Top Energy Jobs in 2013

The energy management field is evolving, expanding, and exciting. Do you want to join this exciting industry?

This month, I want to explain some of the most common job types I’ve encountered in seminars I teach throughout North America. For each job, it is important to understand the primary tasks it entails, as well as its pros and cons. Although my perception is based on discussions with attendees, hopefully it represents the overall happenings and opportunities in industry.

There are an endless number of “hybrid” positions available – jobs that are spawned to meet new and different demands. Most of these opportunities are related to specific buildings and assets, so there is little chance of the positions being outsourced to another country.

Traditional energy management skills can be applied in many different jobs at energy-consuming organizations, research operations, or energy service companies (ESCOs). These areas include:

• Facility or Energy Management
• Consulting Engineering or Project Development
• Clean-Tech IndustriesPageBreak

Facility or Energy Management

The primary task is taking responsibility for energy consumption and costs in a facility and trying to optimize or reduce it. Skills required are benchmarking, finding wasteful processes, managing improvement projects, and validating their performance. These positions must also keep abreast of the new solutions available. Continuous improvement is required, but if the job is done well, you will be valued in the organization.

If your organization is large and consumes vast amounts of energy, the energy manager may be responsible for purchasing energy. In that case, understanding the various fuel purchasing options – and switching when appropriate – is a risky but rewarding responsibility.

As with many managerial jobs, the energy manager may oversee the work of several direct reports (energy purchasing, maintenance, engineering, etc.), but the energy manager typically reports to the operations manager.

Sometimes, your skills may seem undervalued because energy consumption is seen as a necessary evil, and your improvement projects can be viewed as discretionary or secondary to other needs – even if your projects have a higher return on investment. Politics can be a part of the job. For example, in large organizations, the energy manager may have to fight for attention within the various sectors of the business just to get simple projects approved. Teamwork and selling your projects are key skills for success.

Salaries are in the $50,000-120,000 range and travel requirements are small for this type of position.PageBreak

Consulting Engineering or Project Development

If you don’t mind travel, there are lucrative jobs within the consulting and ESCO industries. These positions usually exist within a third-party organization that is separate from the one where the energy is being consumed. The primary task for these professionals is to help clients reduce expenses. All of the skills of the energy manager are useful, while sales and presentation skills are even more important. You may have to continually prove your value to the client.

Sometimes these job titles are labeled account executive or sales engineer. The tasks involve hunting for opportunities, qualifying the clients, and preparing proposals. If a performance contract is involved, the account manager must also understand the various legal and financial arrangements that pertain to different types of clients. A new course that offers the best practices of this industry can be found at www.aeeprograms.com.

A high level of both technical and social skills is required to sell a performance contract, and the sales cycle can last over a year. But the position can be rewarded well with compensation over $150,000 per year.

Generally, the consulting engineer is a position that requires a professional engineer (PE) distinction. But in general, as a consultant, you are being paid for your ideas, so you must keep current on the latest technologies and methods.

If you are a project developer, you may have more of a sales role that entails meeting with clients, performing energy audits, and coordinating the ESCO’s resources to develop and present a project proposal.

Once a project is sold and moves to the execution phase, there are many jobs involved with installation. As a project manager, your role is to oversee projects through completion. You are accountable for timelines and budgets. A project manager position can be high-pressure at times, but the job is relatively stable.