Director, Development

Valid8 Financial, Inc.; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 180,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Valid8 Financial, Inc. seeks a Director, Development to own development execution for a portfolio of utility-scale solar and energy storage projects in U.S. power markets from early stage through construction readiness and close where applicable.

The role oversees schedules, budgets, risk management, and cross-functional coordination with interconnection, permitting, real estate, engineering, finance and legal teams, while leading a development team and external consultants.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, environmental science, economics, finance, or related field.
• Advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in utility-scale renewable energy or infrastructure development and 3+ years of people leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead greenfield development execution for a portfolio of utility scale solar and storage projects across U.S. power markets (PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, WECC).
• Own project schedules, budgets, milestones, and risk registers for assigned projects, maintaining reporting and driving issues to closure to protect COD and value.
• Drive cross functional execution across interconnection, permitting, real estate, engineering, legal and finance workstreams; establish cadence, owners, and prevent surprises.
• Manage interconnection strategy and execution for assigned projects, including applications, study inputs, timelines, obligations, and mitigation actions.
• Partner with Finance to deliver feasibility analyses and investment decision support with clear assumptions and scenarios.
• Negotiate and coordinate project support agreements and stakeholder commitments; ensure internal alignment and controlled risk exposure.
• Lead external stakeholder engagement with landowners, communities, and state actors; coordinate project support activities.
• Manage contractors and consultants by defining scope, monitoring performance, and resolving cost/schedule/quality issues.
• Lead and develop direct reports with clear goals, coaching, and performance feedback; build repeatable practices.
• Improve development operating mechanisms with templates, trackers, and workflows to increase predictability and speed.
• Other duties as assigned

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Project scheduling

Risk management

Interconnection

Negotiation

Financial analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Excel proficiency

GIS visualization tools

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, environmental science, economics, finance, or related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Excel

GIS visualization tools

Project scheduling tools

Job description

The Director, Development owns development execution for a portfolio of utility scale solar and energy storage projects intheU.S. power markets from early stage through construction readiness and, as applicable, transaction and financing close. This role is accountable for project schedules, budgets, risk management, and cross functional coordination across interconnection, permitting, real estate, engineering, finance, and legal workstreams. The role leads a development team as applicable, manages external consultants and counterparties, and escalates key decisions with options and data to Development leadership.

Role Requirements

Education: Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, environmental science, economics, finance, or related field; advanced degree preferred.

Years of Experience: 10 plus years of progressive experience in utility scale renewable energy or infrastructure development, including ownership of cross functional project execution across multiple concurrent projects.
3 plus years of people leadership experience, including setting expectations, coaching, delivering performance feedback, and holding team members accountable for outcomes.

Additional Skills, abilities & knowledge:

• Demonstrated ability to model Vesper’s values, Accountability, Respect, Courage, Collaboration, and Continuous Improvement, through day-to-day behaviors (e.g., flags risks early, communicates directly, involves the right stakeholders early, and documents and shares learnings).
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results through others as applicable, including setting clear expectations, coaching, and holding team members and consultants accountable for outcomes and providing timely performance feedback and development support.
• Deep understanding of full cycle utility scale project development, including interconnection, permitting, real estate and site control, environmental diligence, and stakeholder engagement
• Strong working knowledge of ISO and RTO market context and regulatory and policy dynamics that affect development strategy and schedule
• Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into an execution plan, including portfolio priorities, milestones, resourcing needs, and decision points, and to stop or deprioritize low value work
• Strong understanding of interconnection processes and key risk drivers, including study stages, contracting steps, utility requirements, financial obligations, and scope execution by utilities
• Strong commercial and negotiation skills across project support agreements (for example tax abatements, land use agreements, mitigation settlements) and vendor and consultant contracts
• Strong financial and economic analysis skills, including understanding project value drivers, sensitivities, and how commercial and contractual terms flow through project economics
• Ability to concisely frame issues with context, analysis, options, recommendations, and risk and benefit tradeoffs for senior leaders
• Highly organized operator with strong judgment, able to manage a large workload across multiple projects with disciplined tracking, documentation, and follow through
• Advanced proficiency in Excel required; proficiency in Project scheduling tools, Word, PowerPoint, and GIS visualization tools (for example Google Earth) preferred
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly to project locations as needed

Key Responsibilities

• Lead greenfield development execution for a portfolio of utility scale solar and storage projects across U.S. power markets (for example PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, WECC) as applicable
• Own project schedules, budgets, milestones, and risk registers for assigned projects, maintaining accurate reporting and driving issues to closure to protect COD and value
• Drive cross functional execution across interconnection, permitting, real estate, engineering, legal and finance workstreams by establishing cadence, clarifying owners, and preventing surprises
• Manage interconnection strategy and execution for assigned projects, including oversight of applications, study inputs, utility timelines, financial obligations, and mitigation actions for key constraints
• Partner with Finance to deliver feasibility analyses and investment decision support, including clear assumptions, scenario framing, sensitivities, and decision ready recommendations
• Negotiate and coordinate project support agreements and stakeholder commitments as assigned, ensuring internal alignment, documentation quality, and controlled risk exposure
• Lead external stakeholder engagement as needed, including landowner relationships, community and local and state engagement, and coordination of project support activities
• Manage contractors, vendors, and consultants by setting scope and deliverables, monitoring performance, controlling changes, and resolving cost, schedule, and quality issues quickly
• Lead and develop direct reports as applicable by setting clear goals and expectations, providing ongoing coaching and performance feedback, and building repeatable team practices that improve reliability.
• Improve development operating mechanisms by building repeatable templates, trackers, and workflows that increase predictability, speed, and quality across the portfolio
• Other duties as assigned