Development Project Manager

Zenobē Energy Limited; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Zenobē Energy Limited in London is seeking a Development Project Manager to lead battery storage project development through to Final Investment Decision. You will drive the end-to-end development lifecycle, coordinating across land, grid, planning, engineering and procurement, while maintaining schedule, cost and risk controls.

The role requires a commercially oriented, collaborative leader with strong stakeholder engagement.

Qualifications

• Experience leading development and delivery of large-scale infrastructure projects.
• Strong analytical, planning and commercial skills.
• Experience across land, planning, grid, engineering and procurement.
• Proven ability to manage multi-disciplinary teams.
• Full UK driving licence.

Responsibilities

• Oversee projects from post-concept to final investment decision.
• Lead stage gate processes and handovers to delivery teams.
• Identify and mitigate project risks with commercially viable solutions.
• Coordinate land, planning, grid and engineering across teams.
• Manage budgets, programmes and risk registers.
• Engage with procurement, commercial and finance teams.
• Prepare detailed project updates for management and boards.
• Drive process improvements in development and PM practices.
• Support site visits and external stakeholder engagements.
• Ensure health and safety and sustainability commitments.

Skills

Project development

Stakeholder mgmt

Risk management

Cross-functional

Contract negotiations

Budgeting

Procurement

MS Project

Financial modelling

Communication

Team leadership

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

Primavera P6

MS Project

MS Excel

Job description

ABOUT ZENOBE

Our mission is to make clean power accessible. We are passionate about making a positive impact on communities and the environment where we work.

We’re designing, financing, building and operating the world’s most sophisticated battery systems to enable the take up of more renewable power, electrifying fleets for cleaner air, and providing clean, portable power including repurposed electric vehicle batteries. Our proprietary software and data analysis optimises operational performance for our customers to reduce emissions and costs.

Since we began in 2017, we’ve raised over £2.7 billion in debt and equity funding and transformed it into >1.2GW of grid-connected batteries live or under contract and c.3,400 electric vehicles supported. We have operations in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the US and Canada, with a global headquarters in London.

We’re the leading owner and operator of battery storage in the UK, supporting the National Grid with the uptake of renewable power. We also work with c.90% of the UK's major bus companies, powering 25% of the UK e-bus market. We’re also the number one owner and operator of e-buses in Australia and New Zealand, and are quickly expanding into light commercial vehicles and trucks. Our rapidly growing company is looking for highly talented and motivated people to join us.

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are seeking a Development Project Manager to lead and oversee the development of battery storage projects, with a particular focus on projects that have secured land, grid and planning, taking them through to Final Investment Decision (FID) / financial close.

In this role, you will manage the project lifecycle through development, ensuring successful progression while maintaining timelines, budgets, quality and risk standards. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, contractors, consultants and other stakeholders to drive the development of Zenobē’s BESS projects.

The successful candidate will bring broad project development experience, with a good understanding of grid, supply chain, engineering, project delivery and land and planning. You’ll be comfortable working across multiple disciplines and taking a commercially focused approach to progressing projects through development.

A TASTE OF THE DAY TO DAY

Project Development and Oversight

• Take overall responsibility for projects post-concept phase through to financial close, ensuring they progress in line with cost, programme and risk expectations.
• Lead the stage gate process and manage project handovers to delivery teams at financial close.

Risk Management

• Proactively identify, manage and resolve project risks, ensuring commercially viable and deliverable solutions that align with project timelines.

Coordination and Integration Across Teams

• Collaborate with land, planning, grid and engineering teams to secure and develop solutions that best align with project requirements.
• Manage a matrix-structured project team, assigning tasks, tracking progress and fostering a collaborative team environment.
• Mitigate project risks by leading cross-functional meetings to ensure optimal solutions are agreed and relevant teams remain informed.
• Work closely with procurement, business development, delivery, corporate finance, finance, PMO, project development, commercial teams and external consultants.

Procurement Support

• Partner with the procurement team throughout tender processes, including preparing ITT documentation, evaluating tenders and supporting contract negotiations.

Project Management Tools

• Maintain and update key project management documentation, including budgets, programmes, risk registers and action logs.

Site and Stakeholder Engagement

• Conduct site visits, meet with landowners and participate in external meetings and community engagement events as required.
• Build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders throughout the development lifecycle.

Techno-Economic and Financial Modelling

• Develop a strong understanding of the project business model and provide relevant project inputs into the financial model owned by Business Development.

Budget Management

• Support the development of CAPEX budgets and oversee expenditure for development activities through to Final Investment Decision.
• Ensure sanctioned budget spend is tracked and prepare further budget requests as projects mature through development.

Due Diligence and Financing

• Manage and lead the due diligence process required to secure project financing, ensuring documentation, information and actions are completed to a high standard.

Reporting and Communication

• Compile and present detailed project updates and reports to management and board-level committees, including Investment Committees.

Process Improvement

• Identify opportunities to continuously improve project development and project management processes.

Health and Safety

• Actively contribute to Zenobe's commitment to health and safety, wellbeing and sustainability by; integrating these principles into daily responsibilities, ensuring a safe and supportive work environment, promoting both the physical and mental health of self and colleagues, and adopting sustainable and energy-efficient practices to minimize environmental impact. By doing so, each employee at Zenobe plays a vital role in fostering a culture that prioritises overall safety, holistic wellbeing, environmental sustainability in our business operations.

WHAT WE’R LOOKING FOR

We realise that certain groups of people are less likely to apply for a role if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. To be absolutely clear: if you like the look of this job and think you could do it well, we encourage you to apply with a CV that highlights your transferable skills and experience. Above all, Zenobē is looking for collaborative, flexible, empathetic people who are interested in creating and promoting practical routes to a zero-carbon world.

Essential Skills

• Experience managing and driving the development and delivery of large-scale, multi-million-pound infrastructure projects.
• Strong experience in at least one of engineering, project delivery, procurement and/or commercial disciplines.
• Strong analytical skills with a structured and proactive approach to working.
• Proven ability to balance competing requirements across programme, cost, risk, technical and commercial considerations.
• Experience managing projects through construction and commissioning phases.
• Ability to persuade, challenge and build credibility at all levels and across different functions of the business.
• Strong project and proposal management capability.
• Experience of project controls, including scheduling, cost control and risk management.
• Strong planning, risk management and organisational skills.
• Pragmatic, proactive and solutions-focused approach.
• Strong commercial awareness, with confidence working with legal contracts, procurement processes and project finance.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to clearly present project updates, risks and recommendations.
• Strong stakeholder and contractor management skills.
• Proficient working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel, and MS Project, with an appreciation of Primavera P6.

Essential Competencies

• Knowledge and understanding of renewable energy project development activities.
• At least 5 years’ relevant experience within the energy sector, preferably within energy storage, renewables or wider energy infrastructure.
• Strong team player with excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical information and its commercial implications.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Solutions-oriented, with a willingness to take responsibility and accountability for project outcomes.
• Ability to manage, coordinate and motivate people across multidisciplinary project teams.
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving, high-pressure and entrepreneurial environment.
• Full UK driving licence.

Desirable Competencies

• Previous experience working on battery energy storage systems (BESS).
• Engineering degree or similar technical qualification.
• Recognised Project Management qualification.

WORKING AT ZENOBE

We’re passionate about sustainability and are proud to offer Team Zenobē a pioneering and collaborative working environment. We encourage our people to take ownership of their career progression and celebrate those that can think outside the box.

OUR APPROACH TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Our people are our strongest asset and the key determinant of our success, and we value a range of skillsets and perspectives. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. We work to provide equal opportunities and an inclusive work environment, where everyone is fairly treated in the application process and through their career at Zenobē. If there are any adjustments that would help improve your experience with Zenobē, please let us know when you apply.