Head of Project Development

Arbor Energy; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Unlimited PTO

12+ company holidays

401(k)

Annual learning and development stiped

Job summary

Arbor Energy is seeking a Head of Project Development to own the end-to-end origination, siting, and de-risking of energy-plus-CDR generation facilities from greenfield concept through Final Investment Decision (FID).

Based out of El Segundo, CA, the role prioritizes high-value deployment markets in Texas, Louisiana, and the U.S. Gulf Coast before scaling nationally and internationally, with cross-functional collaboration across Policy and Finance to maximize project returns.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of infrastructure project development experience bringing complex utility-scale power or heavy industrial energy projects to financial close.
• Deep sector expertise across distributed energy, utility-scale renewables, or midstream infrastructure; CCS/CDR preferred.
• Mastery of grid dynamics, interconnection queues, tariff structures, and PPA negotiations.
• Strong regulatory and permitting experience, NEPA, zoning, environmental permits in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
• Strategic and operational agility to design macro scaling models and manage granular details.

Responsibilities

• Pipeline Ownership: Build and execute a blueprint for a multi-gigawatt pipeline of baseload projects.
• Co-Location Scoping: Identify optimal sites with favorable grid interconnection and fuel inputs proximity.
• Regional Execution: Lead Gulf Coast site acquisition, land options, and permitting.

Skills

Project lifecycle ownership

Grid dynamics & interconnection

Regulatory & permitting

Strategic scaling & macro modeling

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

At Arbor Energy & Resources Corporation ("Arbor Energy"), we’re creating technology to power our lives while protecting the planet that sustains them. Our advanced power systems deliver clean, reliable baseload electricity with zero operating emissions—modular, fuel-flexible, and engineered for the realities of today’s energy demand. At the core is a supercritical CO₂ turbine with integrated carbon capture, designed to bring carbon-neutral power online quickly at meaningful scale.

Our team includes aerospace engineers, combustion experts, and systems thinkers with a shared goal: to build technology worthy of the world we want to live in. While many of us began our journeys looking to the stars, we’re applying that expertise here at home to deliver dependable, emission-free baseload power and a future of lasting abundance.

If you share our values and are drawn to rigorous work with lasting impact, we’d love to learn more about you. Come build what the future will run on.

Steward our planet: We build for tomorrow, ensuring every bolt we tighten and every hand we lend leaves our environment stronger than we found it.

Lead with Love: We champion the success of our people, partners, and planet, nurturing excellence through camaraderie and rigor.

Explore the Uncharted: We embrace the unknown with curiosity, using courage and discipline to transform uncertainty into opportunity.

Role Overview

As the Head of Project Development, you will own the end-to-end origination, siting, and de-risking of Arbor's energy-plus-CDR generation facilities. This is a highly strategic, executive-level role requiring a unique blend of traditional utility-scale power plant development and cutting-edge carbon management. You will be the architect of our project pipeline, taking sites from greenfield concept through to Final Investment Decision (FID) and transitioning them to our engineering and construction teams.

Based out of our El Segundo headquarters, your immediate priority will be capitalizing on our highest-value target deployment markets in Texas, Louisiana, and the wider U.S. Gulf Coast, before scaling the deployment model both nationally and internationally.

Responsibilities

• Pipeline Ownership: Build and execute the strategic blueprint to deliver a multi-gigawatt pipeline of profitable, FID-ready baseload power projects.
• Co-Location Scoping: Identify optimal sites based on dual-critical parameters: favorable grid interconnection constraints and direct proximity to fuel inputs (natural gas/biomass feedstock), $CO_2$ pipelines, or Class VI sequestration wells.
• Regional Execution: Lead site acquisition, land options, and permitting in the Gulf Coast region, maximizing the advantages of localized Class VI permits and local infrastructure.

Grid Interconnection & Power Offtake

• Interconnection Strategy: Strategically navigate regional ISO/RTO queues (with an immediate focus on ERCOT and MISO) to identify fast-track, low-cost grid injection points.
• PPA & Utility Negotiations: Originate and negotiate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with utilities, large industrial buyers, and data center operators seeking clean, 24/7 baseload power.

CO2 Management & Fuel Logistics

• Sequestration Partnerships: Secure long-term, permanent carbon storage capacity by negotiating and structuring agreements with Class VI injection well operators and subsurface developers.
• Midstream & Logistics: Evaluate and secure access to CO2 transport networks (pipelines, trucking, or rail) to handle the pure stream of by-product CO2 generated from our oxy-combustion loop.
• Fuel Security: Coordinate with supply chain teams to ensure sites have access to reliable natural gas infrastructure or biomass/syngas logistics to unlock both zero- and negative-emissions monetization pathways.
• Cross-Functional Incentive Optimization: Work in lockstep with the Policy and Finance teams to aggressively optimize project returns by blending federal, state, and local incentives—including Section 45Q tax credits, clean energy production incentives, NEPA compliance frameworks, and discretionary government funding.
• Project Finance Structuring: Partner with Finance to maximize project bankability, leveraging the dual revenue streams of contracted energy sales and premium CDR credits to secure project finance or private equity.

Requirements

• 10+ years of infrastructure project development experience, with a proven track record of bringing multiple complex, utility-scale power generation or heavy industrial energy projects to financial close.
• Deep sector expertise across distributed energy, utility-scale renewables, microgrids, thermal power generation, or midstream infrastructure. Direct experience in the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS/CDR) sector is highly preferred.
• Mastery of Grid Dynamics: A strong understanding of RTO/ISO interconnection queues, transmission planning, utility tariff structures, and PPA negotiations.
• Regulatory & Permitting Savvy: Hands-on experience navigating NEPA compliance, industrial zoning, state environmental permits, and local community engagement, particularly in the U.S. Gulf Coast.
• Strategic & Operational Agility: A leader who can design macro corporate scaling models, yet seamlessly pivot down to granular details—whether it’s reviewing an interconnection application, analyzing utility tariffs, or walking a greenfield site.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with biomass-to-energy projects, oxy-combustion/sCO2 technology, or Class VI sequestration networks.
• Experience scaling an early-stage heavy infrastructure or clean-tech pipeline through rapid growth phases.
• Background in infrastructure private equity, project finance modeling, or managing government-grant-backed energy developments.
• Pre-IPO stock options
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (Arbor covers 90% for employees)
• Basic life insurance fully covered
• Health savings account (HSA) with matching
• Flexible savings account (FSA)
• Unlimited PTO
• 12+ company holidays, including Earth Day!
• 401(k)
• Annual learning and development stipend
• And more!

Base Pay: $200,000 - $220,000 USD/year. The salary is subject to the applicant's skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

Our Commitment

Arbor Energy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Solving global energy challenges requires a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and we are committed to building a team that reflects the world we serve.

Our hiring process is designed to be accessible, fair, and focused on the work that matters most for this role. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the hiring process and employment—please let us know if you need one.