Director or Sr. Director, Development

ABOUT AVANTUS

Avantus is shaping the future by making reliable, low-cost clean energy a global reality. Our legacy of leadership in next generation solar energy includes developing one of the nation's largest solar clusters and one of the first projects to beat fossil fuel prices back in 2016. Today, we are expanding the boundaries of existing technologies to build one of the largest portfolios of smart power plants with integrated storage, capable of providing millions of people with affordable, zero-emission energy – day and night. Through our relentless pursuit of better, we are decarbonizing our planet at the gigaton level, and bringing the advantages of clean energy to all of us.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

We are seeking a highly motivated and organized candidate for the Director or Sr. Director, Development position. The successful candidate will demonstrate sound industry knowledge, superior communications, and detail-oriented organizational skills. This role reports to the Vice President, Development.

The Director or Sr. Director, Development will be responsible for the development of solar photovoltaic projects through project management, economic analysis, document negotiation, and transaction support across a pipeline of projects targeting wholesale power markets in the US. The successful candidate will have proven experience in the energy industry, specifically in energy infrastructure development in WECC and CAISO; strong financial analysis skills; an ability to effectively communicate complex ideas; and the ability and enthusiasm to drive projects forward.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Greenfield development of utility-scale solar power generation facilities.

- Ability to communicate and sync cross functionally on a regular basis to minimize project risks.

- Direct and manage tax abatements, land use agreements, mitigation settlements, interconnection agreements, offtake agreements and various other agreements

- Direct and manage project budgets, objectives, schedules, and deliverables for assigned development projects.

- Travel to site locations to evaluate sites.

- Engage community, local and state institutions for project support.

- Manage contractors, vendors, and consultants to maintain project timeline and budget.

- Assist with permitting and environmental compliance throughout the construction and operation of projects.

- Work with the finance and optimization departments during financial feasibility analysis, evaluation, and finance.

- Ability to independently lead development project initiatives or programs.

- Ability to independently run a project from start to finish.

- Lead task forces and initiatives.

- Project ownership: sole responsibility of lead developer

- - Project economic explanation (key drivers, changes)

- Challenge project team for result

- Sign-off on project pricing and all inputs

- Promotes all executive committee discussions / approvals

- Cash flow approval

- Approves project cash flow forecast including project spend approvals

- Owns project schedule

- May manage a team of 0-2 Analysts, Associates or Managers.

- Act as trusted collaborator with broader development team for continuous improvement.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS:

- Extensive knowledge of the full-cycle of utility-scale renewable power generation development and marketing.

- Extensive knowledge of interconnection, permitting, real estate, state/federal regulation, utility procurement goals, politics, law and other issues that impact development of renewable energy projects in the eastern energy markets.

- Detailed understanding of the interconnection process (study process, contracting, utility requirements, financial obligations, and scope execution by utilities) to both site projects optimally and to advance them through COD.

- Solid understanding of economic drivers for renewable energy projects.

- Concisely frame issues by providing context, analysis, recommendations, and risk/benefit tradeoffs, both in written and verbal format, to project teams and to senior management.

- Create control and influence over the costs, terms, and schedules of key project milestones that are heavily dependent on external counterparties, often without strong commercial recourse.

- Strong understanding of the relationships within a project schedule to prioritize teams' resource allocation.

- Highly resourceful and able to design processes for the advancement of project milestones and navigate through key risks where little structure is established.

- Has taken a leadership role in development projects from start to finish, on task forces or other initiatives.

- Highly proficient in MS Excel (advanced proficiency required), Project, Word, and PowerPoint, as well as Google Earth.

- Independent self-starter who can meet deadlines and deliver quality products with minimal oversight.

- Substantial ability to recognize opportunities, identify and evaluate risks in a development context as well as effectively communicate the foregoing.

- Demonstrated ability to translate contracts and financing agreements into concise financial and economic analysis.

- Ability to manage a large workload, often providing support to processes managed by colleagues, while prioritizing tasks and effectively juggling competing deadlines.

- Detail-oriented with a strong sense of personal responsibility and ownership of work product.

- Excellent personal organizational and pattern recognition skills.