DIRECTOR, LOAD FORECASTING

Aligned with Shell’s ambition to be a significant global power business and to become net zero by 2050, our cleaner, affordable, and simple solutions help companies manage their energy spend and plan their sustainability roadmap – a fresh approach for environmentally conscious businesses that are looking to boost their sustainability credentials. We also have set out to deliver the very best experience to our customers across all our channels.

Shell Energy Solutions mission is delivering cleaner energy solutions for a brighter tomorrow by guiding customers toward a better energy future, enabling customer choice and by providing market-leading energy solutions.

Going above and beyond for our customers is what we’re all about and we have set out to deliver the very best experience to our customers across all our channels. But bigger challenges lie ahead, and we need to keep moving forward. Are you ready to help us get there?

WHERE YOU FIT IN

We are looking for a highly motivated individual with a genuine interest in energy, technology, and a passion to deliver products for a growing company. The Director, Load Forecasting will be expected to drive the development of the forecasting models that support company strategy, and you will need to develop your direct reports.

Reporting into the Chief, Risk Officer, the role requires self-motivated, dedicated, and responsible individual with the ability to perform well under pressure.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Understand the company strategy, understand how the company goals are connected to the company strategy, and understand how the requirements of your stakeholders and the goals of your business partners are connected to the company goals.
• Challenge your stakeholders and business partners when their requirements and goals are not aligned with the company goals.
• Ensure that your own goals are aligned with the company goals.
• This role will report to the Chief Risk Officer.
• Partner with other leaders in the organization to determine forecasting models we need, and the criteria we need to use to measure the quality of those forecasting models.
• Determine when to use external vendors, and which external vendors to use.
• Determine when to develop internal models and oversee the development of those models from prototype to scalable engineering solutions.
• Ensure the integration of the forecast outputs with all the business processes that require those forecast outputs.
• Review the quality of various forecasting models and decide which one to use when.
• Communicate with the executive stakeholders the performance of the existing forecasting models and the planned improvements.
• Reduce the overall cost of producing forecasts while keeping the quality at the desired levels for all use cases.
• Develop direct reports and manage daily activities.
• Partner with SES’s HR team and company leadership on recruitment, hiring and career development.
• Ensure that each direct report’s daily tasks are aligned with their interests and career goals.
• Ensure all data scientists and load forecasting analysts on the team understand how their day-to-day tasks are aligned with the company strategy and goals.
• Clearly explain to each direct report what’s expected of them, identify any gaps, and help each direct report develop a plan to close the identified gaps.
• Provide ongoing feedback for each direct report.
• Identify direct reports who are performing at the next level and follow the process to get them promoted.
• Other duties as assigned.

Essential Skills & Experience

Successful job applicants will be able to perform these functions. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Experience running a load forecasting team for a retail energy provider and supporting electricity trading in ERCOT, PJM, NYISO, ISO-NE and MISO
• PhD (or equivalent experience) in statistical analysis
• 5+ years of combined experience after PhD (or equivalent experience), starting as an individual contributor, then transitioning to senior management roles
• 5+ years of experience with using SQL and Python to develop scalable machine learning solutions.
• Experience with owning ML engineering projects starting from experimentation and prototyping to architecting and implementing a scalable solution.
• Experience with hiring, evaluating, and developing machine learning engineers, data scientists and load forecasting analysts.
• Experience with promoting machine learning best practices across teams.
• Experience with engaging on tech stack and architectural discussions, determining tradeoffs, and driving discussions towards a decision.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to deliver complicated findings and explain technical approaches to a variety of audiences.
• Fluency with data visualization to communicate complex topics in approachable ways.
• Experience with data engineering frameworks: Apache Airflow, dbt, MLFlow, Apache Spark, AWS services, Docker, Kubernetes
• Ability to review code to determine quality and areas for improvement.
• Experience at a similar scale of data processing (Multi-TB/billions of rows)
• Work with real-time event stream data
• Experience with a visualization tool (e.g. Power BI)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; must be able to provide timely and accurate data analysis.
• Strong business writing skills and experience developing communication in various formats.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Learner mindset and eye for continuous improvement needs.
• Excellent organization and time management skills, with the ability to maintain a strict level of attention to detail
• Ability to work well within a team environment and demonstrate a vested interest in team goals and objectives
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with the ability to establish and maintain positive and effective working relationships
• Self-motivated with the desire to consistently improve performance and gain further knowledge.
• Ability to meet deadlines, learn quickly and demonstrate effective problem solving and follow-up skills
• Comply with company policies and procedure.

LOCATION & WORK SCHEDULE

• Required to be in-person in Houston, TX through a hybrid workplace environment.

Benefits Of Working With Shell Energy

• Competitive Compensation
• Health Care – Medical/Dental/Vision/Prescription Drug Coverage
• 401(k) with Company Matching Contributions
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
• Disability Programs (STD & LTD)
• Employee Basic Term Life Insurance
• Generous Vacation & Company Holidays
• Flexible hybrid working schedule.
• Training and coaching
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid Parental Leave
• And much more!

SHELL ENERGY VALUES

Shell is a company with shared values. Honesty, integrity, and respect aren’t simply a strapline: they are part of everything we do. What’s more, Shell is an equal opportunities company, and we place the highest possible value on the diversity of our people and our inclusive approach. Join us and you’ll belong to a world where you are proud of your achievements and propel your career with global opportunities. We care deeply about fostering a truly diverse workplace.

• Job descriptions are not intended as, nor should be construed to be, exhaustive lists of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with a job. They are intended to be accurate reflections of those principal job duties and responsibilities essential for making fair pay decisions about the job.