase the effectiveness of building retrofits across the region with the significant assistance of $20 million from the Department of Energy's Retrofit Ramp-Up Solicitation.  This proposal intends to transform the Southeast by achieving retrofit results at scale, creating a model for replication across the country.  The population of the Southeast is growing more than twice as fast as the national average, driving a disproportionate growth in the region's demand for energy - upwards of 30% increase in demand over 20 years.  Tempering the growth in demand is critically important to the Southeast's economy, environment, and energy security. Yet states and utilities in this region now spend only one-fifth the national average, per capita, on energy efficiency programs.

Clearly, aggressive action is needed now.  Our city partners have been planning and organizing for this opportunity since February 2009, when SEEA challenged cities to make extraordinary commitments to energy efficiency programming and infrastructure with a $500,000 competitive solicitation and award.  Fifteen communities from six states tendered applications, based on hundreds of hours of work in meetings, planning, research, and negotiations with utilities and city councils and partnership-building.  Charlottesville, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Charleston are in the process of implementing energy efficiency programs based on the SEEA solicitation and preparation for the bid.  The best components of those 15 applications are represented by the cities in this proposal, complemented by some communities that have made comparable commitments over the past six months.  In the interim period of award of this proposal by DOE, SEEA will continue its effort working on the implementation of many of these programs with support from foundation dollars. SEEA has already granted Charlottesville, VA $500,000 for project implementation and will support other cities with $450,000 in foundation support for other community work.

Since last June, we have worked with many of our local government partners which are implementing their proposals, modeled after best practices in Cambridge, MA; Berkeley, CA; Babylon, NY and elsewhere, by utilizing their formulaic EECBG funds to advance their plans. Deploying those funds is a criterion for inclusion among the communities in this proposal.  The criteria for award and activities sought in the DOE solicitation are remarkably similar to those in the SEEA February 2009 solicitation, won by Charlottesville/Albemarle County, VA.  Indeed, the vastly greater resources promised by the DOE Retrofit Ramp-up Solicitation offer a pathway to accelerate our schedule, build our capabilities, expand our reach, and demonstrate a model for the Southeast and beyond.  This proposal includes the programmatic efforts of two classes of communities.

Position Overview:

The Director, Municipal Programs has overall responsibility for strategic planning, program development, recruitment and supervision of project staff, and management of a range of municipal energy efficiency projects and policy across the Southeast.   The Director reports to the Executive Director of SEEA, and works closely with senior management, other staff teams, and SEEA Associates. 

This position requires considerable independent initiative, along with the ability to quickly acquire new information, to work effectively with managers and staff from SEEA and other organizations, to interact with senior executives in government and the private sector, and to express complex ideas in clear, compelling presentations and written documents.

On April 21, 2010, SEEA was awarded $20M in funding from the U.S. DOE for a comprehensive municipal energy efficiency project.  The Southeast Community Retrofit Ramp-up Consortium will partner with cities in eight southeastern states - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia - and with the U.S. Virgin Islands to dramatically increase the effectiveness of building retrofits across the region.   SEEA's community partners include Huntsville, AL., Celebration, FL.; Jacksonville, FL.; Atlanta, GA.; Decatur, GA.; New Orleans, LA.; Carrboro, N.C.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Nashville, TN., Woodbury, TN.; Albemarle County, VA.; Charlottesville, VA.; and Hampton Roads Planning District, VA.  The Program Director will be responsible for management and oversight of this entire program. 

Responsibilities:

The Director will have primary responsibility for growing and managing SEEA's municipal programs; duties will include the following:

• Planning and carrying out municipal energy efficiency projects;
• Securing funding for ongoing and new initiatives;
• Tracking the status of deliverables and expenditures projects, and working with Team members to assure timely, on-budget delivery of high-quality products;
• Recruiting, mentoring, and directing the activities of staff on SEEA's Municipal Team;
• Preparing annual performance reviews of Team members;
• Identifying opportunities to engage SEEA Associates in projects;
• Coordinating activities of the Team with those of other SEEA Teams;
• Advising as needed on technical and policy issues related to municipal energy efficiency;
• Establishing or strengthening partnership relationships with other public, private, and NGO organizations;
• Management of Municipal Team Staff and Subcontractors.  Assures that staff and contractors meet all deliverables and reporting requirements within agreed budgets and timelines, and that deliverables meet high quality standards;
• Program Development:  Identifies and pursues new municipal project and program opportunities appropriate for SEEA;
• Strategic Planning:  Leads and periodically updates a strategic plan for the development of SEEA's municipal program activities, in the context of the SEEA's areas of expertise, opportunities to have a major impact (topically and geographically) on energy savings, and current and projected policy trends and the priorities of local government, multilateral organizations, foundations, and other potential sponsors;
• Management of Events and Outputs:  Oversee SEEA staff and contractors in:  planning and organizing project-related meetings, workshops, and other events as needed; preparing project reports, white papers, and studies on a range of complex technical and market/program issues;
• Other:  Undertake and initiate other duties as required to advance SEEA's interest and involvement in municipal energy efficiency programs.

Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree and 8 or more years relevant experience (or Masters degree plus five years) in a technical field related to energy efficiency or program management (e.g., architecture, engineering, economics)
• Experience planning and executing multi-million dollar programs
• Supervisory experience
• Superior writing and editing skills
• Good public speaking skills with the ability to make presentations and lead team/external meetings
• Good interpersonal skills
• Experience developing and overseeing budgets
• Team player
• Ability to work on a number of projects and meet deadlines
• Enthusiasm for advocacy and issue-oriented communications
• Position is located in Atlanta, GA
• **Position is federally funded for 36 months initially.

To Apply:

If interested, please email resume and cover letter

About the Program-