Policy and Operations Manager
$100,000–$140,000 year
On-siteWashington, District of Columbia, United States or Washington, United States
Job Summary
Own discrete special projects end to end, from scope and planning to final delivery, managing contributors and tight timelines for permit applications, regulatory filings, and stakeholder engagement plans. Track and analyze federal, state, and international legislative activity relevant to geothermal and offshore energy to flag critical impacts on project schedules. Draft and edit policy materials including memos, comment letters, and testimony while supporting permitting and environmental review processes for demonstration and commercial projects. Build the internal source of truth for permitting status, agency touchpoints, and regulatory deadlines, coordinating across engineering, legal, and commercial teams to assemble technical records. Manage outside consultants and counsel, preparing Directors for engagements with agency officials, congressional staff, and community stakeholders. Represent the company in Washington when needed and travel to Seattle and deployment sites to speak with technology firsthand.
Required Qualifications
- 2+ years of experience in policy, government affairs, environmental permitting, regulatory affairs, or program management
- Based in the Washington, DC area, with the ability to be in and around the agencies and the Hill in person
- Working knowledge of federal environmental review and permitting: NEPA plus at least one of the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Clean Water Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Magnuson Stevens Act, Rivers and Harbors Act, or state coastal zone management programs
- Demonstrated track record running projects with multiple contributors to a hard external deadline, including work you did not personally control
- Clear, direct writing under deadline pressure, with examples of concise material prepared for policymakers, regulators, or senior leaders; shows mastery of AI as a tool, but not as a thought
- Ability to absorb unfamiliar technical material quickly and represent it accurately to a non-technical audience
- Comfort operating with ambiguity, incomplete data, and short timelines, and a strong bias toward action
- Sound judgment and discretion handling sensitive commercial, regulatory, and pre-decisional information
- Bachelor's degree in public policy, political science, environmental policy or science, law, marine affairs, or a related field
- Willingness to travel roughly 15–25% between Seattle, and deployment sites
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with offshore or ocean regulatory frameworks and the agencies that administer them: Marine Minerals Administration, NOAA/NMFS, USACE, EPA, or state coastal commissions
- Experience permitting first-of-a-kind, pre-commercial, or demonstration-scale energy infrastructure, where standard templates do not yet apply
- Familiarity with geothermal, offshore wind, marine energy, or subsea operations
- Hill, appropriations, or authorizing-committee experience, or familiarity with DOE, ARPA-E, the Energy Dominance Fund, or FERC
- Exposure to international permitting or regulatory regimes in geothermal-relevant jurisdictions such as Iceland or Japan
- Experience managing environmental consultants or preparing agency-facing technical documentation
- Advanced degree in law, public policy, environmental policy, STEM, or marine affairs
- Experience in an organization with aggressive commercial and operational schedules
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