Preconstruction Manager

Dispatch Energy; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Career growth

Ownership from day one

Job summary

Dispatch Energy is seeking a Preconstruction Manager to own project management for our distributed energy projects from intake through a construction-ready handoff at Notice to Proceed (NTP). This role sits at the center of our Engineering & Construction organization, ensuring projects reach NTP on time, on budget, and without surprises.

You will translate commercial and technical objectives into structured project plans, including scope baselines, budgets, and schedules, while driving the

Qualifications

• 5+ years of project management, program management, or project controls experience in energy, distributed generation, renewables, or industrial/construction.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, project management, or related field; equivalent professional experience considered.
• PMP certification or equivalent PM training preferred.

Responsibilities

• Stand up and own the pre-NTP project management process from intake to construction-ready handoff.
• Translate commercial/technical objectives into scope, budget, and schedule baselines.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Scheduling

Risk management

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

PMP certification (preferred)

Equivalent professional experience

Tools

MS Project

Smartsheet

Quickbase

HubSpot

Microsoft Office

AI tools/LLMs

Job description

Dispatch Energy is a private investment firm focused on distributed energy assets across the United States. We develop, own, and operate a diversified portfolio of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), fuel cells, solar PV, and hybrid distributed generation projects — targeting front of the meter DG projects along with commercial, industrial, and institutional customers where behind-the-meter (BTM) energy solutions can deliver immediate, measurable value. Our current portfolio includes more than 450 MW of assets in operation, development, and under construction. We also acquire seasoned project opportunities from local developers

Dispatch Energy maintains a disciplined investment and development operation that creates value at every stage of the project lifecycle — from the first client conversation through decades of optimized asset operation.

About the Role

Dispatch Energy is seeking a Preconstruction Manager to own project management for our distributed energy projects, from intake through a construction-ready handoff at Notice to Proceed (NTP). This is a high-impact internal role at the center of our Engineering & Construction organization, providing the project management backbone that supports our Origination, Development, and M&A teams and brings every project to NTP on time, on budget, and without surprises.

This is fundamentally a project management role. Working from the inputs of the Origination, Development, and M&A teams — not directly with the client, and without taking on development work — you will translate their commercial and technical objectives into structured project plans: scope baselines, budgets, and schedules. You will own the delivery process that carries each project from intake to construction-ready, and design the standardized delivery framework that governs it across the portfolio.

You will drive every project to a clean, construction-ready state — scope defined, budget set, schedule validated, key risks documented, and all pre-NTP workstreams complete — before it is released to build. The Development team leads interconnection, siting, and permitting; you set the milestones, own the integrated schedule, and drive it.

Not every project will progress to NTP. A key part of this role is enforcing a disciplined, consistent approach to feasibility and stage-gate governance so that investment of time and capital is proportionate to project maturity, and go / no-go decisions are made clearly, early, and by the right authority.

Key Responsibilities

Origination, Development & M&A Support

Serve as the project management backbone for the Origination, Development, and M&A teams — turning opportunities into structured, well-managed projects as they move through the pre-NTP pipeline, without taking on the commercial, client, or development work those teams own.

• Stand up project management for each opportunity as it enters the pipeline: establish objectives, a scope baseline, a budget, a schedule, and success criteria, built from the inputs of the Origination, Development, and M&A teams.
• Translate the teams' commercial and technical objectives into a structured project plan that feeds the financial model and design — capturing requirements from the internal teams rather than gathering them from the client.
• Provide the project scope, budget, schedule, and risk inputs that underpin Investment Committee packages and investment decisions.
• Support M&A diligence with project-level scope, budget, schedule, and risk analysis for acquisition targets.
• Maintain a single, current view of every project in the pre-NTP pipeline; keep scope, budget, schedule, and status accurate as projects evolve.

Project Scope, Budget & Schedule Development

Own the project definition artifacts from feasibility through NTP — ensuring every project moving through the pre-NTP pipeline has a clearly defined scope, a defensible budget, and a realistic schedule before committing to the next stage gate.

Apply and enforce the company's established risk management framework and investment governance across the pre-NTP portfolio — ensuring decisions follow the Investment Committee (IC) Policy and delegation of authority rather than momentum.

Delivery Framework Creation & Ownership

Design and implement the standardized delivery framework that governs Dispatch Energy's pre-NTP pipeline — creating the tools, templates, and processes that enable consistent, scalable execution across a growing portfolio.

Cross-Functional Coordination & Schedule Ownership

Own the integrated project schedule from feasibility through NTP — driving milestone achievement across a cross-functional team where the work is shared but the schedule accountability is yours.

Stakeholder Management

Build and manage productive relationships across the full set of internal stakeholders involved in the pre-NTP phase of each project.

NTP Readiness & Construction Handoff

Lead the construction readiness process that ensures every project is fully prepared for NTP — so the Construction team inherits a clean, well-documented project with no unresolved pre-NTP issues.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• 5+ years of project management, program management, or project controls experience in energy, distributed generation, renewables, or industrial/commercial construction, with demonstrated ownership of project schedules, budgets, and risk through the pre-construction or development phase.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, project management, or a related field; equivalent professional experience will be considered.
• Proven experience managing BTM energy projects (BESS, fuel cells, solar PV, combined heat and power, or distributed generation) preferred; experience with industrial or C&I energy projects strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent projects through defined stage gates in a matrixed organization.

Technical Knowledge

• Working knowledge of BTM DG technologies: BESS, PV, fuel cells, gas generation, and behind-the-meter economics.
• Understanding of the pre-NTP project development lifecycle: interconnection, permitting, site control, engineering, existing-site integration, offtake structuring, and project finance.
• Ability to read and interpret preliminary electrical and civil drawings, single-line diagrams, site plans, and equipment specifications to inform scope and schedule.
• Understanding of industrial energy economics: demand charges, capacity tags, rate structures, and the financial drivers of investment decisions.

Project Management Skills

• Deep grounding in project management fundamentals: scope, schedule, cost, risk, stakeholder management, and the triple constraint.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage high-level project budgets and schedules at feasibility and development stages — before full engineering and contracting are complete.
• Experience building and operating project management frameworks, tools, templates, and reporting systems from scratch.
• Structured risk management approach: ability to identify, articulate, prioritize, and develop responses to pre-construction project risks and opportunities.
• Comfortable owning and enforcing go/no-go and stage-gate governance processes; able to make and communicate clear project recommendations based on evidence.
• PMP certification or equivalent formal PM training preferred.

Leadership & Communication

• Confident cross-functional presence: ability to run project meetings, hold specialist teams to their commitments, and communicate credibly with senior leadership.
• Strong cross-functional leadership: able to drive schedule accountability across teams (Development, Engineering, Legal, Capital Markets) without direct authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication: able to translate technical project detail into clear, decision-ready formats for Investment Committee packages and leadership updates.
• Highly organized, self-directed, and comfortable managing a portfolio of concurrent projects at different development stages.
• Comfortable operating as the process-and-discipline owner in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.

Tools & Systems

• Proficiency with project management and scheduling tools: MS Project, Smartsheet, or equivalent.
• Experience with Quickbase / HubSpot, or similar project-tracking/CRM systems.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) for scope narratives, budget build-ups, and reporting deliverables.
• Proficiency with AI tools, agents, and large language models (LLMs).

Why Dispatch Energy

• Own and build a new function from day one: you will define how Dispatch Energy delivers every project from intake through construction-ready handoff, and set the standard the entire pipeline runs on.
• Join a team building something real: a growing platform of BTM BESS, fuel cell, and solar assets that directly reduce cost and improve resiliency for industrial customers.
• Work closely with a sharp, mission-driven team across Origination, Development, M&A, Construction, and Capital Markets.
• Competitive compensation, including base salary and performance-based incentives.
• Significant upside as the company scales its origination and development pipeline nationwide.