SOPEC Executive Director

Overview:

The Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council (SOPEC) is accepting applications for the position of Executive Director. SOPEC is a public service organization headquartered in Athens, Ohio, that was established in 2014 to provide Southeast Ohio governments with shared administrative, financial, and legal services required for public energy programs. Within SOPEC, the Executive Director serves as senior staff to the Board of Directors and is responsible for planning, organizing, and implementing all programs and projects under their directives. Candidates for Executive Director should hold strong managerial and financial skills, and should also be familiar with the energy and utility industries, principles and practices of government administration and auditing, or local elections and issue campaigns. Compensation for the Executive Director includes an annual salary between $60,000 – $70,000, as well as healthcare and retirement benefits.

Application:

The deadline for applications is March 31, 2019. Applications are submitted online through Indeed.com, and can be found by visiting the Employment page under About SOPEC at www.sopec-oh.gov. Qualified candidates will be contacted for phone interviews during the first week of April, and finalists will be contacted the following week for in-person interviews. For questions or more information about submitting applications, contact the staff of the Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council (SOPEC) at 740-597-7955.

Position Title:

Executive Director

Classification:

Full-time, exempt

Position Summary:

Senior level manager reporting to the Board of Directors of the Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council (SOPEC). Responsible for the overall planning, organizing, and implementation of all SOPEC programs and projects; ensuring compliance with federal and state statutory and regulatory requirements; measuring program performance and recommending new program designs to the SOPEC General Assembly for consideration; coordinating budget development, accounting procedures, and financial reporting requirements; evaluating and negotiation energy supply contracts with certified retail energy suppliers; planning and implementing public information campaigns related to energy aggregation and other public programs; planning and implementing marketing campaigns to promote programming; conducting stakeholder outreach among member and non-member communities across the Southeast Ohio region.

Position Duties:

• Plans, coordinates, and administers approved policies and programs of SOPEC; recommends policy to the SOPEC General Assembly and maintains and enforces SOPEC policies and procedures; manages projects and contracts entered into by SOPEC.
• Assists in the development, review, and negotiation of electric and natural gas supply agreements to achieve specific energy aggregation programming goals as directed by the SOPEC Board of Directors.
• Serves as the chief spokesperson for the organization and as the point of contact for suppliers, regulatory agencies, members communities, customers, and the general public.
• Serves as staff to the SOPEC Board of Directors and to the SOPEC General Assembly and its subcommittees as directed by the Chair of the Board; assists the Chair of the Board in developing agendas, scheduling meetings and informing the public and the media of meetings.

• Performs managerial responsibilities, including coordinating operational activities among partner organizations, as well as delegating internal responsibilities and providing direction to staff and independent contractors.

• Assists in development of the SOPEC strategic plan and develops strategic partnerships between SOPEC operations and local public and private organizations.
• Serves as the liaison between SOPEC and the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) for developing programming and project partnerships.
• Collects, analyzes, and summarizes program and operational data and manages the preparation of all monthly, quarterly, and annual reports as directed by the SOPEC Board of Directors.
• Plans marketing activities and promotion campaigns for the SOPEC organization, including the development of print, digital, web, and social media content.
• Plans and implements public information campaigns to educate voters about energy aggregation and other public energy programs.
• Plans and implements an outreach campaign among local elected leaders and stakeholders throughout the Southeast Ohio region.
• Assists in the research and development of utility-scale regional energy projects.
• Performs related duties as required or assigned.

 

Education and Experience:

Any combination of education and experience equivalent to a master’s degree in business or public administration or related field, and five years of responsible experience in electric or natural gas aggregation administration, or five years of responsible experience in electric or natural gas utility management.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Knowledge of applicable federal, state, and local laws pertaining to deregulated utility aggregation programs.
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of governmental administration, reporting, and auditing.
• Knowledge of standard business software applications for use in preparing documents, analyzing data, and maintaining databases.
• Knowledge of local government, including the local legislative process of municipal, township, and county governments, as well as local elections, issue campaigns, and the filing process and deadlines for placing local issues on the ballot.
• Knowledge of basic ratemaking principles used for regulating energy utilities rates, such as the revenue requirement and reconciliation.
• Knowledge of energy procurement auctions and scheduling used for regulated energy supply offers, such as the Competitive Bidding Process and the Retail Price Adjustment auction.
• Knowledge of standard and open access distribution tariffs for residential and commercial customers, as well as PIPP, budget billing, net metering, and mercantile customer classifications.
• Knowledge of the PJM markets, including the Day-Ahead, Real-Time, and RPM markets, as well as ancillary services and other RTO functions.
• Knowledge of derivatives in forward energy markets, including futures, options, and swaps, and the use of these financial instruments as hedging and risk reduction strategies for energy programs.
• Knowledge of Renewable Energy Credit (REC) markets, including solar and wind RECs, as well as Ohio’s Renewable Portfolio Standard.
• Knowledge of the finance of utility-scale and behind-the-meter renewable energy systems, including power purchase agreements, investment tax credits, accelerated depreciation, federal and state grant opportunities, and various project finance structures.
• Knowledge of the finance of energy efficiency and weatherization projects, including federal- and state-funded programs, traditional lending, and Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing.
• Ability to apply basic statistical techniques used for weather-normalizing energy usage, such as degree-day regression.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences (especially when dealing with complex energy, administrative, and financial data) orally, in writing, and by using presentation software.
• Ability to work independently with minimal daily supervision.
• Ability to initiate research and analysis into administrative, fiscal, and customer service issues.
• Ability to exercise strong judgement in analyzing, appraising, evaluating and solving problems of a difficult procedural, organizational, and administrative or technical nature.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of private and public sector personnel, including appointed and elected officials.
• Ability to develop and manage organizational budgets.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and to motivate professional staff in an atmosphere of leadership and mentoring.

 

Difficulty of Work:

Work involves highly complex detailed financial data and information, working with a variety of tasks, requiring the application of many established rules, regulations, laws, and procedures. Incumbent must be able to analyze a vast amount of financial data, while ensuring adherence to federal and state law and professional standards and codes of conduct.

Responsibility:

Incumbent reports to the SOPEC Board of Directors. Highly responsible, senior management position with considerable independence requiring a significant amount of judgement and sensitivity to all programmatic, administrative, and fiscal issues facing the organization.

Personal Work Relationships:

Incumbent has daily contact with co-workers in the agency, elected and appointed officials, private and public sector employees, and the general public. The purpose of these contacts is to provide electric and natural gas program information and assistance and to ensure compliance with policies, procedures, laws, and regulations.

Working Conditions:

Work is performed in a normal office setting. Work is also performed at local government meetings across Southeast Ohio, and a significant amount of driving and travel time may be required.

Compensation:

This full-time position will be compensated commensurate with experience using a pay range of $60,000 to $70,000. The position also receives healthcare and retirement benefits.

APPLY BY MARCH 31: https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Southeast-Ohio-Public-Energy-Council-(SOPEC)/jobs/Executive-Director-042c53572cab961c?q=executive+director&vjs=3