Rotational Development Program
Calpine’s rotational development program is tailored for graduates of top universities with a bachelor’s degree or MBA. This program allows new graduates to apply educational fundamentals to real life commodity trading, energy finance and market analytics. The length of the program is approximately 2 years. A typical rotation is approximately eight months. By the end of the rotations, individuals contribute daily to ad-hoc analysis, commercial decision making, and process improvement. A majority of the rotations are on the trading floor in Houston, TX. There are select opportunities to rotate to our West Coast offices and live for eight months in San Francisco, CA or San Diego, CA.
We also offer a Power Operations Rotational Engineering Program:
Rotational classes are divided into:
- Rotation Analyst (Retail – Champion) – Undergraduate or 1-year Master’s degree
- Rotation Analyst (Commercial) – Undergraduate or 1-year Master’s degree
- Rotation Associate (Commercial) – 3-5 years’ experience and 2-year Master’s degree
- Business Rotation Analyst (Retail – Solutions) – Undergraduate or 1-year Master’s degree
We offer an opportunity to learn from industry professionals and develop skills in a variety of departments:
- Portfolio Analysis- forecast and budget the commodity prices of our 26 GW fleet
- Deal Structuring- price options for plants in deregulated markets
- Financial Analysis- build valuation models to buy or develop new technologies
- Market Fundamentals- program models to support market designs and changes
- Risk Analysis- track profitability and strategies for multiple trading desks
- Real-Time Trading- dispatch and communicate with our plants in the real time markets
- Trading Analysis- design models to support commercial trading strategies
- Asset Management- consult across the trade floor to manage assets across the country
- Development- advance our battery storage and carbon capture development pipeline
- Mergers and Acquisitions- conduct diligence and monitor a sale or purchase for the portfolio
- Governmental and Regulatory Affairs Analysis- educate traders or local representatives on the commercial implications of pending market changes or legislation
Here are some of hands-on projects that are part of a rotation:
- Calpine owns and operates 26 GW of assets. In an asset management rotation, you meet with traders and the analytics teams to manage a complex system of highly advanced parts and equipment. Your analysis will help decide when the best time is to take outages at our facilities so Calpine does not miss favorable commodity price spikes.
- Calpine trades 1 bcf of natural gas a day. As a gas trade analyst, you can design a model to improve scheduling in multiple regions. Better yet, look into future opportunities to transport and store the fuel around rapidly changing market dynamics.
- In 2024, Calpine developed the largest stand-alone battery storage facility in California. In a development rotation, you will work on the next big development projects – your work will include site evaluation, permitting, technology selection, contract negotiations, etc.
- Calpine was instrumental in supporting and developing key aspects of the language passed in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. In a Gov Reg rotation, you will assist our Gov Reg members on various market design projects and attend legislative meetings. You may travel to state capitols or D.C. to help present materials and meet with industry groups.
What You’ll Do:
- Forecasting financials using simulation tools that reflect plant operations and volatile commodity market prices
- Analyzing and predicting gas and power market dynamics
- Tracking and analyzing positions and risk metrics
- Negotiating and executing commercial agreements supporting potential new project development
- Real-time trading support and execution
- Analyzing the impact of environmental and industry regulation
Who is a Good Rotational Candidate?
- Undergraduate and/or advanced degrees in quantitative fields such as finance, accounting, math, engineering, or economics
- Experience as an intern or professional where you drove improvements or made a commercial impact
- Excel competency is a must, programming language is a plus
- PowerPoint skills that reflect clear messaging and graphs that let the analytics do the talking
- Interest in the energy business through clubs, research, and extracurriculars
- Most importantly: a curious and highly motivated individual. This candidate will need to work well on teams, but autonomously on their own projects.
Power Operations Rotational Engineering Program
The Power Operations Rotational Engineer Program is a 24-month, 6 rotation program designed to attract and develop top talent that will feed into any engineer position in the Calpine fleet. The Program provides participants the opportunity to develop, demonstrate and enhance technical and leadership skills. Rotational engineers will learn Calpine’s power plant operation and maintenance philosophies, processes and practices. Participants will also receive the opportunity to work with various employee groups including our corporate departments, Power Operations Shared Services and Power Operation groups.
The program rotations include 2 rotations in a Calpine facility – one operations based and one maintenance based rotation, an environmental, health and safety rotation, an outage and field engineering support rotation, a data analytic engineering rotation, and a fleet support engineering service rotation.
Ready to get started?
- In all rotations, participants are expected to make material contributions to the success of the company by learning the business, analyzing problems, making recommendations, and/or participating directly in discussions on topics that have a significant impact on the operational performance of the company.
- Participants have the opportunity to make front-line impacts in decisions in operations, maintenance and commercial.
- Participation in the rotation program provides access to a variety of training opportunities including monthly luncheons with senior members of the Calpine team.