The Senior Director, Energy Markets & Grid Integration will lead Highland’s strategy for unlocking the grid value of our growing electric fleet and building the energy capabilities that enable those fleets to operate as distributed grid assets.
This role sits at the intersection of utilities, ISOs/RTOs, regulators, and distributed energy technology partners, translating energy market opportunities into deployable programs that create value for school districts, utilities, and the grid.
This role operates as a general manager for Highland’s energy market initiatives. The Senior Director will not only shape strategy but also lead execution—structuring projects, advancing commercial opportunities, and coordinating across internal teams to bring programs from concept to deployment. Success in this role requires the ability to move fluidly between strategic planning and hands-on execution, pulling together technical, commercial, regulatory, and operational elements to deliver scalable energy projects.
Develop Highland’s Energy Market Strategy
- Lead Highland’s strategy for integrating electric school bus batteries into utility programs, virtual power plants (VPPs), and wholesale electricity markets.
- Identify revenue opportunities across capacity, energy, and ancillary service markets while ensuring reliable fleet operations.
- Support the development of optimization frameworks that align transportation operations with grid services participation.
- Evaluate and prioritize energy market opportunities across ISO/RTO regions, including assessing market rules, DER participation frameworks, and price signals to inform fleet deployment strategy.
- Translate energy market strategy into deployable projects, coordinating cross-functional teams to execute programs from concept to deployment.
Build Utility & Market Partnerships
- Establish strategic partnerships with electric utilities, ISOs/RTOs, aggregators, and grid services providers.
- Structure programs enabling fleet participation in demand response (DR), vehicle-to-grid (V2G), DER aggregation, and grid services markets.
- Leverage utility partnerships to navigate interconnection, inform tariff strategy, and shape program design.
Shape the Regulatory Landscape
- Engage with public utility commissions (PUCs), public power boards, and regulatory stakeholders to expand V2G and distributed energy participation.
- Monitor and influence regulatory proceedings affecting DER aggregation, transportation electrification, and grid services markets.
- Provide technical expertise in regulatory dockets or proceedings where appropriate.
- Support the development of hardware interoperability standards with OEMs, charging providers, and other stakeholders.
Support Strategic Deployment
- Guide fleet deployment toward markets where grid needs, regulatory frameworks, and energy economics support strong V2G participation.
- Lead structuring of commercially viable battery storage and V2G projects, including evaluating technical capabilities, program requirements, and project economics, in partnership with finance, origination, and deployment team.
- Support major initiatives such as Highland’s role in preparing electric fleet infrastructure for LA28 Olympic operations.
Desired Qualifications:
- 10+ years of experience in energy markets, distributed energy resources, utility programs, or grid services.
- Strong understanding of wholesale electricity markets (ISO/RTO structures, ancillary services, capacity markets, etc.).
- Experience working with utilities, ISOs/RTOs, distributed energy resource aggregators, or energy storage developers.
- Experience engaging with public utility commissions or regulatory processes.
Demonstrated ability to translate complex market structures into commercially viable energy programs. - Experience in energy project development, battery storage deployment, or distributed energy resource project structuring.
- Demonstrated ability to set long-term market strategy while personally digging into project economics, contract terms, and technical specs
- Ability to effectively operate cross-functionally, navigating technical, commercial, regulatory, and organizational dynamics to advance complex projects.
- Ability to understand technical system capabilities while navigating complex internal and external stakeholder environments.
- Competitive base salary and performance-based bonus program
- A supportive, highly collaborative, team-oriented environment
- Ability to work with bright, innovative, and forward-thinking colleagues
- Health, Vision, and Dental coverage for employees & their dependents
- Generous Paid Time Off
- 401(k) program and company match
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What We Do
Highland Electric Fleets is the leading provider of Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS) for school districts, governments, and fleet operators in North America. Offering a unique suite of products, Highland makes it simple and affordable for public entities to upgrade their fleets to electric.
