Project Developer Assistant Manager

Fidra Energy; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading energy storage company in Edinburgh is seeking a Project Developer Assistant Manager to support greenfield development projects, project financing, and acquisitions. The successful candidate will manage various tasks to ensure project delivery while collaborating closely with the Growth & Strategy team. Essential qualifications include a Chartered Accountant or similar qualification, effective project management skills, and the ability to thrive under pressure. This role offers a dynamic work environment with opportunities for travel.

Qualifications

• Experience in project lifecycle management techniques.
• Strong interpersonal skills to establish relationships.
• Ability to juggle competing priorities and work independently.

Responsibilities

• Support project delivery using suitable frameworks.
• Assist with project financing and acquisition processes.
• Monitor and document project progress.

Skills

Project management skills

Attention to detail

Ability to work under pressure

Communication skills

Financial literacy

Advanced Excel skills

Education

Chartered Accountant qualification

Degree or experience in energy project development

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Job description

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Job Purpose / Overview

Fidra Energy ("Fidra") is a battery energy storage system ("BESS") platform, backed by EIG and National Wealth Fund, and headquartered in Edinburgh, UK. Fidra currently has a ~3GW secured pipeline in the UK comprising Thorpe Marsh (1.4GW), West Burton C (500MW) and Bicker Fen 1 & 2 (1.2GW). Thorpe Marsh, Europe's largest battery development project, secured funding in September 2025 to progress into construction. We are targeting delivery of a 10GW portfolio of projects in development, construction and operation in the UK and major European markets by 2030. Growth of the Fidra platform, and the delivery of our pipeline, is the responsibility of our Growth & Strategy team.

The role of the Project Developer Assistant Manager is to work with the Chief Growth & Strategy Officer and Growth & Strategy Directors/managers, as well as business owners to deliver greenfield development projects (including project financing), acquisitions, and disposals which could be one or multiple projects and initiatives, deliver expected outcomes and meet stakeholder expectations within the brief and constraints of time, cost, scope and quality. The successful candidate will use appropriate project management approaches and techniques and have strong interpersonal skills.

Contextual Information

Operating Environment

The growth and strategy team is responsible for setting and delivering strategy for the company. We are based in our Edinburgh office with frequent / weekly travel in relation to the opportunities we are seeking to deliver. We work closely with other parts of the business and external advisers to deliver our work with much of our time devoted to managing people and third parties.

The team is highly qualified with a high degree of market knowledge and numeracy and is driven to deliver the growth that is a fundamental part of our overall business strategy as agreed with our shareholders.

The role requires the post holder to take on tasks and projects as allocated by either the Chief Growth & Strategy Officer or the Growth & Strategy Directors/managers.

Framework & Boundaries

The candidate needs to be prepared to work long hours when work flow demands it e.g. during an acquisition the vendor sets the timetable, and we have to meet that timetable. This role will require the postholder to work away from home when required. Travel is mainly in the UK though this could include Europe also depending on acquisition opportunities pursued.

Key duties will include supporting acquisition processes (likes of assisting to manage advisers; obtaining information for such advisers), supporting identification of sites on which to locate development projects, electrical connection agreements with the Transmission Operators and Distributed Network Operators, land option agreements, financing processes (debt raise), equity partnering and other work. Such other work could include supporting other key business initiatives such as a refinancing, work in relation to research of power markets, National Grid product opportunities, and other ad hoc work.

Principal Accountabilities

• Responsible for supporting project delivery using suitable frameworks and techniques and creating and populating standard project documentation. For example, project timetables and data room population and "Q&A" processes.
• Support Project Directors/Managers on day-to-day work which could include:
• Supporting an acquisition or debt raise
• Assisting with developing a "greenfield" opportunity which could include site identification, land option agreements, electrical connection agreements, securing planning consent for a site
• Work in relation to setting, updating or proving a strategy such as research work or arranging meetings with knowledgeable parties
• Assisting with managing a process such as to obtain quotes for construction activities such as via an Invitation to Tender process
• Monitoring and documenting project progress and other performance indicators
• Support Project Directors/Managers in ensuring / managing the advisers and staff deliver their work on time and to budget when assisting them on a project
• When involved in a financing or sales process
• Assist with managing day-to-day queries from internal and external teams as agreed with the Project Director/Manager
• Support managing the Q&A process with lenders and due diligence providers. This will include sending questions to relevant team members / advisers, managing the timeliness and accuracy of their responses, and liaising with the lenders / due diligence providers as agreed with the Project Manager
• Collate documents for the data room and send to data room provider / upload to data room
• Assist Financial Adviser
• Assist with managing due diligence work streams as needed (likes of financial and technical diligence with support)
• Supporting with other ad hoc work as required

This list is not exhaustive.

Dimensions

• No direct reports

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

Knowledge & Skills

Essential

• Working knowledge of the project lifecycle, management techniques and methodologies
• Keen attention to detail, with an ability to spot errors
• Ability to work under pressure, juggle competing priorities, be self-motivated, have a methodical approach and demonstrate
• A diligent self-starter with the ability to establish good working relationships, be proactive, use initiative, and be able to work without constant supervision and as part of a team
• Good project management skills, including delivery of allocated work on time
• Ability to listen carefully to people and process information from across multiple workstreams (e.g. financial, legal, technical, external advisers, lenders, etc), take instruction, and deliver required output
• Ability to take on work that you have not previously encountered with a "can do" attitude and able to learn quickly, while taking on board comments from advisers
• Proficient in word, excel and power point
• Excellent communication (both written & verbal) and interpersonal skills with all levels in an organisation & able to articulate findings of work and issues identified
• Flexible and able to work long hours during peak periods of projects
• Ability to travel weekly if needed (away 2-3 nights if needed). (Note: Normally, away every two weeks for up to 2-3 nights that week - with such travel highly dependent on work load and where projects are located)
• Financially literate

Desirable

• Power industry knowledge
• Advanced excel skills, ideally honed using a proven modelling methodology
• Previous experience of working on sizeable projects

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Qualified Chartered Accountant or similar professional qualification or work experienced energy project developer or M&A specialist
• Degree or experience educated (experience being acquisitions / disposal and greenfield development)
• Experience or good knowledge of acquisition / disposal process (for example, worked in corporate finance or transaction services arms of accounting firms)

Desirable

• Acquisition / disposal process experience
• Knowledge of greenfield development process, including planning
• Greenfield development experience
• Power industry experience
• Advanced degree or qualification - for example, chartered accountant or chartered engineer
• A recognised project management/business analysis qualification