Description

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.

• Managing and training staff as both a project manager and staff manager
• 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
• Working collaboratively with team members to refine analyses and develop reports and testimony
• Leading and managing projects and proposals (including budget, staff, and client management) focused on electric-sector resource planning issues
• 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
• Managing and prioritizing multiple projects and workstreams simultaneously
• Utilizing techniques to defend analysis and refute opposing viewpoints and analysis
• Performing robust analysis that meets Synapse’s high quality control standards
• Serving as a technical advisor on electric-sector resource planning issues
• Assessing utility company modeling approaches, scenario definitions, input assumptions and related parameterization

Requirements

We are looking for a candidate to start working in early 2025 in our Cambridge, Massachusetts office. We highly prefer candidates local to the greater Boston/Cambridge area, we will consider candidates out of state. Candidates should plan on occasional travel to present testimony in regulatory proceedings.

Working at Synapse

We are unable to sponsor work visas for this position. Authorization to work in the United States is required to be considered.

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 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.

• Clearly and succinctly summarizing complex technical concepts to clients, regulators, and public audiences through testimony, papers, presentations, and meetings
• Degree in Economics, Energy and Environmental Policy, Physical Sciences, Engineering, or related field
• Expert witness testimony experience: ability to develop persuasive arguments for testimony and reports based on analysis of quantitative and qualitative evidence
• 5+ years of project and budget management experience in a consulting position or similar role
• 2+ years in a company management or leadership role
• Project management and budget management experience in a consulting position or in a similar role
• Master’s degree and/or PhD with 10+ years of industry experience
• Experience running utility planning software or other similar input-output models
• 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 results.
• Ability to manage and train staff, and effectively delegate work across a team
• State, federal, or provincial electric utility regulatory experience preferred
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to coordinate across different teams

Benefits

You don't have to satisfy every requirement or meet every qualification listed above. If your skills are transferable and you are near the number of years of experience we are looking for, please apply. Applying gives you the opportunity to be considered.

Synapse prides itself on its flexible and collaborative working environment. Many staff work in-person in our Cambridge, Massachusetts office, while others are hybrid or fully virtual across the country. Synapse currently supports a hybrid work environment so our staff can find the right mix of support, collaboration, and flexibility. While we prefer employees located locally so we can nurture this environment, we will consider remote candidates where such an arrangement is compatible with our clients’ work.

Senior Principal base salary range is $120,000-$180,000 annually, based on a full-time schedule. Our base salary range does not include profit-sharing bonuses. Actual salaries will vary based on various factors including, but not limited to location, experience, and performance. Synapse offers competitive market salaries, based on our primary market of nonprofits and government agencies. Our salaries reflect our work for these public interest clients.

• Cambridge, MA office space with sit-stand desks, lots of meeting space, indoor bike parking, and plenty of nitro cold-brew and kombucha on tap
• Generous and flexible PTO (35 days)
• Extensive professional development opportunities
• 401K plan; Synapse makes a safe harbor contribution of 3% salary
• Flexible work hours and holidays, and the ability to choose a schedule that works for you
• Profit-sharing bonuses
• Work-life balance benefit: at the end of the year, salaried employees are compensated for every hour worked over their standard full-time work schedule
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• Employee Assistance Program

Training + Development

Interview process

Visa Sponsorship

Security clearance