Director, Transmission & Interconnection

Valid8 Financial, Inc.; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 171,000 - 209,000; Full time

Job summary

Valid8 Financial, Inc. is looking for a Director of Transmission and Interconnection in Albuquerque, NM. This role will be pivotal in owning the interconnection strategy for utility scale solar and battery storage projects, ensuring alignment with overall project viability and financing needs.

The ideal candidate will have significant experience in transmission planning and an ability to lead a high-performing team. You will oversee the execution of interconnection applications, manage risks, and ensure effective communication with stakeholders. Competitive compensation package available.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in transmission planning or interconnection.
• At least 5 years in a Director-level role.
• Experience managing third-party consultants and technical advisors.

Responsibilities

• Define interconnection strategy and manage development projects.
• Lead the interconnection team and oversee execution of applications.
• Ensure project outcomes through collaboration with engineering and commercial.
• Track interconnection costs, schedule risks, and manage third-party performance.

Skills

Transmission planning

Interconnection process expertise

Team leadership

Power system analysis

Risk management

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Compensation starts at $190,000 annually.

Position Summary

The Director, Transmission and Interconnection owns transmission analysis and interconnection strategy and execution for Vesper Energy’s utility scale solar and battery storage development portfolio. This role is accountable for interconnection pathway selection, queue and study execution, schedule and cost risk management, and portfolio level reporting of interconnection status and constraints. The Director builds, coaches, and manages a highly functional team of interconnection professionals and external consultants, and partners with Development, Engineering, Commercial, Finance, and Legal to ensure interconnection plans support project viability and financing and commercialization needs.

Role Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, power systems engineering, or a related discipline required. Master’s degree preferred.

Years of Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in transmission planning, interconnection, grid integration, or power system studies for utility-scale generation and/or storage projects.
• At least 5 years of direct people leadership experience, including responsibility for coaching, work allocation, quality review, and performance feedback.
• Minimum of 5 years in a Director-level role, focused on building and implementing tools and processes to support the proactive management, execution, and reporting of interconnection project status, schedule, cost, risk, forecasting, and constraints.

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., flag risks early, communicate directly, involve the right stakeholders early, and document and share learnings).
• Ability to translate portfolio strategy into an interconnection execution plan with clear priorities, milestones, resourcing, and trade-offs.
• Deep expertise in utility and ISO and RTO interconnection processes, including queue strategy, study phases, deliverables, and schedule and cost drivers.
• Strong technical capability in power system analysis and modeling oversight, including validating assumptions, reviewing consultant outputs, and explaining results and impacts clearly.
• Strong judgment and risk management discipline, including early identification of constraints and cost exposure, documentation of assumptions, and escalation with options and recommendations.
• Demonstrated experience in building and maintaining a high-performing team of interconnection professionals, ensuring accountability for both individual projects and specialty knowledge areas.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results through a team, including setting expectations, coaching, and addressing performance issues promptly and fairly.
• Ability to influence without authority and drive cross-functional decisions to closure while preventing rework and surprises.
• Experience managing third-party consultants and technical advisors, including scope, quality, schedule and budget accountability, and acceptance criteria.
• Process improvement mindset, including building repeatable workflows, templates, dashboards, and automation that improve quality and cycle time.
• Clear executive communication skills, including concise portfolio reporting and decision-ready summaries for senior leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with Development, Engineering, and Commercial to deliver project outcomes and integrate interconnection leadership into site selection, permitting assumptions, design basis, and commercialization and financing readiness.
• Lead portfolio interconnection and transmission strategy by setting queue approach, study priorities, and mitigation plans aligned to project value and target energization timelines.
• Lead the structure of the interconnection team and its SME roles, ensuring key disciplines (e.g., IC cost forecasting, network upgrade cost assessment, SCED/basis analysis, data/process management, project risk/schedule management) have clear ownership and coverage.
• Coach each team member to act as both a project owner and a recognized SME, with accountability for maintaining up-to-date process documentation, analytical tools, decision templates, or guidance for their specialty area.
• Drive execution of interconnection applications and study processes with utilities and ISO and RTOs, including schedule management, deliverable quality control, and issue resolution.
• Manage interconnection cost and schedule risk by tracking exposure, identifying constraints early, escalating with options, and aligning mitigation actions with Development and Engineering plans.
• Develop and maintain portfolio level interconnection reporting, including milestone status, critical path items, constraints, cost exposure, and recommended actions for leadership review cadence.
• Oversee consultant and vendor performance for modeling and interconnection support by establishing scopes, QA processes, and clear acceptance criteria and by managing to budget and timelines.
• Implement scalable tools and processes to improve speed and consistency, including standardized study review checklists, modeling inputs governance, and automated tracking where practical.

Other duties as assigned.