Sr. Director or Vice President, Business Development

Avantus; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 199,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) matching

comprehensive medical and dental plan

flexible PTO

Job summary

Avantus seeks a Sr. Director or Vice President, Business Development to own and execute the company’s growth strategy across technologies and markets.

You will lead due diligence, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, reporting to the Chief Development Officer while coordinating with executives and teams to shape Avantus’ expansion. This California-based role requires a strong track record in closing complex deals, strategic planning, and market insight, offering a competitive compensation

Qualifications

• 10+ years in business development, deal origination, corporate development or strategy within power generation.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or Construction Management; MBA preferred.
• Strong understanding of transmission infrastructure, grid interconnection processes, and generation technologies.
• Familiarity with market structures (FERC, NERC, ISO/RTO) and diverse markets.
• Proven ability to source opportunities through relationships and strategic outreach.

Responsibilities

• Own the growth strategy by assessing market landscape, capital flows, and demand signals to identify where to deploy capital.
• Operate a technology-agnostic mindset to evaluate opportunities by commercial and strategic merit.
• Source, evaluate, and lead due diligence on acquisition opportunities across technologies and deal structures.
• Identify portfolio gaps, market inflection points, and non-obvious opportunities ahead of competitors.
• Partner with Project Development to align acquisition and market-entry strategy with organic growth priorities.
• Structure and negotiate transaction structures with Development and Legal teams.
• Work with finance teams to ensure strategy aligns with capital allocation and financing capacity.
• Coordinate with interconnection, transmission, real estate, and environmental permitting teams to ensure feasibility.
• Prepare and present Investment Committee recommendations to executives or Board.
• Represent Avantus with credibility in market-facing conversations with customers and counterparties.
• Track pipeline, deal status, and market intelligence to inform prioritization.
• Manage a small and nimble team.
• Additional scope as directed by CDO or executives.

Skills

Deal origination

Strategy development

Acquisitions

Partnerships

Market analysis

Cross-functional leadership

Capital lifecycle

Communication

Negotiation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance/Engineering/Construction Management

MBA preferred

Job description

ABOUT AVANTUS

Avantus develops, owns and operates utility-scale clean energy projects across California and the Desert Southwest. Our development pipeline of solar with integrated storage will generate enough dispatchable power to serve more than 10 million Americans, day and night. Backed by strategic investment from KKR and EIG, and building on more than a decade of industry leadership, Avantus is growing its position as an independent power producer, delivering affordable, reliable clean energy solutions to meet America’s growing energy demand.

ABOUT THE POSITION

We are seeking a highly motivated and forward-thinking candidate for the position of Sr. Director or Vice President, Business Development. The successful candidate will own the company’s growth strategy and demonstrate sound industry knowledge, a high level of pattern recognition and ability to identify strategic gaps and the market knowledge and vision to create the strategic plan to fill those gaps for the company. The candidate will have superior communications skills and a track record of executing acquisitions, partnerships, and strategic planning.

The Sr. Director or Vice President, Business Development leads the strategic growth plan for the company. This is a technology-agnostic mandate to evaluate PV, energy storage, wind, gas-fired generation, transmission, data centers, and other infrastructure opportunities rather than being confined to a single asset class. This role reports to the Chief Development Officer and will work with executives and cross-functional teams to shape where and how Avantus grows.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own the company’s growth strategy by continuously assessing the market landscape, capital flows, and demand signals to identify where Avantus should bedeploying capital next
• Technology-agnostic mindset; comfortable evaluating opportunities on their commercial and strategic merits rather than a single asset-class lens
• Source, evaluate, and lead due diligence on acquisition opportunities across technologies and deal structures
• Strong strategic and analytical capability with a proven ability to identify portfolio gaps, market inflection points, and non-obvious opportunities ahead of competitors
• Partner with Project Development to align acquisition and market-entry strategy with organic growth priorities and overall portfolio construction
• Structure and negotiate transaction structures in partnership with Development and Legal teams
• Work with finance teams to ensure strategy aligns with capital allocation priorities and financing capacity
• Coordinate closely with internal interconnection, transmission, real estate, and environmental permitting teams to ensure deal structures are technically and operationally feasible.
• Prepare and present Investment Committee recommendations to executive leadership and/or to the Board of Directors
• Represent Avantus with credibility and commercial judgment in confidential, market-facing conversations with wide-ranging customers and counterparties.
• Track and report pipeline metrics, deal status, and market intelligence to senior leadership to inform strategic prioritization.
• Manage a small and nimble team
• Additional scope as directed by the CDO or executive team

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• 10+ years of experience in business development, deal origination, corporate development or strategy within the power generation sector
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or Construction Management; Master's degree/MBA preferred.
• Strong technical understanding of transmission infrastructure, grid interconnection processes, and generation technologies.
• Familiarity with FERC, NERC, and ISO/RTO market structures (e.g., CAISO, WECC, PJM), and experience sourcing opportunities in various markets.
• Demonstrated ability to source opportunities directly through relationship-building, market outreach, and creative deal identification, with experience structuring early-stage partnerships, JVs, or M&A-adjacent transactions.
• Proven track record of closing complex commercial deals in a fast-paced, growth-stage environment.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, high ownership, and comfort operating with ambiguity; strong communication skills and the maturity to represent a confidential growth platform externally.

Avantus offers competitive compensation with an excellent benefits package, including 401(k) matching; comprehensive medical and dental plan options; and flexible PTO.

• 401(k) matching
• comprehensive medical and dental plan options
• flexible PTO

We are an equal-opportunity employer.

The base salary range for this full-time position is listed below (plus bonus and benefits). Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position in California. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the applicable location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus and benefits.

$199,454—$250,000 USD