Development Manager- Renewable Energy

Contour Global•Houston, TX

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

ContourGlobal, a KKR Company, is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) focused on developing, acquiring, and operating electricity generation and storage assets. The company is committed to accelerating decarbonization and evolving into a predominantly renewable IPP. They have a new brand identity, 'The Right Power Forward,' celebrating 20 years of history and guiding their purpose. This role is within a fast-growing development group and offers the opportunity to shape processes, influence team growth, and take ownership of projects. Projects may involve greenfield origination, acquisition diligence, permitting, interconnection, commercialization, and pre-construction execution for utility-scale solar, storage, and select wind projects. The position requires leading cross-functional project teams, proactive issue management, and driving progress through structured communication, analytical decision-making, and strong stakeholder engagement. Candidates with five or more years of experience in renewable energy development are encouraged to apply, particularly those ready for a project leadership role.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Finance, Environmental Science, Economics, Renewable Energy, or a related field.
5–10 years of renewable energy development industry experience. Other experience including but not limited to engineering, procurement, interconnection, finance, accounting, valuation, or permitting will be considered.
Demonstrated ability to self-direct and lead project teams.
Proven ability to manage resources, teams, and deliverables across concurrent workstreams.
Comfortable with project budgets, financial models, and other analytical tools.
Strong problem-solving abilities and a structured, logical approach to decision-making.
Action-oriented and proactive, with strong ownership mentality and the ability to drive projects forward while maintaining measured and professional responses under pressure.
Experience preparing and presenting updates and recommendations to senior leadership.
Familiarity with U.S. ISO/RTO markets (ERCOT, CAISO, SPP, PJM, MISO, NYISO); experience across multiple markets preferred.
Ability to succeed in an organization with evolving processes and help build scalable systems, tools, and workflows as the team grows.
Strong proficiency in Excel and familiarity with GIS, project management, and development tracking tools preferred.
Success in this role requires strong ownership, cross-functional leadership, organizational discipline, and the ability to proactively drive projects forward amid ambiguity.
The most important skills are collaboration, respect, trustworthiness and execution.

Nice To Haves

Experience across multiple ISO/RTO markets preferred.
Strong proficiency in Excel and familiarity with GIS, project management, and development tracking tools preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional development and due diligence teams spanning engineering, land, environmental, permitting, interconnection, legal, finance, commercial, and external developers.
Drive team alignment, set priorities, manage timelines, and ensure accountability across all workstreams.
Facilitate structured and efficient team meetings; maintain action logs; escalate key issues with clear recommendations.
Provide concise, strategic updates to senior leadership regarding project needs, decisions, risks, and status.
Lead strategic evaluation of new development acquisition opportunities and potential greenfield opportunities for feasibility and fit within ContourGlobal’s existing portfolio.
Act as the central point of coordination for both internal and external stakeholders.
Maintain strong working relationships with utilities, consultants, external developers, permitting agencies, landowners, and cross-functional teams.
Present complex technical and commercial issues in a clear and actionable manner.
Engage with senior leadership regularly to communicate resource needs, project decisions, and risk mitigation strategies.
Identify issues, involve relevant stakeholders, and develop solutions collaboratively using logic, structured reasoning, and data.
Make informed recommendations quickly and escalate when appropriate.
Maintain measured, professional, and thoughtful decision-making in fast-moving situations.
Identify, create, refine, and implement development processes, tools, and workflows as the organization grows.
Contribute to building a scalable, repeatable development model for a rapidly expanding team.
Navigate ambiguity effectively and perform well in environments without rigid or well-defined processes.
Monitor industry trends, market conditions, and regulatory changes to shape development strategy.
Manage and mentor junior developers on the team, providing guidance and support in their development activities.
Lead development-focused due diligence for project acquisitions, coordinating technical, environmental, legal, commercial, financial, and land reviews.
Evaluate land control, permitting, environmental studies, interconnection status, engineering completeness, and regulatory requirements.
Prepare red-flag reports, risk assessments, and investment committee inputs.
Provide development assumptions and constraints for valuation and financial modeling.
Participate in early-stage screening of new project opportunities using GIS, constraints analysis, and market research.
Work with land teams on targeted outreach, site evaluation, and stakeholder engagement where appropriate.
Conduct preliminary feasibility assessments for priority development zones.
Coordinate with the Interconnection team to track interconnection applications, studies, and queue progression across ERCOT, CAISO, SPP, PJM, MISO, and NYISO.
Support the Interconnection team in engaging with ISOs and utilities on interconnection issues, system impacts, deliverability risks, and negotiation of study assumptions and technical scopes.
Communicate implications of interconnection results to engineering and commercial teams.