Project Manager – Solar Construction

Teksky; Oak Brook (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Continental Energy Solutions in Oak Brook, IL is seeking a Construction Project Manager to plan, manage, forecast, and close out renewable energy projects. The role acts as the primary liaison across purchasing, accounting, engineering, field supervision, and safety from preconstruction to hand-off to O&M.

The position emphasizes client relationship building, schedule development, incentive compliance, and leading large crews of electricians and subcontractors to deliver on time and within

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or construction management.
• NABCEP PVIP certification desired.
• 2–5 years of complex electrical construction project management with proven resource management.
• 1–2 years in renewable energy; passion for renewables.
• Proficiency in Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, Project and AI tools.
• Knowledge of solar PV, energy storage, microgrid interactions with utilities.
• Creativity to streamline workflows.
• Ability to communicate unfamiliar concepts clearly to customers and teams.
• Proven ability to mentor less experienced colleagues.
• Ability to work on-site in varying weather conditions.

Responsibilities

• Create and nurture client relationships with leadership and other departments.
• Consult with preconstruction to understand permit requirements and ensure inspections are completed.
• Utilize purchasing to subcontract civil, mechanical, and electrical scopes and procure equipment.
• Ensure project eligibility for state and federal incentives from subcontracting onward.
• Develop and maintain project schedules balancing progress, environment, manpower, and customer expectations.
• Lead site mobilization and resource logistics to optimize costs.
• Manage large crews of electricians and subcontractors for active projects.
• Analyze progress and financials to project completion and profitability.
• Identify scope changes and price change orders accordingly.
• Leverage internal resources to create testing plans and review results.
• Package close-out documentation per contract and O&M requirements.
• Maintain a lessons-learned log and conduct post-mortems with all parties.

Skills

Resource management

Client relationship building

Electrical construction PM

On-site leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering

Construction Management degree

NABCEP PVIP Certification

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Outlook

OneDrive

Microsoft Project

AI tools

Job description

Position Summary

The Construction Project Manager plans, manages, forecasts, and closes out renewable projects that are designed and constructed by Continental Energy Solutions. The Construction Project Manager will be deeply involved in customer-facing interactions and act as the point person coordinating with the other departments including purchasing, accounting, engineering, field supervision, and safety throughout the project until its hand-off to O&M.

What you'll do:

• Create and nurture client relationships in collaboration with leadership and other departments.
• Consult with preconstruction team to understand permit requirements and ensure all inspections are completed with AHJ's.
• Utilize the purchasing department to subcontract civil, mechanical, and electrical scopes and procure major equipment.
• Ensure project eligibility for all state and federal incentives starting at the point of subcontracting/procurement and monitoring compliance throughout the project lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain project schedules that balance real-time progress, environmental factors, manpower availability, and customer expectations.
• Lead site mobilization and resource logistics while optimizing labor, rental, and subcontractor cost tradeoffs.
• Manage large crews of electricians and subcontractors to ensure consistent progress on active projects.
• Analyze job progress and financials in a critical fashion to accurately project financials at completion and maximize profitability.
• Identify changes in scopes of work and price change orders accordingly.
• Leverage internal resources to create a testing plan according to the specification and review results.
• Package close out documentation according to the contract's and O&M team's requirements.
• Consistently maintain a lessons learned log for active projects and conduct post-mortems with all parties involved to continuously improve.

What you'll need for success:

• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering or Construction Management preferred
• NABCEP PVIP Certification desired
• 2-5 years of complex electrical construction project management experience with proven success in resource management
• 1-2 years in the renewable energy field; passion for renewable energy solutions
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, Project and AI tools
• Demonstrated knowledge of commercial solar photovoltaic, energy storage, and microgrid applications and how they interact with electrical utilities
• Creativity and ability to develop innovative solutions and streamline workflows
• Ability to communicate unfamiliar concepts to customers and team members effectively
• Proven ability to help guide lesser experienced colleagues
• Ability to navigate uneven terrain, ladders, and remain active on-site for extended periods in varying weather conditions.

Continental Energy Solutions (CES) offers end-to-end commercial renewable energy solutions. We design, engineer, procure, install, commission, monitor, and maintain solar arrays, solar plus battery storage, and full microgrid solutions. Our experienced team, including NABCEP Certified Professionals, plus our extensive project portfolio of both rooftop and ground mount systems for big-box retail, warehouse, and campus solutions have put CES at the top of our industry in the Midwest.