Engineering Manager

New Energy Equity; Annapolis (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Retirement Benefits

Medical

Dental & Vision

Health Savings Account

Flexible Spending Account

Tuition Reimbursement

Paid Absences

Job summary

New Energy Equity is seeking a Senior Development Engineering Manager to lead our development engineering team in the U.S. You will drive strategic direction, design standards, and cross‑functional collaboration to optimize solar projects from concept through construction.

You will mentor engineers, support career growth, and implement standardized workflows while ensuring project economics align with company goals. Travel up to 10% may be required.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of directly related experience in engineering management or similar.
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field; Master’s preferred.
• NABCEP certification preferred; strong leadership and communication skills.
• Requires high interpersonal skills to manage internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional teams and deliver results.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership to the development engineering team and oversee hiring.
• Oversee training, succession planning, and performance evaluations.
• Develop and standardize workflows; manage KPI reporting and resource planning.
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration with land, interconnection, permitting, and finance teams.
• Lead optimization and improvement initiatives across design, build, and EPC phases.

Skills

Leadership

Talent Acquisition

Training & Development

Succession Planning

Performance Management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s degree preferred

NABCEP Certification preferred

Tools

AutoCAD

PVsyst

HydroCAD

AutoCAD Civil 3D

AutoTurn

PVcase

Job description

1. Team Leadership and Development

• Provide strategic leadership to the development engineering team, fostering a collaborative, organized, and high-performing work environment.
• Recruitment & Talent Acquisition: Oversee the hiring process to build a team of skilled and qualified engineering professionals.
• Training & Growth: Identify training needs and implement development programs to enhance team capabilities and support career progression
• Succession Planning: Identify and develop high-potential team members for future leadership roles, ensuring continuity and long-term team strength.
• Performance Management: Conduct regular “check-ins” with team members as well as semi-annual performance evaluations, offering constructive feedback and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Quarterly Planning & Team Building: Organize and lead quarterly on-site gatherings to strengthen team cohesion and align departmental goals.
• Subject Matter Expertise & Design Guidance: Serve as a technical mentor and subject matter expert, offering hands‑on design guidance, coaching, and support to ensure engineering excellence and professional growth.
• Assist in the development of workflows for the engineering team and company.

2. Operational Excellence

• Development Engineering: Manage technical strategy throughout the development lifecycle balancing design, energy production, CapEx, constructability, permitting, interconnection, schedule, and overall project economics.
• Engineering Standards & Quality Control: Establish and maintain design standards for development drawings and production models to ensure quality and alignment with company objectives.
• Process Standardization: Develop and implement standardized workflows and documentation practices (SOPs) to ensure consistency and efficiency across engineering projects.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with internal teams—including land acquisition, interconnection, permitting, real estate, and finance—to deliver critical engineering inputs.
• Workload & Task Management: Oversee team workload by assigning tasks, setting priorities, and ensuring timely delivery of high-quality outputs, while empowering engineers to share task delegation and project oversight to promote ownership and leadership development
• Resource Planning: Forecast and manage resource needs—including personnel, tools, and budget—to support current and future project demands.
• KPI Development & Reporting: Define, track, and report key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure team effectiveness and communicate progress to leadership. Examples of KPIs include but are not limited to: Average days to close tasks by each engineer and tasks complete per week/month/6 months by engineer.
• Project Transition Oversight: Ensure seamless handoff of projects from development engineering to project management/construction, supporting long-term project success by checking the design basis, permitting conditions, interconnection requirements, equipment assumptions, constructability, and outstanding technical risks.
• External engineering/EOR management: Develop and manage preferred external engineers, manage scopes, budgets, schedules, quality, and deliverables for outside civil, electrical, structural, geotechnical, or other engineering consultants as needed.
• Interconnection support: Manage technical requirements and risks coming out of the interconnection process and ensure they are incorporated into the design.
• Other duties and responsibilities as requested.

3. Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Knowledge of battery storage systems and experience integrating BESS into layouts, SLDs, equipment selection, and interconnection strategy.
• Process Optimization: Champion continuous improvement initiatives by integrating new technologies and best practices to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and project outcomes.
• Process Automation: Evaluate and implement software, automation tools and workflows to reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and accelerate project deliverable timelines.
• Value Engineering & Cost Optimization: Lead initiatives focused on applying value engineering principles early in development, optimizing equipment selection, evaluating decisions based on CapEx, and refining design strategies to achieve cost savings in EPC project execution based on production data, constructability, schedule, and long-term project value.
• New technologies: Research new technologies in racking, solar panels, inverters, and batteries to ensure the company is using the best possible equipment for the job.
• Lessons Learned Integration: Establish a feedback loop from completed projects to capture lessons learned and apply insights to future development efforts and share them with construction team paying special attention to constructability issues, change orders, field experience, and operating performance.
• Innovation Culture Building: Foster a culture of innovation within the team by encouraging experimentation, creative problem-solving, and cross‑functional idea sharing.
• Benchmarking & Best Practices: Conduct regular benchmarking against industry standards and competitors to identify areas for improvement and adopt best practices.
• Site visits: Coordinate site visits with team members throughout various stages of project development and construction to provide hands‑on exposure to solar design principles and industry best practices.

Experience:

• 8 years or more of directly related experience in engineering, engineering management, and/or related field required.

Software Experience Preferred:

• AutoCAD (Any Version)
• PVsyst
• HydroCAD (or similar stormwater BMP program)
• AutoCAD Civil 3D
• AutoTurn
• PVcase

Special Requirements:

• NABCEP Certification is preferred
• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, or related field (master’s preferred).
• Requires a high level of interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive and productive working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Analytical, investigation, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent leadership and communication skills
• This position may be subject to assessment of skills, job match and/or aptitude.

Other details:

• Current team is comprised of 5 engineers
• Plans to expand the team to 7 engineers in the coming years
• Manager may be asked to complete site plans, single lines, etc. when needed. Most of the time 75%+ will be spent managing/improving the team.

Work shall be performed from Company’s offices in either Annapolis-MD, Roseville-MN, Boulder-CO, Horseheads-NY, or the Boston-MA area. Employee may be required to travel for approximately 10% of the time.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.

The expected annual compensation range for this position is $135,000 - $160,000, encompassing base pay and potential incentive target opportunity. This range is a good faith estimate based on the position's requirements. Specific compensation offered to the selected candidate may vary depending on factors such as relevant knowledge, skills, training, experience, and market conditions. Additionally, this position may qualify for a comprehensive benefits package, including Retirement Benefits, Medical, Dental & Vision, Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Account, Life Insurance and Disability, Tuition Reimbursement, Voluntary Benefits, Paid Absences, and more.

• Retirement Benefits
• Medical
• Dental & Vision
• Health Savings Account
• Flexible Spending Account
• Life Insurance and Disability
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Voluntary Benefits
• Paid Absences
• and more

About Us:

At New Energy Equity, a proud subsidiary of ALLETE, we’re leading the charge in transforming the energy landscape with innovative solar solutions . As a top player in the renewable energy sector, we’ve successfully developed over 600MW of solar projects and closed more than $1.2 billion in clean energy investments . Our projects deliver sustainable electricity to a wide range of clients, including commercial, industrial, municipal, and utility customers . But there’s more to us than just impressive numbers. We pride ourselves on a dynamic and engaging work environment where teamwork, continuous learning, and environmental stewardship are at the core of what we do . Our inclusive and collaborative culture encourages creativity and innovation, making our office a place where every idea is valued, and growth is a priority . At New Energy Equity, you’ll join a passionate team that not only drives the clean energy future but also enjoys celebrating our successes together . With over 250 projects across the U.S. , our supportive atmosphere ensures a balanced work-life dynamic and a fun, fulfilling career path . Join us and be part of a forward-thinking company where your contributions are celebrated, and your professional development is supported as we work towards a brighter, sustainable future .

The statements above outline the essential functions, nature, and level of work expected as of the document’s preparation date. They are not exhaustive lists of all duties and responsibilities. New Energy Equity reserves the right to modify this job description at any time, without notice.

New Energy Equity is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law.

If you are an individual with disabilities who needs accommodation or you are having difficulty using our website to apply for employment, contact our HR department at [e-mail]