Managing Director, Massachusetts Energy Extension Initiative
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst invites applications for the Managing Director of the Massachusetts Energy Extension Initiative. The successful candidate will also serve as Extension Faculty in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor level. This is a non-tenure track position, calendar year position with an initial one-year contract with the expectation of renewal for an additional two years, contingent on funding and performance. The position is based in the Department of Environmental Conservation with an affiliation with the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment.
The Massachusetts Energy Extension Initiative (MAEEI) was recently launched with initial funding from Massachusetts Department of Energy and Resources to provide innovative outreach, applied research, and consulting service to communities and people of Massachusetts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, accelerate energy efficiency and renewable energy technology development and adoption, and stimulate the growth of economic activity and employment in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency. As a component of the UMass Extension Program, MAEEI works with a broad range of collaborators to lower the barriers – technical, financial, political/social – to the wider deployment, adoption and implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies and practices in Massachusetts. MAEEI performs multiple functions including outreach, public education, research, technology development and transfer, and operating test-beds, pilot projects and demonstration sites.
MAEEI has made a strategic commitment to a multi-disciplinary approach in which academic and applied research and the resulting scholarship is integrated with educational programs, resources, tools or technologies that meet the needs of citizens, communities, organizations, businesses, government agencies, or policy-makers. This position requires leadership and vision to expand and grow the Massachusetts Energy Extension Initiative beyond its initial funding and capability to become a self sustaining program.
Located in the historic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts and established in 1863 under the Morrill Land Grant Act, the University of Massachusetts Amherst is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Research Extensive institution and also one with an exemplary commitment to Community Engagement. Offering a full range of undergraduate and graduate degrees, the 1,200-acre campus serves 18,000 undergraduate students and 6,000 graduate students in a rich cultural environment and rural setting.
The successful candidate must have a track record in a public or private setting related to energy. The Managing Director will focus primarily on outreach, development, program administration, and faculty engagement; however, depending on the candidate, there will also be opportunities for limited teaching and/or research.
The Managing Director is expected to:
- Work closely with the PIs of the initiative to provide effective and innovative outreach and consulting service to communities and people of Massachusetts in the areas of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
- Work with UMass Extension to organize workshops and field days to highlight and extend the research and technology development done under the auspices Energy Extension.
- Develop a plan to communicate key results and outcomes to various stakeholders
- Generate quarterly and annual reports on activities and accomplishments of the Initiative.
- Supervise graduate student assistants who are engaged in MAEEI activities and outreach.
- Coordinate administrative support to the two Post-doc positions created under the Initiative and shared with the Fraunhofer Institute.
- Put forward, promote, and evaluate a series of RFPs for funding faculty research and outreach projects, in coordination with the Advisory Board.
- Work with the PIs, MAEEI faculty and the advisory board to develop a plan to make MAEEI self-sustaining beyond the project duration.
Applicants must have:
1. A Ph.D with two or more years or a Master’s degree with five or more years of experience in a relevant field related to energy; (doctoral degree preferred).
Preferred qualities and characteristics include:
1. Prior experience with policy and technical issues related to energy efficiency and renewable energy.
2. Prior experience in higher education, and/or basic and applied research..
3. Experience in disciplinary or professional roles that cross traditional boundaries between engineering, policy, economics, renewable energy, and environmental areas.
Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a one-page statement of the candidate’s vision of research and educational outreach in energy efficiency and renewable energy within a land grant university, a one-page statement of the candidate’s administrative philosophy, and the names of at least three references. Please submit applications on-line at: http://umass.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=59948. We will begin to review applications on July 1, 2015. We will continue to accept applications until the position is filled. The preferred starting date is September 1, 2015. Applicants can review the Center’s website at www.ag.umass.edu.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer of women, minorities, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities and encourages applications from these and other protected group members. The University seeks to increase the diversity of its professoriate, workforce and undergraduate and graduate student populations because broad diversity is critical to achieving the University’s mission of excellence in education, research, educational access and service in an increasingly diverse globalized society.