Application Guide
How to Apply for Director - Expanding Wholesale Markets, MISO/SPP
at Advanced Energy Economy
🏢 About Advanced Energy Economy
Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) is a national business association uniquely focused on accelerating the transition to 100% clean energy through market-based solutions and policy advocacy. Unlike other clean energy groups, AEE represents the business voice in regulatory proceedings, making it an influential player in shaping wholesale electricity markets. Working here offers the chance to drive systemic change from within the industry's most critical rulemaking processes.
About This Role
As Director of Expanding Wholesale Markets for MISO/SPP, you will lead AEE's engagement in two of the nation's largest RTOs to remove barriers for advanced energy technologies like solar, wind, storage, and demand response. Your work will directly shape market rules, capacity constructs, and transmission planning to enable faster, cheaper clean energy deployment. This role is high-impact because MISO and SPP are pivotal regions for renewable growth and grid transformation.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might start with a stakeholder call for the SPP Markets and Operations Policy Committee, followed by drafting comments on MISO's proposed changes to the capacity auction. After lunch, you could mentor a junior analyst on a FERC filing strategy, then join a coalition call with renewable developers and environmental groups to align positions on transmission cost allocation. The day might end with reviewing the team's weekly advocacy tracker and preparing talking points for an upcoming board meeting.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Advanced Energy Economy Is Looking For
- A seasoned energy regulatory professional with 7-10+ years of experience in RTO/ISO stakeholder processes, ideally with direct MISO or SPP exposure, who understands the nuances of capacity markets, resource adequacy, and FERC-jurisdictional issues.
- A strategic advocate who can develop and execute advocacy plans, build coalitions with diverse stakeholders (utilities, generators, consumer groups), and influence outcomes through written comments, testimony, and verbal persuasion.
- A confident people leader with proven experience managing and mentoring a small team, able to delegate effectively while maintaining high-quality work under tight deadlines.
- An exceptional communicator with a track record of drafting clear, persuasive regulatory filings and public comments, comfortable distilling complex technical concepts for policy and business audiences.
📝 Tips for Applying to Advanced Energy Economy
Tailor your resume to highlight specific MISO or SPP stakeholder committee participation (e.g., Markets & Reliability Committee, Supply Adequacy Working Group) and any successful market reforms you've helped advance.
In your cover letter, name-drop specific AEE initiatives or recent filings in MISO/SPP (e.g., their comments on MISO's Resource Adequacy construct or SPP's Markets+ development) to show you've done your homework.
Quantify your advocacy impact: e.g., 'Led a coalition that secured a 500 MW increase in the MISO capacity auction demand curve for energy storage.'
If you lack direct MISO/SPP experience, emphasize deep FERC regulatory knowledge and transferable skills from other RTOs (e.g., PJM, CAISO) and your ability to quickly learn new stakeholder dynamics.
Prepare a writing sample that demonstrates your ability to craft persuasive regulatory arguments—preferably a comment or testimony on a market design issue.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your specific experience with RTO stakeholder processes, particularly in MISO or SPP, and your understanding of the region's unique market challenges (e.g., SPP's energy imbalance service, MISO's renewable integration).", "Your leadership philosophy and how you've successfully managed and mentored a team to achieve advocacy outcomes.", "Your alignment with AEE's mission to accelerate clean energy through markets, and how your personal values drive your work.", 'Your ability to build consensus among diverse stakeholders, citing a specific example where you navigated conflicting interests to achieve a policy win.']
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Read AEE's recent comments and filings in MISO and SPP dockets (available on their website or FERC eLibrary) to understand their current positions and strategic focus.
- → Study the key market design debates in MISO (e.g., seasonal capacity construct, generator interconnection queue reform) and SPP (e.g., Markets+ expansion, Integrated Transmission Planning).
- → Review AEE's annual 'Advanced Energy Now' market reports to understand the business case for clean energy in the MISO/SPP region.
- → Familiarize yourself with AEE's state-level work in MISO/SPP states (e.g., Illinois, Michigan, Kansas) to see how wholesale market advocacy connects with state policy.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Submitting a generic application that doesn't mention MISO, SPP, or specific FERC orders—this signals lack of genuine interest or preparation.
- Overemphasizing technical engineering skills without demonstrating advocacy, writing, or stakeholder management experience—this role is about policy and persuasion, not just grid operations.
- Failing to provide examples of team leadership or mentorship—the job description explicitly requires managing and training a team.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Advanced Energy Economy!