Do you have the appetite for an exciting project that is on the cutting edge of the clean energy economy in Nebraska? Are you interested in bringing innovative ideas to life? Or are you particularly good at bringing diverse sets of stakeholders together to implement solutions, and community outreach to targeted audiences?
Read on. We might be looking for you!
Center for Rural Affairs is seeking to fill multiple roles for its new Nebraska Solar for All program. These positions will be based in Lyons, Nebraska, or another location in Eastern Nebraska. These positions will provide key support for developing and launching this new program, especially in the areas of providing technical and financial assistance to support community, rooftop, and multifamily affordable housing solar projects in low-income and historically excluded populations statewide in Nebraska.
The Nebraska Solar for All program will work with solar developers, housing developers, utility providers, nonprofit partners, and lending partners. The Center for Rural Affairs is an intermediary lender for the Small Business Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and hosts an affiliated Community Development Financial Institutions certified by the Department of Treasury.
Who We Are
The Center for Rural Affairs is a dynamic, energetic non-profit organization working to build a better rural future for all. We’ve done this work for 50 years and we do it from rural places with a flexible work environment. Our work creates opportunities for beginning farmers, new business owners, and first-time advocates. The Center’s work is rooted in principles of diversity and inclusion. We believe that a diversity of people and ideas strengthens our work, our workplace, and our communities. We celebrate this diversity and we are committed to advancing practices that create an equitable and inclusive workplace. We take equal opportunity seriously and we welcome applicants from historically underserved audiences. Additional information can be found at www.cfra.org. Check to see if our Mission and Values match yours, and read about our work demonstrating how awesome the Center is!
Multiple Roles Available
Center for Rural Affairs is creating a brand new program and team with several key positions to fill. These roles will require some of the following skills: industry knowledge, a passion to expand and create innovative solar solutions statewide (both urban and rural) in Nebraska, and project management and compliance experience. This program will develop new technical and financial assistance products that advance both greenhouse gas emission reduction and enable low-income and historically excluded populations to participate in the benefits of solar energy.
The following describes the kinds of experience and staff positions we’ll need for Nebraska Solar for All.
Please note: this job posting anticipates hires we may need, but we may not hire these positions for six months. The project is in an early phase, with some positions not needed immediately. We are pending EPA approvals and posting this in anticipation of future staffing needs.
- Strategy, partnership and stakeholder engagement
- Work history with solar developers, housing developers, utility providers, nonprofit partners, or lending.
- History with feasibility and barriers for solar products, market support needs to reach prices that create meaningful savings.
- Building networks or communities of practice, you’re a strong communicator and relationship building comes second nature to you, with examples of this in your work history. You understand the value of personal connections and how to leverage it.
- You’re skilled in engaging with all stakeholders for awareness and able to differentiate specific target audiences to market to such as public housing authorities, private/nonprofit owners of affordable housing, utilities, community-based organizations, and consumers.
- Experience with engaging with unions and apprenticeship programs, contractors and/or training development to market programs.
- Lending experience including low-income financing
- Previous experience with establishing governance structure, investment decision-making, and assessing risk, including community input and investment committees.
- Experience with loan intake and application design and underwriting process.
- Experience with income-qualifying low-income consumers for services or low-income housing financing, as well as verifying income, identity, and supporting documentation.
- Relevant external and media relations including target audience outreach, and communications strategy
- Work experience that includes developing, implementing and overseeing project strategy, outreach and engagement plans, design of marketing materials, ad and story placement, and press releases in both print and online news publications, as well as social media and radio.
- Identifying key partners to regularly receive marketing literature, identifying unique ways to reach targeted audiences through local marketing strategies, as well as use digital, print, and social media tactics to engage audiences in new ways as part of a larger strategy.
- Recruiting experience in building a network of referral partners and ambassadors. You’re at ease hosting and facilitating public meetings, roundtable discussions, and giving presentations.
Do more than a couple of the above skills and experience apply to you? If so, we want to hear from you!
Who You Are & Keys to Success (the must-haves)
To be successful in this job, you will excel in five areas:
- Relationship-building: You know how to talk with people to learn what needs they have through conversation and inquiry. People trust you because you’re efficient with their time and have their best interests in mind. You’re able to build sales networks, as well as alliances, and find points of collaboration even when there are competing interests on your time. You develop and maintain strong, collaborative working relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders and can bring in allies and partners from marginalized communities, such as people of color, people with disabilities, low-income families, and immigrants.
- Drive to achieve results: You know how to work to your strengths to achieve your own ambitious goals, and you anticipate hurdles as merely a momentary inconvenience. You possess a competitive drive and are creative when prospecting clients. You set a high bar and meet it because you think three (or 30) steps ahead to come up with pragmatic, yet innovative, solutions. You have financial acumen and an affinity for the details.
- Inclusive leadership and management: You approach leadership in your work with a mindset of “power with” rather than “power over” and regularly include others with lived experience in decision-making. You use resources wisely and can provide clear direction to clients, partners, and contractors to leverage time and resources for impact.
- Setting and managing priorities: You have experience managing multiple projects and keeping tasks from slipping through the cracks. You use resources wisely and can provide clear direction to staff, partners, consultants, and volunteers to leverage time and talent for impact.
- Commitment to racial equity and social justice: You recognize the role of race, income, age, immigration status, and other identities in addressing barriers to capital access. You recognize how your own identities show up in the work, and welcome, reflect on, and act on feedback with an eye toward continuous learning about difference to overcome barriers. You recognize that entrepreneurship is a pathway to better financial outcomes. You’re a leader (or willing to become a leader) in incorporating the Center's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles effectively into internal processes, external programming and communications, and work relationships, as well as identify opportunities to build capacity in centering equity into your work.
What Else You Should Know
These roles are full-time positions based either in Lyons, Nebraska, or another location in Eastern Nebraska. Center for Rural Affairs benefits have a cash value of $10,000 to $29,500, depending on family status and tenure with the Center. Benefits include items such as 97% employer-paid family health insurance that includes a contribution to a Health Savings Account, 6% employer contribution to a retirement plan, a fantastic Employee Assistance Program, 12 paid holidays plus paid time off between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, Friday Summer Hours, and generous vacation and sick pay. We invest in staff development and provide advancement opportunities to further your career at the Center. We will be hiring for a variety of exempt and non-exempt positions within this program that will be paid within compensation bands depending on skill level, qualifications, work experience, and any particular expertise.
Associate: $47,000-$60,000
Loan Specialist: $47,000-$80,000
Manager: $58,000-$71,000
Assistant Director: $67,000-$73,000
The Center for Rural Affairs is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in E-Verify, is committed to the full inclusion of all individuals, and takes steps to ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations.
How to Apply
If you would like to work for an organization that has a national reputation as one of the top organizations in the country working to make rural communities more vibrant, apply by sending your resume, cover letter, and three professional references by clicking here.
In your cover letter, please include:
- How your personal and/or professional experiences have positioned you for success in a potential role and where you see yourself fitting into the new Nebraska Solar for All program. This is your opportunity to share more about yourself with us and offer more insight into your background and resume.
- Share any diversity, equity, and inclusion, or racial equity-related work, expertise, or lived experience you want us to know about.
- Please describe how your past roles or any leadership roles make you the right candidate.
- Let us know how you heard about this position and why you want to work for the Center.
