VP, Project Development

Giga Energy; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Subsidized health, dental, and vision

401(k) with employer match

Unlimited PTO

Parental leave

FSA/HSA

Commuter benefits

Monthly team onsite

Job summary

Giga Energy is seeking a VP of Project Development to own site selection through construction, leading end-to-end delivery. You will build agency relationships early, coordinate with utilities, and accelerate shovel-ready timelines across multiple sites.

This role demands strong leadership under pressure and deep regulatory know-how. Based in a Houston-area hub with an in-office culture, the ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced environments, manages complex permit schedules, and partners with

Qualifications

• 10+ years delivering complex multi-agency development or infrastructure projects.
• Experience managing entitlements, permitting, and utility coordination.
• Strong technical literacy — able to discuss with civil, electrical, and structural engineers.
• Exceptional relationship-building with government agencies, utilities, and community stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Entitlements & Permitting: build agency relationships and drive approvals.
• Utility & Infrastructure Coordination: negotiate with power/water/telecom providers and coordinate engineers.
• Environmental & Due Diligence: manage Phase I/II assessments and regulatory clearances.
• Stakeholder & Community Engagement: represent the company at hearings and meetings.
• Process & Schedule Management: maintain development schedules and track critical paths.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Regulatory coordination

Project scheduling

Cross-functional collaboration

Infrastructure development

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Planning

Job description

What you’ll do

As a VP, Project Development, you will own everything that sits between site selection and construction. This is not a permitting coordination role — it is full-stack site delivery. You will be embedded with a development team and local jurisdictions to take end-to-end ownership of getting each site shovel-ready as fast as possible.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives under real schedule pressure, builds relationships with agencies and utilities before they are needed, and thinks in terms of parallel workstreams and creative problem solving rather than sequential checklists.

Where you’ll work

We are an in-office culture — velocity matters when you're building physical infrastructure, and the best decisions happen in the room. This role is ideally based in our San Francisco, Long Beach, or Houston offices, with full-time onsite expectations outside of bi-weekly WFH Fridays.

That said, we will make exceptions for truly exceptional talent if you live outside one of our hubs. If you're the right person for this role, we'll have a conversation about what works.

Responsibilities

Entitlements & Permitting

• Build agency relationships before they are needed — not when you are already on the clock

• Drive zoning, land use approvals, conditional use permits, and variances through local and state agencies

• Identify and pursue parallel regulatory pathways to compress overall approval timelines

• Own permit schedule risk and communicate it clearly to development leadership

• Collaborate with Engineering and Construction teams to ensure the most efficient path to shovel-readiness

Utility & Infrastructure Coordination

• Lead negotiations with power providers, water districts, and telecom utilities

• Coordinate with civil, structural, and electrical engineers to produce complete and accurate permit packages

Environmental & Due Diligence

• Manage Phase I/II environmental assessments, wetlands determinations, and other site constraints

• Engage environmental consultants and coordinate agency approvals through to clearance

Stakeholder & Community Engagement

• Represent Giga Energy at public hearings, neighborhood meetings, and agency presentations

• Build community relationships that support current and future projects

Process & Schedule Management

• Create and maintain detailed development schedules tracking every entitlement, utility, and permit milestone

• Track critical path items, escalate risks early, and proactively solve problems before they impact delivery

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Planning, Construction Management, or related field

• 10+ years delivering complex, multi-agency development or infrastructure projects, bonus points for experience in Energy or Data Center development

• Demonstrated experience managing entitlements, permitting, and utility coordination simultaneously

• Strong technical literacy — able to hold substantive conversations with civil, electrical, and structural engineers

• Exceptional relationship-building skills with government agencies, utilities, and community stakeholders

• Experience creating and managing detailed project schedules and critical path dependencies

• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with shifting priorities

Bonus Points

• Background in hyperscale data center or other large-scale industrial development

• Experience in oil & gas, LNG, or petrochemical — industries that drive large capital projects through permitting under real schedule pressure

• Track record compressing development timelines through creative regulatory strategies

• Previous experience on the owner's side of development

• Knowledge of utility interconnection processes and power provider negotiations

Benefits

• Subsidized health, dental, and vision insurance

• Equity (options) in a rapidly growing startup

• 401(k) with 4% employer match

• Unlimited PTO

• Parental leave

• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA)

• Commuter benefits

• Monthly team onsites where all offices come in–person to collaborate