Director, Transmission & Interconnection

Vesper Energy Development•Albuquerque, NM

18h•Remote

About The Position

The Director, Transmission and Interconnection owns transmission analysis and interconnection strategy and execution for Vesper Energy’s utility scale solar and battery storage development portfolio. This role is accountable for interconnection pathway selection, queue and study execution, schedule and cost risk management, and portfolio level reporting of interconnection status and constraints. The Director builds, coaches, and manages a highly functional team of interconnection professionals and external consultants, and partners with Development, Engineering, Commercial, Finance, and Legal to ensure interconnection plans support project viability and financing and commercialization needs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, power systems engineering, or a related discipline required.
Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in transmission planning, interconnection, grid integration, or power system studies for utility-scale generation and/or storage projects.
At least 5 years of direct people leadership experience, including responsibility for coaching, work allocation, quality review, and performance feedback.
Minimum of 5 years in a Director-level role, focused on building and implementing tools and processes to support the proactive management, execution, and reporting of interconnection project status, schedule, cost, risk, forecasting, and constraints.
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).
Ability to translate portfolio strategy into an interconnection execution plan with clear priorities, milestones, resourcing, and trade offs
Deep expertise in utility and ISO and RTO interconnection processes, including queue strategy, study phases, deliverables, and schedule and cost drivers
Strong technical capability in power system analysis and modeling oversight, including validating assumptions, reviewing consultant outputs, and explaining results and impacts clearly
Strong judgment and risk management discipline, including early identification of constraints and cost exposure, documentation of assumptions, and escalation with options and recommendations
Demonstrated experience in building and maintaining a high-performing team of interconnection professionals, ensuring accountability for both individual projects and specialty knowledge areas.
Demonstrated ability to deliver results through a team, including setting expectations, coaching, and addressing performance issues promptly and fairly
Ability to influence without authority and drive cross functional decisions to closure while preventing rework and surprises
Experience managing third party consultants and technical advisors, including scope, quality, schedule and budget accountability, and acceptance criteria
Process improvement mindset, including building repeatable workflows, templates, dashboards, and automation that improve quality and cycle time
Clear executive communication skills, including concise portfolio reporting and decision ready summaries for senior leadership

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Partner with Development, Engineering, and Commercial to deliver project outcomes and integrate interconnection leadership into site selection, permitting assumptions, design basis, and commercialization and financing readiness
Lead portfolio interconnection and transmission strategy by setting queue approach, study priorities, and mitigation plans aligned to project value and target energization timelines
Lead the structure of the interconnection team and its SME roles, ensuring key disciplines (e.g., IC cost forecasting, network upgrade cost assessment, SCED/basis analysis, data/process management, project risk/schedule management) have clear ownership and coverage.
Coach each team member to act as both a project owner and a recognized SME, with accountability for maintaining up-to-date process documentation, analytical tools, decision templates, or guidance for their specialty area.
Drive execution of interconnection applications and study processes with utilities and ISO and RTOs, including schedule management, deliverable quality control, and issue resolution
Manage interconnection cost and schedule risk by tracking exposure, identifying constraints early, escalating with options, and aligning mitigation actions with Development and Engineering plans
Develop and maintain portfolio level interconnection reporting, including milestone status, critical path items, constraints, cost exposure, and recommended actions for leadership review cadence
Oversee consultant and vendor performance for modeling and interconnection support by establishing scopes, QA processes, and clear acceptance criteria and by managing to budget and timelines
Implement scalable tools and processes to improve speed and consistency, including standardized study review checklists, modeling inputs governance, and automated tracking where practical
Other duties as assigned