Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives & Finance.

State of Colorado; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental plans

RTD pass

401K and 457 plans

Paid leave and holidays

Job summary

State of Colorado, Department of Energy, seeks an Associate Director to lead the Strategic Initiatives and Finance (SIFI) team. You will support the Senior Director, manage budgets, shape program strategy, and supervise 1–2 staff while coordinating with Building Decarbonization and Policy teams.

You will partner with external stakeholders to advance decarbonization and clean energy finance initiatives, while ensuring program excellence and impact across multiple portfolios.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years relevant work experience with three years in staff management.
• Experience in cleantech, decarbonization, energy efficiency, sustainability or related fields.
• Proven program and grant management experience.
• Strong ability to deliver clear, concise messages and build relationships.
• Collaborative, detail-oriented and results-driven leadership style.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop SIFI staff, including performance planning and growth opportunities.
• Coordinate across CEO teams to achieve program goals and strategic objectives.
• Oversee budget planning, monitoring, and fiduciary responsibilities for portfolios.
• Build strategic alliances with private sector, utilities, and research institutions.
• Own day-to-day operations for selected programs including governance activities.

Skills

Leadership

Budget management

Stakeholder engagement

Program and grant management

Strategic planning

Collaboration

Attention to detail

Communication

Job description

Department Information

This mission of the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and consumer energy costs by advancing clean energy, energy efficiency and zero emission vehicles to benefit all Coloradans. The Colorado Energy Office is a great place to work, with collaborative and talented employees who are passionate about our mission and a flexible hybrid (work from home/work from office) atmosphere. Employees report high satisfaction with their work, their colleagues and manager, and CEO leadership. Join us!

Department Information

This mission of the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and consumer energy costs by advancing clean energy, energy efficiency and zero emission vehicles to benefit all Coloradans. The Colorado Energy Office is a great place to work, with collaborative and talented employees who are passionate about our mission and a flexible hybrid (work from home/work from office) atmosphere. Employees report high satisfaction with their work, their colleagues and manager, and CEO leadership. Join us!

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services.

Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities. The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness. The State is resolute in non-discriminatory practices in everything we do, including hiring, employment, and advancement opportunities. Governor’s Office staff should demonstrate a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) in the workplace to fulfill the promise of a Colorado For All. Staff are expected to participate in learning opportunities and training to increase their knowledge around EDIA, have a growth mindset, and embed new learnings and skills into daily business practices. Creating inaccessible digital content such as web pages, emails, presentations, or documents leaves the state open to fines up to $3,500 based on the language in House Bill 21-110. Staff should strive to make all digital content accessible using provided accessibility resources.

Description Of Job

Starting Salary: $95,014.40 - $120,016.00 Annually

• This position is eligible for a hybrid working arrangement. Hybrid positions are expected to be present at the office location for no less than one day per work week.

Description Of Role

The Strategic Initiatives and Finance (SIFI) team supports decarbonization and clean technology adoption through funding and technical assistance programs. Using data-driven decision-making to maximize efficiency and impact, SIFI focuses on key areas including geothermal, industrial decarbonization, microgrids, carbon management, hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuels, methane, and clean energy financing portfolios (such as C-PACE, EE RLF, green bank initiatives, and revolving loan funds). CEO is currently seeking an Associate Director (AD) to join the SIFI team. The Associate Director will serve as a key leader and thought partner to the Senior Director, supporting staff management, strategic planning, budgeting, and cross-unit collaboration. Additionally, the AD will act as an individual contributor overseeing select market areas or finance portfolios and direct management of one or two SIFI staff members. Ideal candidates should possess expertise in SIFI focus areas, clean energy finance, or market commercialization pathways. The candidate will have a compassionate leadership style, solution-oriented approach, strong attention to detail, planning and budgeting experience, and active listening skills. The candidate should be passionate about addressing the most challenging climate and energy issues and using Colorado as a proving ground for scaling climate solutions.

General Duties And Responsibilities

Leadership, Supervisory Role

• Coach, mentor, and develop SIFI team members, including leading performance planning and providing professional growth opportunities for 1-2 staff.
• Empower staff to take responsibility for their programs and goals.
• Set clear expectations, build trust, encourage regular feedback, and provide leadership to the entire team.
• Help lead hiring, onboarding, and training efforts for new team members.
• Coordinate across CEO teams to accomplish program goals and objectives, with close coordination with the Building Decarbonization team and Policy teams.
• Work with the Senior Director to provide program direction and multi-year program strategy.
• Create work plans for SIFI staff that includes program vision, key milestones, long term and interim goals, market gap analysis, and opportunities for program growth and evolution.
• Positively represent CEO at interagency meetings, at legislative hearings or other public facing events where information, data or process may need to be publicly presented.
• Support meetings, develop agendas, schedule retreats, identify training opportunities, and provide general project management.
• Meet regularly with other Associate Directors to ensure program alignment and awareness.

Strategic Planning, Budget Management and Oversight

• Work with the Senior Director to create long term sustainable funding models for SIFI programs.
• Help lead new strategic initiatives from concept through launch, including scoping market gaps, designing program and financing structures, building partner and stakeholder support, identifying funding sources, and setting up implementation.
• Support team’s activities on Salesforce and/or other platforms.
• Work with Senior Director to lead annual strategic planning efforts, including funding requests, work plans and strategies, reporting, and program evaluations.
• Work with Senior Director to oversee and monitor SIFI’s $50M+ team budget and provide close coordination with CEO Budgeting staff.

Building Relationships

• Build strategic alliances and partnerships with diverse stakeholders to overcome challenges and advance shared goals, with emphasis on the private sector, utilities, think tanks, universities, and research institutes.
• Help lead a long term collaboration with market development institutions such as the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), the Collaborative Clean Energy Fund (CCEF), and local economic development organizations.
• Work with SIFI team, CEO staff, and other state agencies to coordinate program outreach, marketing, and evaluation.

Program Management

• Own day-to-day operations for a subset (likely one or two) existing SIFI programs, including contractor/vendor management, budget tracking, and the transition of program administration to ensure operational continuity.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for external partners, integrating stakeholder feedback to advance state climate goals and managing key governance activities for owned programs.
• Review and quality-check team work products (memos, contracts, board materials, reports) before they go to leadership or external partners.
• Maintain tracking systems for program budgets, disbursements, and repayments in coordination with CEO Accounting and Operations.
• Manage fiduciary responsibilities, compliance, and reporting for state and federal financial portfolios, ensuring all grant requirements are met.
• Own financial controls for SIFI loan and grant portfolios, including invoice review and approval, contract tracking, reconciliations, and milestone reporting
• Assist in design, launch, and management of the Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit program

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

• Minimum of 5 years relevant work experience with three years managing staff.
• Experience in cleantech, decarbonization, energy efficiency, sustainability or related fields.
  • Good understanding of the industry, its issues, and its players.
• Program and grant management.
  • Experience managing the full program lifecycle from planning and design to procurement and contracting to grant management.
• Strong Message Delivery.
  • Communication skills are clear, concise and creative. Ability to synthesize complex topics into clear and simple messages.
• Collaboration.
  • You don’t have a problem rolling up your sleeves to work on challenges, big or small, with teammates and partners.
• Strong attention to detail.
  • You understand the importance of delivering accurate, high-quality work and are comfortable providing data driven solutions.
• Relationship Builder.
  • You understand the value of strong relationships and are skilled in establishing and maintaining them.
• Skilled team leader.
  • You are organized, demonstrate superb time management, know how to effectively prioritize your and your team’s work, and value helping team members level up.
• Results-focused.
  • You are data-driven and have experience managing budgets.

Preferred Qualifications

• Financial, operational or technical knowledge.
  • Experience or knowledge of clean energy finance programs, energy program operations, or clean technology solutions.

Supplemental Information

The State of Colorado/Office of the Governor offers a generous benefits package including:

• Annual leave accrued at 13.33 hours per month (4 weeks a year)
• Sick leave accrued at 6.66 hours a month (10 days a year)
• 11 paid holidays per year
• Medical and dental plans
• State paid life insurance policy of $50,000
• Choice of 2 retirement plans
• 401K and 457 plans
• State paid Short Term Disability coverage
• Additional optional life and disability plans
• Credit Union Membership
• RTD pass
• Training and professional development

To learn more about State of Colorado benefits visit: https://www.colorado.gov/dhr/benefits

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply. The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer committed to building inclusive, innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them. Therefore, in all aspects of the employment process, we provide employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status (with preference given to military veterans), or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

ADAAA Accommodations

The Office of the Governor is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our ADAAA Staffing Coordinator (the Director of Human Resources) at [e-mail].

Conditions of Employment

Applicants must pass a thorough background check prior to employment.