Director, Utility and Regulatory Innovation

Description

Program/Role: Director, Utility and Regulatory Innovation

Location: WFH Flexible. GPI’s headquarters are based at 2801 21st Avenue South, Suite 220 in Minneapolis, MN. Occasional travel may be required.

Reports to: Vice President, Energy Systems 

Type of Position: Full-time position

Ideal start date: September 1, 2026

Compensation: Salary range for staff position: $125K-$165K, commensurate with experience. Benefits include a health plan, 401(k) retirement plan, LTD, STD, life, vision, dental, FSA/HSA, paid time off, professional development allowance, and a communication stipend.

ABOUT THE GREAT PLAINS INSTITUTE

A nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, the Great Plains Institute (GPI) is accelerating the transition to net-zero carbon emissions for the benefit of people, the economy, and the environment. Increased demand for GPI’s unique blend of energy expertise and consensus-derived solutions has driven organizational and programmatic growth. With headquarters in Minnesota, GPI’s operations are national in scope while retaining a core competency in the Midcontinent region. GPI is powered by more than 70 professionals and is supported by some of the nation’s most respected philanthropies. 

The following values inform the way we work both inside and outside of GPI. It is important to us to be trusted, inclusive, equitable, pragmatic, and transformative:

Trusted. We base our approach and actions on trust, mutual respect, and accountability. 

Inclusive. We achieve impact through inclusive and deliberate collaboration with a diversity of interests.

Equitable. We strive for equity in our approach and outcomes.

Pragmatic. We take a clear-eyed view of the world as it is, even as we seek to improve it.

Transformative. We are a bold and passionate catalyst for change.

THIS POSITION 

GPI seeks an experienced, collaborative, highly networked professional to lead and grow our utility and regulatory innovation work. This position will be responsible for strategic direction, staffing, fundraising, external relations, budget management, and evaluation and reporting, in collaboration with the Vice President of Energy Systems.

GPI’s utility and regulatory innovation work is focused on convening parties around complex and emerging utility regulatory issues or on complex utility filings, for both electric and gas utilities. We seek to improve the overall wisdom of parties working on issues that are pertinent to GPI’s mission, but we do not engage directly as an advocate ourselves. Topics that we work on include integrated resource planning, innovation plans, rate design, performance-based regulation, DER interconnection, transportation electrification, building and industry electrification, net-zero carbon fuels (including hydrogen and renewable natural gas), and just transition for fossil power plant host communities. In addition, this position will collaborate with our teams working on RTO market rules, transmission planning, and siting of energy infrastructure.

Geographically, GPI’s utility and regulatory innovation work is national in scope. We have current or recent work with utilities or commissions in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin. We see opportunities to strategically grow our work both geographically and topically. The ideal candidate will exhibit the ability to support this growth.

We are seeking an individual who brings two areas of expertise that are critical to our work: experience and familiarity with utility regulation and innovation, and experience and expertise with convening, facilitation, and engagement process design. In particular, this position will provide strategic guidance to existing staff on both utility and regulatory substantial issues, and on process design, given GPI’s unique role as a convener and facilitator for stakeholder engagement processes. 

Much of this work involves convening and facilitating stakeholder groups made up of organizations and individuals with diverse perspectives. GPI does this work as a convener, facilitator, and advisor. Candidates for this position must have the ability to work and partner with a variety of individuals and organizations that may have different perspectives from the candidate. This position will also provide strategic advising to GPI’s stakeholder groups, clients, and partners, as well as to the Energy System program area internally.

In addition to the qualifications described above, the ideal candidate will have excellent staff and budget management skills, as well as interpersonal relationship skills that will support working with a variety of people on challenging issues. Applicants should have experience facilitating meetings of multiple sizes, experience managing projects and people, and strong written and oral communication skills.

The ideal candidate should also have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, maintain a realistic balance among multiple priorities, use effective methods for time management and prioritization of tasks, maintain organization and attention to detail, and possess the ability to identify and address urgent and important needs in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. 

JOB DUTIES:

Programmatic Leadership

1. Serve as the organizational lead for GPI’s utility and regulatory innovation work, including strategic planning to grow the body of work and providing thought leadership to advance GPI’s mission.
2. Provide experience-based expertise in designing and implementing multi-meeting stakeholder engagement processes to develop consensus policy recommendations.
3. Assist utility regulatory commissions and utilities with designing and implementing stakeholder engagement proceedings to solicit input on complex regulatory issues or filings. These proceedings may include meetings, public comment periods, surveys, and other channels for soliciting input.
4. Serve as the lead facilitator or co-facilitator for meetings of many different sizes and formats, from small team planning meetings, to medium-sized workgroup meetings, to large public meetings or forums.
5. Ensure high-quality meeting production by working collaboratively with team members to develop meeting agendas, pre-read documents, slide decks, meeting summaries, and comprehensive process summaries.
6. Identify and recruit subject matter experts to present information in meetings to build the collective understanding of all participants and support robust, informed discussions.
7. Work with partners to independently develop and convene stakeholder engagement processes that are seeking to address utility regulatory issues towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector while addressing affordability, reliability, safety, and equity.
8. Collaborate with partners and/or subcontractors that will complete technical analyses needed to inform stakeholder discussions, such as long-term decarbonization scenario planning.
9. Work with staff and collaborate with GPI’s communications team to put out nuanced, fact-based thought leadership through multiple communications venues, including blogs, white papers, reports, and webinars.
10. Collaborate with GPI’s communities program to support constructive local government engagement in PUC proceedings.

Supervising and supporting:

1. Supervise, support, and guide the development of a team of staff members working on projects that fall under the focus of this position and support those staff members to succeed in their work and advance in their career.
2. Support all team members with advancing the Energy System’s programmatic work and ensuring the success of the program and of GPI as a whole.

Strategic Advising

1. Provide strategic advising to external clients, partners, and stakeholder groups in a manner that supports those individuals and groups to make informed decisions with a nuanced understanding of the relevant policy context and trade-offs.
2. Provide similar strategic advising to GPI staff and contractors to help guide GPI’s work.
3. Maintain knowledge about a variety of energy system decarbonization issues throughout the states that GPI is working in. Topics of interest include integrated resource planning, integrated distribution planning, innovation plans, rate design, performance-based regulation, DER interconnection, transportation electrification, building and industry electrification, net-zero carbon fuels (including hydrogen and renewable natural gas), and just transition for fossil power plant host communities
4. Maintain existing and develop new partnerships with organizations working in the energy system decarbonization space to enable GPI to partner with others where such a partnership would be of benefit.

Project development, fundraising, budget management: 

1. Develop, maintain, and grow relationships with philanthropic and fee-for-service funders of GPI’s utility and regulatory innovation work.
2. Lead and oversee the development of proposals to philanthropic funders to support the program’s utility and regulatory innovation work.
3. Lead and oversee the development of responses to requests-for-proposals from regulatory commissions, state agencies, and others seeking assistance with implementing stakeholder engagement proceedings or soliciting input from parties on complex topics.
4. Lead and oversee the development of proposals to assist utilities with designing and implementing stakeholder engagement processes to inform the development of major regulatory filings that will impact the utility’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
5. Collaborate with other program team members, other teams across GPI, and external partners on developing new work that aligns to GPI’s mission and strategic priorities.
6. Collaborate with GPI staff to oversee and manage budgets for multiple projects, including both grants and contracts.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s Degree in a relevant field of study
• Prior experience (10+ years) working on electric or gas utility and regulatory innovation
• Prior experience (10+ years) designing stakeholder engagement processes to achieve a set of stated goals or outcomes
• Experience with philanthropic and/or fee-for-service fundraising and managing budgets
• Experience supervising staff members and supporting them to succeed
• Experience facilitating meetings of many different sizes and formats
• Experience working with people from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of political perspectives
• Experience developing and maintaining relationships
• Experience working with different communication styles
• Experience working on a diverse team
• Self-motivated
• Excellent time, deadline, and project management skills with ability to multi-task
• Problem solving skills: ability to identify solutions to challenges that arise 
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint)
• Commitment to the mission and goals of the Great Plains Institute
• Willingness to travel

The Great Plains Institute is committed to building a diverse staff and strongly encourages candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

EQUIPMENT USED:

This position involves use of a desktop computer and/or laptop, copier, fax machine, calculator, printer, and telephone.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENT:

This position requires working at a desk (either sitting or standing) for extended periods and extensive use of devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse), as well as usage of telephone/headset. 

HOW TO APPLY:  

Apply online. Required application materials include a resume and one-page cover letter. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. 

The Great Plains Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes a wide diversity of applicants.