Director, Land Development

New Energy Equity•Annapolis, MD

23h•Hybrid

About The Position

New Energy Equity (NEE), a leading developer of distributed generation (DG) solar and storage projects, is seeking a Director, Land Development. This is a senior leadership role responsible for defining how the company originates, structures, and secures land positions across its DG solar and storage portfolio. The position brings a commercial, portfolio-level perspective to land acquisition, shaping origination channels, structuring long-term relationships with landowners and strategic counterparties, and ensuring land strategy supports capital deployment, risk management, and scalable growth. It requires broad domain knowledge across real estate, development, finance, and markets, and includes direct leadership of complex, high-value commercial negotiations in addition to building and directing a high-performing land acquisition function. New Energy Equity, a subsidiary of ALLETE, is a top player in the renewable energy sector, having developed over 600MW of solar projects and closed more than $1.2 billion in clean energy investments. The company delivers sustainable electricity to commercial, industrial, municipal, and utility customers. They foster a dynamic, engaging, inclusive, and collaborative work environment that values teamwork, continuous learning, environmental stewardship, creativity, and innovation, supporting professional development and a balanced work-life dynamic.

Requirements

MBA, Law, or Master’s degree AND four years or more of relevant experience OR Bachelor’s degree AND six years or more of relevant experience OR Two-year technical degree AND eight years or more of relevant experience OR High School diploma or equivalent AND ten years or more of relevant experience
Experience working in either solar project development or solar project acquisition/transactions
Proficiency with Microsoft Suite (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Experience managing teams and budgets
Strong understanding of real estate documents and title
Expert-level negotiation knowledge
Ability to draft leases, options, and easements independently

Nice To Haves

Salesforce
Renewable energy development experience; DG solar preferred
RPL or CPL certification preferred
Proficiency with GIS tools

Responsibilities

Define and own the enterprise-wide land acquisition strategy, including how new sites are sourced, which origination channels are utilized (direct-to-landowner, brokers, partnerships, options, leases, etc.), and how strategy adapts by market, project type, and portfolio maturity.
Set the commercial framework for land acquisition, establishing negotiation standards, deal structures, valuation methodologies, and risk tolerance in coordination with development, finance, and executive leadership.
Serve as a strategic thought partner to Development leadership, ensuring land strategy aligns with origination pipelines, capital allocation priorities, interconnection strategy, permitting strategy and program timelines.
Lead, mentor, and scale a team of land acquisition professionals, providing strategic direction, decision-making authority, and clear accountability.
Own accountability for annual and quarterly land acquisition outcomes, balancing speed, cost, optionality, and risk across an evolving project portfolio rather than maximizing individual deal volume.
Evaluate market intelligence and portfolio performance data to recommend priority geographies, entry/exit decisions, and shifts in acquisition approach based on project economics, competition, land use constraints, and program/legislative/regulatory dynamics.
Design and institutionalize scalable processes, tools, and governance that enable consistent execution across markets while allowing flexibility for local conditions and deal-specific complexity.
Continuously assess and refine acquisition strategy based on lessons learned, changing market conditions, and portfolio performance, ensuring land development remains a durable competitive advantage.
Oversee and direct end-to-end land acquisition campaigns, including GIS-informed site screening, origination channel deployment, landowner engagement strategy, and execution of leases or option agreements.
Act as the senior commercial authority for negotiations with large land holdings, institutional owners, and strategic partners (e.g., REITs), leading complex transactions and providing executive-level escalation support for high-risk or high-value deals.
Set direction and performance expectations for third-party land acquisition firms and other contracted resources, ensuring alignment with internal standards and portfolio objectives.
Partner cross-functionally with Development, Legal, Engineering, Finance, and Construction to ensure land positions support development feasibility, schedule, and capital structure.
Build and maintain long-term, programmatic relationships with landowners and strategic counterparties to support repeatable execution and future growth.
Ensure land-related deliverables satisfy lender, tax equity, utility, and internal requirements, supporting financing readiness across the portfolio.
Oversee the completion of critical project documentation—including estoppels, waivers, releases, easements, and lease amendments—in coordination with Legal and Real Estate teams.
Support title curative efforts by identifying risks early and partnering with Legal and external advisors to resolve issues efficiently and cost-effectively.
Ensure land positions support downstream development milestones, including interconnection, permitting, environmental diligence, and construction sequencing, and proactively flag land‑driven risks to schedule or feasibility.
Deliver executive-level reporting on land acquisition performance, portfolio risks, and mitigation strategies, including insights relevant to capital planning and development sequencing.
Share market intelligence, competitive dynamics, and land cost trends with senior leadership to inform geographic strategy and program design.
Develop and maintain forward‑looking land acquisition forecasts, including spend, timing, and site control assumptions, to support development planning and capital allocation decisions.
Track and report portfolio‑level land metrics (e.g., cost per MW, time to site control, interest rate by channel, close rate, deal attrition, etc.) to inform continuous improvement and strategy refinement.