Senior Development Manager

Cultivate Power; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Cultivate Power is seeking a Development Manager/Senior Development Manager to lead solar and storage projects in Illinois. You will own projects from mid-stage development through construction readiness and financial close, coordinating internal and external teams to move opportunities forward.

The ideal candidate will have 3+ years in energy infrastructure, strong leadership and communication skills, and a track record of delivering complex development initiatives in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Four-year bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline.
• Master's degree in energy, engineering, or a business-related field is a plus.
• 3+ years of experience in energy infrastructure development, preferably Energy Storage and/or Community Solar
• Strong project management, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead development activities across site acquisition, real estate and title, interconnection, engineering, survey, environmental, offtake, and policy, coordinating internal and external teams to advance projects toward construction readiness and financial close.
• Gather market intelligence and build relationships with governments and utilities to develop a deep understanding of the development environment, continuously refine that view, and translate insights into project and market strategy.
• Generate new project and business opportunities through independent prospecting, account profiling, business development outreach, networking, and other market penetration strategies.
• Prepare and submit land-use permitting applications; manage development of site layouts for permitting; and coordinate, attend, and present at permitting meetings.
• Travel regularly to project sites and key stakeholder meetings.
• Support the Development Director on commercial strategy and origination, including new-market entry and competitive positioning in mature markets.
• Own project reporting and data management across budgets, schedules, and deliverables.

Skills

Project management

Organizational skills

Analytical thinking

Communication

Problem solving

Attention to detail

Leadership

Negotiation

Influencing

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree (preferred)

Job description

Title: Development Manager/Senior Development Manager

Location: Chicago

The Role:

Cultivate Power is seeking a highly motivated Development Manager or Senior Development Manager to lead the development of solar and energy storage projects in Illinois. In this role, you will own projects from mid-stage development through construction readiness and financial close while helping grow and shape our project pipeline. The ideal candidate combines strong industry and project development knowledge with excellent leadership and communication skills, rigorous attention to detail, strong organization, and the ability to solve complex problems while keeping the broader commercial objective in view.

About Us:

Cultivate Power is a distributed solar and storage platform. We develop distributed energy resources that put land to productive use and integrate thoughtfully with communities and the grid. We believe community generation strengthens grid resilience, advances energy independence, and creates economic benefits for local communities. Our focus is cultivating land into high-quality distributed renewable energy projects.

Our team has been deploying and financing solar, wind, and storage projects since 2008. We are a talent-centric company that believes deeply in empowering our team members with significant responsibility and creating a culture of inclusivity and diversity.

We provide each team member with the training, support, and incentives they need to grow and thrive. Cultivate offers best-in-class compensation and benefits, with equity, profit-sharing, semi-annual performance bonuses up to 50% of compensation, and a 5% 401(k) match. Cultivate Power is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

Essential duties and responsibilities:

• Lead development activities across site acquisition, real estate and title, interconnection, engineering, survey, environmental, offtake, and policy, coordinating internal and external teams to advance projects toward construction readiness and financial close.
• Gather market intelligence and build relationships with governments and utilities to develop a deep understanding of the development environment, continuously refine that view, and translate insights into project and market strategy.
• Generate new project and business opportunities through independent prospecting, account profiling, business development outreach, networking, and other market penetration strategies.
• Prepare and submit land-use permitting applications; manage development of site layouts for permitting; and coordinate, attend, and present at permitting meetings.
• Travel regularly to project sites and key stakeholder meetings.
• Support the Development Director on commercial strategy and origination, including new-market entry and competitive positioning in mature markets.
• Own project reporting and data management across budgets, schedules, and deliverables.

Requirements:

• Four-year bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline.
• Master's degree in energy, engineering, or a business-related field is a plus.
• 3+ years of experience in energy infrastructure development, preferably Energy Storage and/or Community Solar
• Strong project management, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication, negotiation, and influencing skills.
• Self-starter with a strong work ethic and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Results-driven and solutions-oriented mindset.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, manage, and mentor direct reports.