Principal Consultant - Power & Renewables (Houston)

Wood Mackenzie is the global leader in analytics, insights and proprietary data across the entire energy and natural resources landscape.

For over 50 years our work has guided the decisions of the world’s most influential energy producers, utilities companies, financial institutions and governments.

Now, with the world’s energy system more complex and interconnected than ever before, sector-specific views are no longer enough. That’s why we’ve redefined what’s possible with Intelligence Connected.

By fusing our unparalleled proprietary data with the sharpest analytical minds, all supercharged by Synoptic AI, we deliver a clear, interconnected view of the entire value chain. Our trusted team of 2,700 experts across 30 countries breaks siloes and connects industries, markets and regions across the globe.

This empowers our customers to identify risk sooner, spot opportunities faster and recalibrate strategy with confidence – whether planning days, weeks, months or decades ahead.

WoodMac.com

• Inclusive – we succeed together
• Trusting – we choose to trust each other
• Customer committed – we put customers at the heart of our decisions
• Future Focused – we accelerate change
• Curious – we turn knowledge into action

This is a role for someone genuinely curious about energy markets and energized by difficult problems. Clients come to us with their hardest strategic and commercial questions; your job is to lead teams in answering them well — applying structured problem-solving, sound judgement, and the full depth of Wood Mackenzie's data, research and expertise to reach clear, defensible conclusions.

You lead project teams. Junior colleagues look to you to set the standard, coach them through difficult problems, and hold the bar on quality. Clients look to you as a credible advisor who understands both their commercial decisions and the power and renewables markets that shape them.

Main Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of complex commercial and strategy mandates across Americas power and renewables markets: shape the approach, set clear objectives, and steer teams to deliver on time, on budget, and to a high standard.
• Take full accountability for the quality of everything your project teams deliver — from the rigor of the analysis to the clarity of the final recommendations — and stand behind that work with clients in a coherent, credible and authoritative manner.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior client teams — frequently serving as the commercial advisor on transactions — and interface effectively at every level, from analysts and project teams through to the C-suite.
• Serve as the client's trusted point of contact through the life of each mandate: keep them informed, work through issues as they arise, and ensure the experience of working with us is as strong as the work itself. Where excellent delivery naturally opens the door to further work, recognize and surface it.
• Develop the next generation of consultants: coach and stretch junior colleagues, model the standard for problem-solving and craft, and take genuine ownership for their growth.
• Bring a current, commercially grounded view of power and renewables markets — fundamentals, price formation, core technologies (wind, solar, storage, gas/flexible resource) and the energy transition — and apply it with judgement across a wide range of client situations.
• Build and draw on a strong internal network across consulting, research, and sales and account management, bringing the full weight of Wood Mackenzie's data and expertise to every mandate.

About You

This role rewards strong consulting fundamentals applied with curiosity and commercial instinct. You bring solid grounding in power and renewables markets and the consulting craft to lead client work from day one — and the drive to keep building that knowledge into genuine depth over time.

• Typically 7+ years of experience that demonstrates both strong consulting fundamentals and solid grounding in power and/or renewables markets, with a proven track record of leading projects and teams.
• Strong consulting fundamentals — essential: structured problem-solving, analytical rigor, and the ability to turn complex, ambiguous questions into clear, defensible answers.
• A solid grounding in power and/or renewables markets — essential : need to engage credibly with clients and lead analysis from the outset, with the appetite and ability to build it into genuine sector depth over time. Candidates with genuine depth coming in will be at an advantage.
• Experience acting as a commercial advisor in power and renewables transactions is highly desirable.
• Financial modelling skills and familiarity with power generation asset and/or market modelling is highly desirable. Previous hands‑on experience in building asset pro‑forma models is highly desirable.
• Excellent written and verbal communication: able to construct high‑impact storylines and present with authority to senior audiences.
• A natural coach, genuinely committed to developing junior colleagues and raising the standard around them.
• Intellectually curious, client‑focused, and able to become credible quickly across a wide range of subjects.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline (engineering, economics, finance, mathematics, physics or similar); a Master's degree or MBA is preferred.
• Strong Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Python and Agentic AI tool development skills are desirable.

Skills & Behaviours

This is not a comprehensive list of everything expected of the ideal candidate, but a spotlight on the behaviours most critical to the role:

• Growth Mindset — believe abilities are developed through practice; embrace feedback, motivate others, solve problems and persist.
• Customer Collaboration — seek to understand who our clients are, engage effectively, build impactful relationships, and keep them at the heart of our decisions.
• Planning and Prioritizing — a proven ability to plan, prioritize, monitor and manage workflows across teams.
• Commitment to Action — make timely, evidence‑based decisions in line with our goals, and act boldly to execute them in the face of ambiguity.
• Change Agility — take a pragmatic approach to uncertainty, stay responsive through change and setbacks, and find opportunity in disruption.

Other

• This is a hybrid role based in Houston or Boston, with an expectation of 2–3 days per week in the office.
• This role involves occasional travel throughout the Americas region.

We are an equal opportunities employer. This means we are committed to recruiting the best people regardless of their race, colour, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, disability or protected veteran status. You can find out more about your rights under the law at