Clean Energy Workforce Intern

Job Description

RETI Center is a nonprofit based in Brooklyn with a mission to educate, train, and work with local youth, experts, professionals, and community members to transform our coastal city from one that is driven by fossil fuels to one that balances equity, ecology, and economy. We believe experiential learning and innovative ideas empower all of society to adapt and thrive together.

RETI Center's Local Power Workforce Training Program is a clean energy workforce training program that is a cross-sector collaboration of workforce development experts, community service providers, and the renewable energy industry. RETI is committed to growing the clean energy workforce required for a just transition by training frontline community members and connecting them to green career pathways that provide family-sustaining wages, opportunities for advancement, and climate resiliency.

Local Power Workforce Training Program is part of RETI Center's broader vision to establish a hub for resiliency and clean energy job training in Brooklyn that quickly and effectively trains individuals who are ready to become the workforce of the new green economy. Local Power builds on a pilot solar photovoltaic (PV) installation training program initiated by the RETI Center in 2017 and restarted again in the summer of 2021.

Since then, RETI has successfully trained over 240 people living in disadvantaged communities with hands-on skills training, certifications, and work experience in the renewable energy sector, and this past fall completed our first Building Efficiency and EV battery & storage training.

The Clean Energy Workforce Intern will support the program by assisting with recruitment, scheduling, and providing on-site support during the training sessions that are conducted for six weeks (Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.). They will work with subcontractors, instructors, partners, RETI Center staff and training facilities to provide logistical, operational, and curriculum development support before, during, and after training sessions.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

The Clean Energy Workforce Intern will work closely with the Workforce Training Manager. Responsibilities may include:

• Provide outreach via phone, text, and email to applicants interested in the program.
• Support program recruitment by sharing professional feedback before, during and after recruiting events.
• Assist in maintaining accurate records from recruitment events.
• Support curriculum development and logistics for in-person and virtual workforce training delivery.
• Monitor and support daily class activities.
• Support and communicate with subcontractors, instructors, partners, RETI Staff and training facilities.
• Building out the cohort calendar schedule by confirming times via email and sending calendar invites through Google Calendar. Accuracy and attention to detail are essential.
• Updating and maintaining the cohort calendar schedule.
• Support and update curriculum and data in: Google Workspace (Classroom, Slides, Docs, and Sheets), Airtable and Canva.
• Attending in-person and virtual workforce info sessions, career fairs, meet and greets, training and industry relations events.
• Develop and maintain a database of industry partners, ensuring accurate records and supporting coordination of future programming and events.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to apply for this position, a candidate must be a new hire - not a previous or furloughed employee, contractor, or intern of RETI Center. Additionally, candidates must meet one of the following criteria:

• New York State residents who are members of a Disadvantaged Community and/or Priority Population.
• Individuals who are currently attending or have attended a degree program at a college or university located in New York State within the last 12 months as of the date of the intern application.
• New York State residents attending or who have attended a degree program at a college or university outside of New York State within the last 12 months as of the date of the intern application. New York State residency, with proof of residency such as rental agreement or utility bills, must have been established prior to the start of the internship. Interns moving to the state for an internship do not qualify.

"Disadvantaged Communities" New York's Climate Act recognizes that climate change doesn't affect all communities equally. The Climate Act charged the Climate Justice Working Group (CJWG) with the development of criteria to identify disadvantaged communities to ensure that frontline and otherwise underserved communities benefit from the state's historic transition to cleaner, greener sources of energy, reduced pollution and cleaner air, and economic opportunities. After releasing draft disadvantaged communities criteria and hosting a 120-day public comment period for New Yorkers to provide feedback on the draft, the CJWG voted to approve and adopt the final disadvantaged communities criteria on March 27, 2023. An interactive map and associated resources are available online: https://climate.ny.gov/Resources/Disadvantaged-Communities-Criteria.

"Priority populations" include:

• Veterans; Individuals with disabilities;
• Low-income individuals, whose household's total income is below or at 60% of the State Median Income, or whose household has been determined eligible for or is receiving assistance through the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or other human service benefit programs;
• Incumbent or unemployed fossil fuel workers;
• Previously incarcerated individuals;
• 16- to 24-year-olds who are enrolled in or have completed a comprehensive work preparedness training program such as those offered by Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), technical high schools, Conservation Corps, YouthBuild, and AmeriCorps. The training program must include a combination of rigorous clean energy education with hands-on technical training. Eligibility of work preparedness programs under this category will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Qualifications and Skill Development

We seek an early-career professional interested in pursuing a future in the clean energy or workforce development industry. Qualifications of interest are listed below and may be demonstrated through educational and lived experience and any relevant professional experience.

• Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills
• Effective team member and collaborator
• Strong problem-solving skills and can work through issues autonomously but knows when to seek support from teammates
• A detail-oriented and self-motivated achiever with the ability to handle multiple priorities and deadlines
• Enthusiasm and passion for the renewable energy industry, sustainability, environmental justice, climate adaptation, resilience, and social justice
• Graduates of the RETI Center Local Power Workforce Training Program are strongly encouraged to apply
• Basic knowledge of, or willingness to learn:
• Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Google Workspace (Classroom, Drive, Docs, Forms, Sheets and Gmail)
• Dropbox, Airtable, Zoom, Adobe Creative Suite, Canva

Compensation and Terms

This is a grant-funded position with a maximum of 480 hours, within a maximum 12-month duration. Applicants should be available for a 6-8 month period working full-time during our intensive 6-week training cycle (4 times per year) with flexibility between training cycles. Outside of training cycles, interns are expected to work an average of 20-30 hours per week.

RETI is open to designing a schedule that fits the right candidate. For example:

• A full-time intern may work 30 hours per week for up to 16 weeks, or
• A part-time intern may work 20 hours per week for up to 24 weeks.

Please indicate any preferences around weekly time commitment in your cover letter.

Most working hours will take place Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., with occasional weeknight and weekend time for community events.

The position is hybrid remote and in-person, with most in-person hours occurring during training cycles and at locations throughout New York City.

Salary: $20.00 per hour

Start Date

As soon as a qualified candidate is selected

To Apply

Please send your cover letter and resume in PDF format to [email protected]. Please include "Clean Energy Workforce Intern" - [YOUR NAME] as your subject line.

RETI Center is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to hire candidates that reflect the cultural diversity of our community. We welcome and encourage qualified candidates from all national, religious, racial and ethnic backgrounds.