Senior Principal, Integrated Resource Planning

Are you passionate about working on the cutting edge of decarbonization and electricity sector transformation? Do you enjoy tackling complicated technical problems with robust analysis and thoughtful communication? Do you enjoy confidently defending your analysis and position? If yes, Synapse has a position for you.

Synapse is a consulting company that has been providing rigorous analysis on behalf of public interest clients in the energy and electric sector for more than 25 years. Our work includes robust analysis, well-respected reports, and high-impact expert testimony delivered in hundreds of docketed proceedings across the United States and Canada. Our clients include environmental non-profits, state agencies, utility regulators, federal agencies, consumer advocates and renewable developers.

Synapse is seeking an ambitious energy candidate with strong technical, quantitative, communications, and organizational skills that thrives in an occasionally fast-paced work environment. Candidates should have a commitment to public interest issues such as sustainability, environmental justice, and consumer protection, and a desire to dive into utility resource planning dockets, analyze and develop clean energy portfolios, and review the economics and risk of new clean energy projects as well as legacy fossil fuel power plants.

Candidates should also have a passion for advancing the analysis available to social interest parties in the energy field and have a keen interest in the tools and tech to support decarbonization analysis.

The Senior Principal will manage projects, proposals, teams, project scope, and content related to topics such as resource planning, electricity markets, modeling, energy efficiency, clean energy technologies, legacy fossil-fuel power plants, and other related topic areas. Our clients are passionate about transforming the electricity sector, and we are looking for someone who can bring a technical edge to their passion and commitment to this important work.

Your role will include:

• Leading and managing projects and proposals (including budget, staff, and client management) focused on electric-sector resource planning issues
• Managing and training staff as both a project manager and staff manager
• Serving as a technical advisor on electric-sector resource planning issues
• Conducting electricity system modeling activities using industry-standard production cost and capacity expansion software (such as EnCompass, ReEDS, NEMS, PLEXOS, Strategist, System Optimizer, or PROMOD), as well as in-house custom software tools
• Provide expert witness testimony and testify in litigated utility dockets and proceedings
• Creating, using, and maintaining spreadsheet-based tools and other analytical platforms to analyze energy technologies, programs, and portfolios
• Performing robust analysis that meets Synapse’s high quality control standards
• Assessing utility company modeling approaches, scenario definitions, input assumptions and related parameterization
• Working collaboratively with team members to refine analyses and develop reports and testimony
• Clearly and succinctly summarizing complex technical concepts to clients, regulators, and public audiences through testimony, papers, presentations, and meetings
• Utilizing techniques to defend analysis and refute opposing viewpoints and analysis
• Managing and prioritizing multiple projects and work streams simultaneously

• Degree in Economics, Energy and Environmental Policy, Physical Sciences, Engineering, or related field
• Master’s degree and/or PhD with 10+ years of industry experience
• 5+ years of project and budget management experience in a consulting position or similar role
• 2+ years in a company management or leadership role
• Passion for playing with energy data for mission-based purposes
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to coordinate across different teams
• Ability to multitask and prioritize critical tasks and conflicting requirements under tight deadlines
• Ability to scope and execute spreadsheet analysis, develop spreadsheet models, and produce client-ready deliverables to communicate the…