Senior Fellow, Energy and Environmental Policy

R Street Institute

Washington, D.C.

The R Street Institute—a free-market think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. and with regional offices across the country—seeks a collaborative senior fellow to conduct research on leveraging market competition and limited government to advance a cleaner environment and thriving economy. The ideal candidate will have strong electricity policy expertise as well as robust analysis and communication skills. This position reports to the director of the Energy and Environmental policy program. If you want to join a mission-driven organization and work toward pragmatic policy solutions, this could be the right opportunity for you!

Your typical week might include leading the formation or revision of R Street’s electricity policy positions; project-managing R Street’s electricity policy work; monitoring state and federal energy regulatory developments; collaborating with internal scholars on the Energy and Environment team or the Finance, Technology, Cybersecurity, and Governance teams; collaborating with scholars at peer think tanks; briefing governor’s cabinets, congressional offices, state and federal energy and environmental regulators, and state legislators; providing regulatory and legislative testimony; reviewing new scholarship; writing papers, opinion pieces, and regulatory comments; speaking at leading industry conferences (e.g., Future Power Markets Forum); and interfacing with national and state media outlets, including trade press and general press. 

Other Aspects of Your Role
 

• Collaborate with internal and external subject matter experts on research projects 
• Lead credible, high-quality research projects
• Adapt policy, engagement, and communication strategy in a quick-changing legislative and regulatory landscape
• Work with Government Affairs and Communications teams to identify and consistently engage with target audiences
• Write a mix of regulatory comments, policy papers, and short pieces to help solve complex public policy problems 
• Strategize with allied groups and keep up to date with practitioner developments and research on improving competition and consumer choice in electricity policy
• Attend and speak at events and panels
• Remain vigilant against ninja infiltrations

Skills and Qualifications

• No particular educational background required—a proven record of achieving results is far more meaningful than credentials
• Ability to independently evaluate electricity policy and develop pragmatic policy positions consistent with a pro-market, limited government directive
• Deep understanding of competitive electricity market design and operations including Regional Transmission Organization/Independent System Operator (RTO/ISO) wholesale markets and relevant retail choice mechanisms
• Expertise in electricity transmission policy including grid planning, cost allocation, and generator interconnection processes and their effects on market function and efficiency 
• Demonstrated expertise in electricity policy, particularly state utility regulation (e.g., integrated resource planning, rate base mechanisms) and federal matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission related to market rules and transmission tariffs, sufficient to qualify as an expert witness
• Understanding of welfare economics and public policy analysis through a market-failure and government-failure lens 
• Superb critical thinking and strong writing skills
• Demonstrated ability to write complex, technical regulatory comments and papers and provide expert regulatory and legislative testimony 
• Ability to manage projects led by R Street’s part-time electricity subject matter experts 
• Ability to serve effectively in a cross-functional role, working simultaneously with multiple R Street scholars and different organizational units
• Robust communication and interpersonal skills, with a strong team orientation
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to manage competing interests and priorities effectively
• Support for R Street’s passion for free markets and limited, effective government
• A sense of humor and a desire to grow with a multifaceted organization

R Street Institute consistently offers pragmatic, real solutions that foster American innovation, bolster competition, and safeguard individual liberty–all with the understanding that life in a democratic society sometimes requires compromises that don’t necessarily represent first, best solutions. We focus on deep scholarship and pragmatic policy solutions that many groups tend to neglect. Our goal is to publish timely, relevant research and analysis that advances a market-oriented society and limited, effective government. To that end, our motto is “Free Markets. Real Solutions.” Read more about our mission and impact.

Workplace

We offer a flexible working arrangement. This is a full-time position that can either work the majority of the week in our D.C. office or be fully remote. 

Occasional travel will be required for events and conferences.

Compensation, Benefits and Perks

R Street strives to provide a compensation package superior to those at other think tanks and nonprofits The salary range for this position is $150,000 - 170,000 commensurate with experience. In addition to this competitive salary, we provide the following:

• Unlimited paid time off policy, including all federal holidays, the day after Thanksgiving, and two weeks holiday closure in December
• Alternating Fridays off
• A health insurance option entirely paid by the employer (even for families)
• Dental and vision insurance
• 401(k) contributions with up to a 4 percent match
• HSA employer contribution match
• Quarterly wellness reimbursement
• Mobile equipment/mobile plan reimbursement
• Home internet subsidy
• Annual educational and professional development reimbursement
• A choice between child care assistance, pet care assistance, and student loan repayment assistance

At R Street Institute, we strive for preeminence in every area where we engage, driven by our commitment to excellence and innovation. Our culture thrives on action, creativity, and courage, with an unwavering focus on quality, credibility, and impact. We believe progress requires diverse experience and expertise, which is why we champion nontraditional yet prudent approaches to public policy. This principle guides how we build our programs, recognizing that each team member’s uniqueness strengthens our collective identity.

We approach our mission with intellectual rigor, embracing free inquiry and honesty to ensure our work is grounded in solid research and thoughtful analysis. While serious about our purpose, we value the joy of collaboration and the fun that comes from working together. Our collaborative spirit fosters trust and transparency, with respect and openness guiding our actions. We celebrate our individual contributions while recognizing that we are stronger as one team, united in our work and relationships.

Thus, R Street does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, era of military service, gender identity or expression, relationship structure or anything else that’s illegal, immoral or stupid to use as a basis for hiring.

We currently plan to accept applications for this job until filled. We will contact qualified individuals for telephone interviews and conduct them on a rolling basis. Interviews will be held virtually via Zoom. 

To apply, please copy and paste your cover letter into the text box and upload your resume as a Microsoft Word document or PDF. We encourage thoughtful use of AI tools. If you use them, please describe how they contributed to your work.

The R Street Institute stands for free markets, limited, effective government and pragmatic solutions to difficult problems. We envision:

A free society, where public policy begins with freedom as its initial premise and governments exist primarily as guardians of inherent, inalienable rights.

An inclusive society that provides a place, a voice, and equal opportunity for all.

A just society that holds everyone accountable to the same laws.

Our Values

The following values are the principles that guide how R Street fulfills its mission and operates. Our organization believes in these values and we live them:

Always be better

We want to achieve preeminence in every area where we work. We encourage a bias for action, innovation, creativity, and courage in everything that we do. We measure ourselves by the quality, credibility and impact we achieve as a result.

Different is good.

We believe that great minds think differently and building broad coalitions has made us who we are. Making progress on policy requires that we operate outside of the echo chamber and take non-traditional approaches to policy making. We apply this same principle to the way we operate and how we build our teams: with a focus on diversity and inclusion. We are all unique but belong to the same team.

Serious(ly)

We’re serious about our work, but don’t take ourselves too seriously. We believe in the intellectual rigor, free inquiry and honesty, that is required to achieve our mission, but having fun doing it is equally as important.

One Team

We all work together and work with humility. We strive to cultivate trust and transparency at all levels, between ourselves as individuals and as an organization, with our stakeholders, and in our work. We demonstrate respect and openness in our actions at all times. We are all unique but belong to the same team.