Director, Development

Vesper Energy Development•Albuquerque, NM

4d•Remote

About The Position

The Director, Development owns development execution for a portfolio of utility scale solar and energy storage projects in the U.S. power markets from early stage through construction readiness and, as applicable, transaction and financing close. This role is accountable for project schedules, budgets, risk management, and cross functional coordination across interconnection, permitting, real estate, engineering, finance, and legal workstreams. The role leads a development team as applicable, manages external consultants and counterparties, and escalates key decisions with options and data to Development leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, environmental science, economics, finance, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
10 plus years of progressive experience in utility scale renewable energy or infrastructure development, including ownership of cross functional project execution across multiple concurrent projects.
3 plus years of people leadership experience, including setting expectations, coaching, delivering performance feedback, and holding team members accountable for outcomes.
Demonstrated ability to model Vesper’s values, Accountability, Respect, Courage, Collaboration, and Continuous Improvement, through day-to-day behaviors (e.g., flags risks early, communicates directly, involves the right stakeholders early, and documents and shares learnings).
Demonstrated ability to deliver results through others as applicable, including setting clear expectations, coaching, and holding team members and consultants accountable for outcomes and providing timely performance feedback and development support.
Deep understanding of full cycle utility scale project development, including interconnection, permitting, real estate and site control, environmental diligence, and stakeholder engagement
Strong working knowledge of ISO and RTO market context and regulatory and policy dynamics that affect development strategy and schedule
Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into an execution plan, including portfolio priorities, milestones, resourcing needs, and decision points, and to stop or deprioritize low value work
Strong understanding of interconnection processes and key risk drivers, including study stages, contracting steps, utility requirements, financial obligations, and scope execution by utilities
Strong commercial and negotiation skills across project support agreements (for example tax abatements, land use agreements, mitigation settlements) and vendor and consultant contracts
Strong financial and economic analysis skills, including understanding project value drivers, sensitivities, and how commercial and contractual terms flow through project economics
Ability to concisely frame issues with context, analysis, options, recommendations, and risk and benefit tradeoffs for senior leaders
Highly organized operator with strong judgment, able to manage a large workload across multiple projects with disciplined tracking, documentation, and follow through
Advanced proficiency in Excel required; proficiency in Project scheduling tools, Word, PowerPoint, and GIS visualization tools (for example Google Earth) preferred
Willingness and ability to travel regularly to project locations as needed

Responsibilities

Lead greenfield development execution for a portfolio of utility scale solar and storage projects across U.S. power markets (for example PJM, MISO, SPP, CAISO, WECC) as applicable
Own project schedules, budgets, milestones, and risk registers for assigned projects, maintaining accurate reporting and driving issues to closure to protect COD and value
Drive cross functional execution across interconnection, permitting, real estate, engineering, legal, and finance workstreams by establishing cadence, clarifying owners, and preventing surprises
Manage interconnection strategy and execution for assigned projects, including oversight of applications, study inputs, utility timelines, financial obligations, and mitigation actions for key constraints
Partner with Finance to deliver feasibility analyses and investment decision support, including clear assumptions, scenario framing, sensitivities, and decision ready recommendations
Negotiate and coordinate project support agreements and stakeholder commitments as assigned, ensuring internal alignment, documentation quality, and controlled risk exposure
Lead external stakeholder engagement as needed, including landowner relationships, community and local and state engagement, and coordination of project support activities
Manage contractors, vendors, and consultants by setting scope and deliverables, monitoring performance, controlling changes, and resolving cost, schedule, and quality issues quickly
Lead and develop direct reports as applicable by setting clear goals and expectations, providing ongoing coaching and performance feedback, and building repeatable team practices that improve reliability.
Improve development operating mechanisms by building repeatable templates, trackers, and workflows that increase predictability, speed, and quality across the portfolio
Other duties as assigned