How to apply for Director, Regulatory

About Mainspring Energy

Mainspring Energy builds fuel-flexible linear generators for local power. The company shipped its first commercial units in 2020 and now has hundreds of megawatts in development with Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Partners include AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, and Schneider Electric.

About the role

This director-level role reports to the General Counsel and owns the company's regulatory strategy on environmental, energy, and utility matters. You will shape policy engagement, market access, and compliance as Mainspring scales its generator deployments. The job partners with Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Commercial, Project Development, Finance, and Government Affairs.

A typical day

A typical day could include reviewing a state utility commission docket that affects a customer project, meeting with engineering on emissions or interconnection questions, and briefing the General Counsel on regulatory risk. You might also coordinate with Government Affairs on policy engagement and with Commercial on market access for a new territory. The exact rhythm of the role is not described in the posting, so ask about team structure and weekly priorities in interviews.

Who Mainspring Energy is looking for

• A J.D. with experience practicing or advising on energy, utility, or environmental law.
• Someone who has handled regulatory strategy for hardware or infrastructure that connects to the grid, such as generation, storage, or distributed energy resources.
• A professional comfortable working across engineering, manufacturing, and commercial teams, not just inside a legal department.
• A candidate who can translate regulatory risk into concrete input for product, project development, and market entry decisions.

Tips for this application

• Name specific regulations or proceedings you have worked on, such as FERC interconnection rules, state public utility commission dockets, or air quality permitting for generation equipment.
• Reference Mainspring's linear generator technology and its fuel flexibility in your materials. Show you understand why a non-combustion, low-emissions generator faces different regulatory questions than a turbine or engine.
• Highlight any work with utilities, data centers, or Fortune 500 customers, since those are the company's stated customer segments.
• Address the reporting line to the General Counsel. Explain how you have partnered with a GC or legal leadership while still driving strategy yourself.
• Keep the cover letter focused on regulatory strategy and market access. Do not turn it into a general legal resume.

What to cover in your cover letter

Explain your direct experience with energy, utility, or environmental regulation and which specific proceedings or rules you have handled. Describe how you have built regulatory strategy that supported a product launch, market entry, or grid interconnection. Show how you have worked with engineering and commercial teams to manage compliance risk. State why Mainspring's linear generator and its partner list match your background.

Research before applying

• Read Mainspring's materials on the linear generator, including how it differs from combustion turbines and engines, and what fuels it can use.
• Look up the company's announced partnerships with AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, and Schneider Electric, and understand what each partnership covers.
• Research the regulatory landscape for distributed generation in the states where Mainspring has projects or customers, including interconnection and emissions rules.
• Check Mainspring's recent news and any regulatory filings or public comments it has made.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How would you build a regulatory strategy for deploying linear generators across multiple states and utility territories?
• Which environmental or energy regulations most affect a fuel-flexible, low-emissions generator, and how would you prioritize them?
• Describe a time you influenced a product or project decision based on regulatory risk. What was the outcome?
• How do you work with government affairs and commercial teams without duplicating their efforts?
• How would you handle a new state or utility rule that blocks or delays a customer deployment?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Submitting a general legal resume without showing specific energy, utility, or environmental regulatory work.
• Ignoring the hardware and grid integration side of the role and treating it as a pure policy or lobbying job.
• Failing to explain how you have worked with engineering, manufacturing, or project development teams, since the job description names those partners directly.