Rotational Associate Program - January 2026

Rotational Associate Role Overview

The Rotational Associate role at RMI offers an exciting opportunity for early career professionals to dive into accelerating the global energy transition. We believe that the future of the energy system must be shaped by diverse perspectives and bold thinkers. Our Rotational Associate Program is designed to cultivate the next generation of changemakers by offering a dynamic, immersive experience across multiple focus areas within our organization.

Whether you're a recent graduate, a career pivoter exploring the clean energy space, or someone with early professional experience looking to deepen your impact, this program is built to help you grow. As a Rotational Associate, you'll join a cohort of like-minded individuals hired within a similar timeframe, and together you'll embark on an immersive Associate Bootcamp. During this bootcamp, you'll gain invaluable insights into the various teams and initiatives at RMI, setting the stage for a rewarding and impactful journey ahead.

Through thoughtfully curated rotations, Associates will gain hands-on experience, build cross-functional skills, and contribute meaningfully to our mission of transforming the global energy system. We welcome individuals from a wide range of academic, professional, and lived experiences who are eager to learn, collaborate, and lead with purpose.

Rotational Associates can expect to work on at least two programs within their first two years at RMI.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Selected candidates must be able to start on January 13, 2026.

• This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship, and we are unable to take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.

Application Requirements

Resume (Required)

We suggest a 2-page resume that includes information about your academic background and work experience. Feel free to add additional sections that highlight any leadership roles you've held, relevant coursework, academic projects that you've completed, conference presentations, or any articles that have been published.

Cover Letter (Required)

In your cover letter, please reply to the following prompt:

• Describe your motivation(s) to contribute to the clean energy transition in this moment and the unique skills and experiences you'd bring to this work within RMI.

Who We're Hiring

The RMI Rotational Associate Program is designed to bring together a cohort of early-career professionals with distinct skillsets that align with our multifaceted approach to transforming energy systems. For this program, we are hiring across two different Associate talent pathways, representing core capabilities needed in our programmatic work. Read more about each below to see where your strengths and interests may align:

• Strong Generalists: Able to execute broadly across a mix of research and analysis, quantitative work, stakeholder engagement, and project delivery; may have spikes of industry or skill-specific knowledge.

• Quantitative Specialists: Comfortable coding in Python or R, conducting deep financial or techno-economic analysis, or other technical analyses.

General Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth research and analysis on topics relevant to your team's focus area, synthesizing findings into actionable insights and recommendations.

• Collaborate with colleagues across different teams and departments within RMI to leverage expertise, share resources, and maximize impact.

• Contribute to the development of thought leadership and communication materials, such as reports, briefs, and presentations, to effectively communicate team insights, activities, and recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.

• Assist in coordinating team meetings, workshops, and events, including logistics, agenda development, and participant communications.

• Participate in partnerships with external stakeholders, including corporate partners, public actors, and/or community groups, to advance shared goals and objectives.

• Create innovative problem-solving approaches to drive project insights.

• Utilize both quantitative and qualitative analysis or modeling techniques to assess the impact of various energy strategies and policies.

• Collect, analyze, and interpret data related to energy systems, markets, and technologies.

• Contribute to presentations and participation in conferences, workshops and other external engagements.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 2+ years of relevant work experience OR a master's degree in applicable areas such as: STEM, political science/policy, finance, business administration, environmental sciences, economics, etc. PhD candidates will also be considered.

• Genuine passion for driving positive change in the energy transition space, demonstrated through previous work experience, academic projects, and/or extracurricular activities.

• Strong interest in and understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the energy sector.

• Project management skills, with a demonstrated ability to effectively manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines.

• Communication skills, both written and verbal, can convey complex information clearly and concisely.

• Ability and willingness to engage with technical material and provide qualitative and quantitative evaluation of existing initiatives.

What Will Make You Stand Out

• Energy-specific sector experience such as in power sector, carbon capture, corporate carbon accounting, process engineering, or waste methane, etc.

• Experience in facilitation and stakeholder engagement, including organizing multi-stakeholder workshops and meetings

• Management consulting experience

• Experience with data analysis and visualization, including Tableau

• Experience with Excel-based modeling, R, Python, SQL, or power sector modeling

• Familiarity with state and local climate and energy policy and landscape

• Familiarity with energy markets and transactions

• Familiarity with capital markets, corporate finance, market-based mechanisms and corporate incentive design

• Familiarity with energy justice and community engagement

• Ability to create clear, structured, and illustrative PowerPoint presentations

Benefits

We offer an array of benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision insurance

• 403b retirement match with immediate vesting

• Group life, AD&D, and short- and long-term disability

• Optional voluntary life, AD&D and accident plans

• Health savings or flexible spending accounts

• Fertility and hormonal health support

• Mental health and wellness support

• Comprehensive leaves of absence (including generous parental leave)

• Generous paid time off and sick leave

• Paid sabbatical leave

• Regional holidays with at least one extended break in each geography

• Work from home and home technology allowances

• Learning & development opportunities (LinkedIn Learning and an annual individual professional development budget)

• Potential for bonuses and merit increases

• Discount marketplace (gym memberships, pet insurance, etc.)

• Hybrid / remote work options

• Retreats and geographic meetups

• Rewards and recognition programs