Policy and Operations Manager

Job description

ABOUT ENDURANCE Endurance is building the world's first modular subsea geothermal power plants, converting vast thermal resources under the ocean into gigawatts of baseload power. Backed by Founders Fund, Felicis, First Round Capital, and Point72 Ventures, our founding team includes veterans from SpaceX, Helion, Blue Origin, and Apple. We have completed multiple deep-ocean deployments to subsea volcanoes and are launching a long-term demonstration project this fall. By leveraging modular design, manufacturing scale, efficient drilling, and latent cooling on the seafloor, we are pioneering a new category of energy that outperforms traditional sources on environmental impact, deployment speed, and cost. WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING The Policy & Operations Manager is the execution arm for Endurance's highest-priority policy, permitting, and environmental workstreams. You will work directly with the Director of Environmental Affairs and the Director of Policy & External Affairs, taking special projects from a one-line ask to a finished product: a permit application package, a comment letter, a regulatory strategy memo, an agency briefing, a stakeholder engagement plan, or more. This is a builder's seat in Washington. You will sit close to the agencies, congressional offices, and coalitions that shape our operating environment, with two Directors who need a partner who can run a workstream without being managed through it. The role carries unusual exposure for its level: you will draft the material that goes into agency meetings, staff our Directors and executives inside them, and own the follow-through that comes out. You will also spend time where the technology is. Expect regular trips to Seattle and periodic time at deployment sites (Pacific Islands, Japan, Taiwan). KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Own discrete special projects end to end (scope, plan, contributors, and delivery) with limited oversight and tight timelines - Track and analyze federal and state legislative activity, international activity, rulemakings, and agency actions relevant to geothermal, offshore energy, ocean policy, and clean firm power, and flag what matters and why it matters to our schedule - Draft and edit policy and regulatory materials: memos, one-pagers, talking points, comment letters, regulatory filings, briefing books, testimony, and presentations - Support permitting and environmental review for demonstration and commercial projects, including NEPA documentation, consultation and authorization requirements, and state and local siting approvals - Build and maintain the internal source of truth for permitting status, agency touchpoints, environmental commitments, and regulatory deadlines across every project - Coordinate across engineering, marine operations, legal, and commercial teams to assemble the technical record agencies require, and hold internal contributors to deadlines and requirements - Prepare the Directors and company executives for engagements with agency officials, congressional staff, coalitions, tribal nations, and community stakeholders, and research partners - Manage outside consultants, environmental contractors, and counsel: scopes, deliverables, budgets, and quality of work product - Support external affairs and coalition work, including trade associations, NGO relationships, and stakeholder engagement in project communities - Identify and pursue federal and state funding, grant, and demonstration-program opportunities relevant to first-of-a-kind energy infrastructure - Represent Endurance in Washington when the Directors cannot, and travel to Seattle and deployment sites often enough to speak to the technology firsthand REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS - 2+ years of experience in policy, government affairs, environmental permitting, regulatory affairs, or program management. A variety of backgrounds, including on the Hill, in an agency, at a trade association, in consulting, at an NGO, or in-house at a developer can all fit - Based in the Washington, DC area, with the ability to be in and around the agencies and the Hill in person - Working knowledge of federal environmental review and permitting: NEPA plus at least one of the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Clean Water Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Magnuson Stevens Act, Rivers and Harbors Act, or state coastal zone management programs - Demonstrated track record running projects with multiple contributors to a hard external deadline, including work you did not personally control - Clear, direct writing under deadline pressure, with examples of concise material prepared for policymakers, regulators, or senior leaders; shows mastery of AI as a tool, but not as a thought - Ability to absorb unfamiliar technical material quickly and represent it accurately to a non-technical audience - Comfort operating with ambiguity, incomplete data, and short timelines, and a strong bias toward action - Sound judgment and discretion handling sensitive commercial, regulatory, and pre-decisional information - Bachelor's degree in public policy, political science, environmental policy or science, law, marine affairs, or a related field - Willingness to travel roughly 15–25% between Seattle, and deployment sites PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS - Experience with offshore or ocean regulatory frameworks and the agencies that administer them: Marine Minerals Administration, NOAA/NMFS, USACE, EPA, or state coastal commissions - Experience permitting first-of-a-kind, pre-commercial, or demonstration-scale energy infrastructure, where standard templates do not yet apply - Familiarity with geothermal, offshore wind, marine energy, or subsea operations - Hill, appropriations, or authorizing-committee experience, or familiarity with DOE, ARPA-E, the Energy Dominance Fund, or FERC - Exposure to international permitting or regulatory regimes in geothermal-relevant jurisdictions such as Iceland or Japan - Experience managing environmental consultants or preparing agency-facing technical documentation - Advanced degree in law, public policy, environmental policy, STEM, or marine affairs - Experience in an organization with aggressive commercial and operational schedules COMPENSATION, BENEFITS, & PERKS As a pre-revenue startup, Endurance Energy offers competitive base salaries and generous equity packages for full-time employees. Final base salary will be determined by an array of factors including internal equity, job-related knowledge, skills, and work experience. A key aspect of our compensation philosophy is that value creation should be aligned with rewards. Right now this means equity is a significant portion of every full-time employee's compensation. As the company matures, there will be continued evolution and changes to the total rewards and total compensation package. What will always be true is that if we win, we win together. Equity is granted to every full-time employee as a meaningful piece of ownership. We believe the people building the company should share directly in the value they create. In addition to a competitive base salary and equity, employees will receive all of our other great benefits and perks, including: - Benefits: Health, Dental, and Vision insurance coverage - Time Away: Flexible PTO including 12 paid company holidays - Global Fieldwork: Travel to fascinating deployment sites along oceanic ridges in locations like the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, and the Azores - Hands-on Experience: Participate in sea trials and deployment operations in partnership with leading oceanographic institutions - Cutting-edge Development: Work with technology that spans high-power electronics, marine systems, and clean energy - Impactful Work: Help solve one of the world's most pressing challenges - Dive Certification: Company-sponsored recreational dive certification - Other Perks: Access to the company boat, free meals and snacks, and the list goes on! If you’re selected for consideration, a recruiter will be able to discuss in greater detail.