Renewable Energy Project Developer, West Region

Scout Clean Energy; Boulder (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as a Renewable Energy Project Developer, where you will lead the development of innovative wind and solar projects. This dynamic role involves managing project budgets, negotiating contracts, and engaging with stakeholders to ensure project success. You will leverage your expertise in renewable energy development and project management to deliver high-quality projects that align with company goals. If you are passionate about sustainability and want to make a real impact in the energy sector, this opportunity is perfect for you. Embrace the chance to work in a collaborative environment that values initiative, teamwork, and integrity.

Benefits

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurance

401(k) Match

Employee Assistance Program

Supplemental Insurance Coverage

Attractive Bonus Potential

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in wind and solar project development.
• Strong understanding of U.S. power markets and transmission systems.
• Ability to manage complex negotiations and stakeholder relationships.

Responsibilities

• Lead U.S.-based wind and solar projects through all development phases.
• Manage contractor relationships and ensure compliance with contracts.
• Develop project budgets and assess project viability.

Skills

Project Management

Negotiation Skills

Stakeholder Engagement

Renewable Energy Development

Analytical Skills

GIS Proficiency

Communication Skills

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

GIS Platforms (Google Earth, ArcGIS)

Job description

As a Renewable Energy Project Developer within Scout’s Team, you will be fully responsible for leading your U.S.-based wind and solar projects through all development phases with a focus on early- to mid-stage phases. You will establish land control, coordinate applications for interconnection, and facilitate environmental, permitting, and transmission reviews. You will be responsible for delivering high-quality and profitable projects that meet all project milestones.

Your day-to-day responsibilities will include:

Project Management

• Develop project budgets, schedules, and documentation and review regular reports of budget and timeline status. Review budget-to-actual and planned timeline-to-actual progress and adjust plans accordingly. Manage projects in alignment with budget and timeline.
• Continually assess your projects' likelihood of success through development and operations and advise senior team members on recommended course(s) of action. Specific to New Projects, this includes utilizing the Fatal Flaw Analysis matrix and the internal Prospector tool to identify and vet new project sites.

Contract Management

• Manage contractor relationships and ensure adherence to SOW/contract.
• Review SOWs for and manage the solicitation and negotiation process with contractors, including commercial terms and conditions.
• Review final and executed contracts, serve as lead point of contact with counterparties, review and approve contract expenditures at the request of the Director, and ensure Scout's and counterparties' compliance with the contract. This includes having tough conversations to hold counterparties accountable for promised timelines and expected qualities of work and putting pressure on when necessary to get the needed results.

Finance and Commercial Matters

• Coordinate the updates to project budgets and review of financial models with internal subject matter experts on a quarterly basis and review for accuracy and project feasibility. Utilize results of economic analyses to inform project development. Ability to identify financial model input flaws.
• Further advanced ability on negotiations for your project(s), integrating knowledge about a range of complex market and commercial issues and deploying a range of appropriate strategies and tactics in each situation. Continue to enhance negotiating skills. Lead multiple negotiations of complex commercial matters. Mentor more junior staff on negotiation and commercial matters.
• Act as the facilitator for the transaction, coordinating the flow of information between the companies.

Stakeholder relationships and Real Estate

• Develop and lead the implementation of project-wide strategies to engage landowners, community members, and community leadership to achieve project success. Mentor the junior staff in external relationship building.
• Lead a process to identify landowners, cultivate fruitful relationships, identify and mitigate risk, and secure site control agreements and planning/use permit approvals.
• Frequent travel to project sites (potential and in development) to assess opportunities and acquire valuable land rights.

GIS

• Orchestrate the use of mapping tools to address more complex issues, enlisting other Scout team members as needed. Continue to complete independent analysis as needed.

Permitting (local, state, federal) Tax

• Develop checklists and strategies for meeting location-specific permitting and tax requirements to determine if the project is feasible; oversee their implementation. Understand which tax and permitting issues are workable and which ones aren't. Develop and implement creative strategies for working around the "workable" obstacles.
• Lead project permitting. Manage the permitting and tax abatement processes via external and internal stakeholder engagement. Develop checklists and strategies to ensure the permitting/abatement timelines match the overall project timeline. Review all materials for feasibility.
• Plan and manage the studies required to assess project viability and/or support the permitting, financing, and operation of the project. This includes, but is not limited to environmental (bird, bat) geotech, hydrology, cultural, airspace, resource monitoring, transmission capacity, congestion, public sentiment and title. Fully understand competitive landscape and advise on where your projects sit in the stack.

Engineering Design, Technology, Construction and Operation (Includes Interconnection, battery storage, solar, and wind)

• Ensure adherence to interconnection process requirements; adjust project plans based on shifts in interconnection timeline and approvals.
• Direct others to gather information needed to inform system and site design; make recommendations to team leadership about the preferred approach.
• Advanced understanding of the construction and operation of wind, solar and/or battery storage and different processes and technologies utilized.

Internal (Team work)

• Proactively collaborate and influence team members to obtain a positive outcome for the project.
• Mentor more junior staff to support continued team development.
• Own your project, taking responsibility for the details of all aspects (e.g., interconnection, real estate, construction, engineering, financial modeling). Share credit with others. Serve as the central point of contact for all aspects of the project (internal and external). Strategically engage and manage Scout's resources to advance your project. Effectively manage external resources. Anticipate the major concerns of management teams and proactively address those when reporting up. Demonstrate a range of effective communication and leadership skills when working with both internal and external parties.
• Manage the hand-off of projects from your Development team to the next project phase (e.g., Development, Construction, M&A).

Advance Scout

• Lead or guide the efforts of junior staff to conduct the analysis needed to develop your group's strategy.
• Lead projects that progress through Scout's Tier structure.
• Deliver on the goals you set annually with your manager.
• Embody and model Scout's mission and values in all interactions.

Minimum Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college program.
• 5+ years of wind and/or solar development experience.
• Knowledge of the full-cycle of utility-scale wind and solar power generation development and marketing, with considerable experience leading mid- to late-stage development.
• Extensive knowledge of interconnection process, permitting, real estate, state/federal regulation, utility procurement goals, politics, law and other issues that impact development of renewable energy projects in the U.S. energy markets.
• Strong understanding of U.S. power markets and transmission system.
• Solid understanding of economic drivers for renewable energy projects.
• Ability to concisely frame issues by providing context, analysis, recommendations and risk/benefit tradeoffs, both in written, verbal, and presentation format, to project teams and to senior management.
• Ability to recognize development opportunities and identify and evaluate risks related to renewable project development.
• Demonstrated ability to work in:
• a flat organization, successfully leveraging the expertise of multiple colleagues in different lines of reporting.
• a dynamic work environment and industry that is constantly evolving.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and GIS platforms (e.g., Google Earth, ArcGIS).
• Legally authorized to work in the United States.
• Willingness to work out of the Boulder office is preferred but not required.
• Willing and available to travel significantly as needed (40%-60%) depending on project stage.

Scout’s Values

• Mission-Orientation. High achievers who want to make a difference in this world and contribute to Scout’s stated mission.
• Teamwork. Respectful and appreciative colleagues with strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to fostering positive relationships across organizational boundaries to deliver on shared team goals.
• Safety. Uncompromising advocates for the health and safety of fellow employees, contractors, customers, and community members.
• Integrity. Ethical professionals who do the right thing even when it is difficult.
• Initiative. Resourceful self-motivators who thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment because of their exceptional leadership, work ethic, and organizational skills.
• Intelligence. Problem-solving learners who can make informed decisions quickly and create innovative and pragmatic solutions to challenging problems.

Invitation to Women and U.S. Underrepresented Groups

We encourage applications from all demographics and especially those that are traditionally underrepresented in the energy industry. Consistent with our core values, Scout celebrates the diversity of thought and experience that comes from a range of backgrounds including, but not limited to, gender, race, and ethnicity.

Invitation to Veterans

Scout welcomes veterans of the United States Armed Forces to apply for this position. Scout includes veterans of all branches and a diverse set of occupational specialties. We value the independent thinking, problem solving, leadership, and teamwork that our veterans have developed through their service. We welcome applications from any service and any military occupational specialty.

Compensation

Target base salary: $120,000-140,000

Attractive bonus potential.

Scout offers a full range of benefits, including medical/dental/vision insurance with attractive premiums, 401(k) match, STD, LTD, an Employee Assistance Program, and a range of optional supplemental insurance coverage.