Assistant Specialist; Senior Energy Analyst - Initiative, Institute Energy Efficiency

Position overview

Position title: Senior Energy Analyst

Salary range: A reasonable estimate that the University expects to pay for this position at 100% time is $64,100 - $100,000.

Percent time: 100%

Anticipated start: February 2026 or later

Position duration: 1-year initial appointment, with the possibility of renewal based upon performance and/or funding.

Open date: January 21, 2026

Next review date: Friday, Feb 6, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Wednesday, Jul 1, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Through the UCSB Institute for Energy Efficiency, the 2035 Initiative is seeking an Assistant Specialist (Senior Energy Analyst) who will work closely with Principal Investigators, researchers, and the 2035 Initiative's Director working on domestic and international projects. The 2035 Initiative brings together engineers and social scientists to clean up our energy systems and address the climate crisis. We use cutting-edge empirical research, policy development, and media engagement to support transformational policy change in the United States and across the planet.

We are looking for a mission-driven Senior Energy Analyst with the ability and willingness to juggle a broad spectrum of analytical responsibilities, research, and project management tasks. The Senior Energy Analyst will work dynamically across engineering and policy teams to deliver applied, actionable analysis to help understand and decarbonize energy systems.

Specific responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Analyze energy systems to understand costs, energy savings, and emissions impacts of decarbonization strategies, with a particular focus on electricity sector modeling and/or industrial sector modeling
• Provide project management support to a range of technical research projects
• Collect, process, and analyze global, national and state-level political and policy data related to climate and energy policies
• Provide statistical analysis and coding support for a broad range of Initiative research, primarily in R and Python
• Manage and maintain large datasets
• Collaborate with 2035 Initiative faculty and staff to translate technical analysis into actionable policy recommendations
• Visualize research results for public-facing reports and policy memos
• Broadly lend support to the Initiative team where needed and tackle special projects where appropriate

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

Bachelor's degree in engineering, data science, statistics, economics, political science, environmental science, environmental studies, public policy, physical science, or a related field.

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)

Master's degree OR Bachelor's degree plus 3 or more years of research and/or relevant work experience.

Preferred qualifications

• Knowledge of energy systems and decarbonization strategies
• Experience working with energy data
• Education or experience in engineering and/or physical sciences
• Experience with programming in R (other programming languages are a plus)
• Knowledge of electricity sector decarbonization strategies and initiatives
• Knowledge of heavy industry decarbonization strategies and initiatives
• Knowledge of environmental politics, policy, and institutions
• Ability to lead and manage complex research projects
• Ability to handle a diverse portfolio of responsibilities simultaneously, with speed, accuracy and courtesy
• Ability to plan and sequence tasks and projects
• Ability to efficiently and accurately analyze problems, gather relevant information, and propose and implement practical solutions with varying levels of input from Initiative faculty

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Cover Letter

Reference requirements

• 2-3 required (contact information only)

Please provide the names and complete contact information for at least 2 references. In the event the applicant is…