Head of Project Development

Zenobē • Chicago, IL

9h • $180,000 - $200,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Zenobē is seeking an experienced technical leader to build and lead its North American project development function for fleet electrification projects. The role combines hands-on technical work and team leadership, partnering with technical sales engineers, managers, and associates to develop technical and value-engineered solutions. It works closely with Project Delivery, Product Management and Engineering, Operations, Commercial Analytics, Legal, and Business Development, and requires strong project management across a growing portfolio of concurrent projects.

The position calls for an electrical engineering foundation and project development experience, including permitting and AHJ navigation, utility interconnection, EPC tendering, and contract and risk management across the project lifecycle. It is both technical and commercial: the role owns the technical value proposition, contributes directly to winning and closing deals, and must understand how design choices affect deal economics and how contractual risks flow into EPC and subcontractor terms. The Head of Project Development reports to the EVP–Partnerships and Commercial Operations.

This is an opportunity to build the North American technical function largely from scratch within a fast-growing company. Work combines remote, office, and on-site activity, with travel to current and prospective job sites, sometimes on short notice. The role also supports Zenobē’s health, safety, wellbeing, and sustainability commitments.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher.
• Demonstrated project development experience in EV, energy, or broader infrastructure, such as P3, renewables, or utility-scale projects, with an electrical bias.
• Proven experience building and leading technical or engineering teams, including technical sales engineers, managers, and associates.
• Proficient working knowledge of and ability to interpret electrical schematics, drawings, single-line diagrams, and general arrangements.
• Experience with land-use planning and public/private property entitlements for early-stage site feasibility assessment.
• Detailed experience with permitting, AHJs, and construction management processes.
• Understanding of electrical contracting, construction processes, and cost estimation and scoping.
• Experience with utility interconnection processes, including service or line extensions, load letters, and capacity requests.
• Experience with EPC tendering and supplier-partner management across Tier 1–3.
• Strong project management ability, including managing a multi-project portfolio and a growing team concurrently.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and internal and external stakeholders under deadline pressure.
• Strong commercial acumen and understanding of how design, scope, and value-engineering decisions affect deal economics, pricing, and win probability.
• Legal and contracting experience, including the ability to review, negotiate, or structure contract terms and understand contractual risk allocation through EPC and subcontractor agreements.
• Flexibility to work remotely, in an office, and on site, with travel required and sometimes on short notice.

Nice To Haves

• EV or fleet electrification experience, including charge management, EVSE providers, OEMs, or grant programs.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Engineering or an adjacent discipline; Electrical Engineering is strongly preferred.
• P3 or infrastructure development or finance background.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Experience with energy management, load modeling, and optimization.
• Familiarity with Salesforce, SiteTracker, P6/Primavera, Bluebeam, AutoCAD, and MS Project.
• Experience with EV charging infrastructure commissioning.
• Lean, TPMS, and/or Continuous Improvement experience.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and work alongside a team of technical sales engineers, managers, and associates delivering fleet electrification project solutions.
• Own the technical project development function supporting Zenobē’s North American commercial group and coordinate with Project Delivery, Product Management and Engineering, Operations, Commercial Analytics, Legal, and Business Development.
• Support and conduct site surveys, develop initial project designs for HV/LV equipment, EV charging equipment, and communications, and produce layouts using AutoCAD.
• Navigate permitting and AHJ requirements across jurisdictions to keep projects on schedule.
• Develop and maintain costing models, Scopes of Work, RFQs, and SOPs to scale project development capability.
• Conduct feasibility reviews of prospective customer sites at volume, identifying technical risk, cost, and feasibility early.
• Assess designs during bidding and identify value-engineering opportunities to reduce costs, mitigate risk, or shorten schedules.
• Support EPC tendering and manage supplier-partner relationships across Tier 1–3 subcontractors.
• Own the technical value proposition for customer deals, present Zenobē’s turnkey offering, and actively contribute to closing deals.
• Manage contractual risk flows from customer contracts into EPC and subcontractor terms, keeping scope, price, and risk allocation aligned through execution.
• Represent Zenobē in technical engagements with customers.
• Liaise with local utilities on current and upcoming projects, including grid constraints, utility input to sites, funding sources, and capacity increase requests.
• Liaise with OEMs regarding products, technical specifications, and customer value.
• Coordinate with Legal, Procurement, and Delivery to source supplier-partners, review subcontractor bids, and ensure effective handoff at contract execution.
• Apply project management discipline to team and portfolio resourcing, reporting, and delivery cadence.
• Own Stage Gate (Assurance Review) compliance for the Development & Design phase (AR3a and AR3b), ensuring design, permitting, subcontracts, and budget are complete and audit-ready.
• Identify and implement improvements to project development processes, tooling, and best practices as the team and pipeline grow.
• Travel to current and prospective job sites, sometimes on short notice, to conduct surveys, engage with customers, and support deal progress.
• Integrate health, safety, wellbeing, and sustainability principles into daily work and promote a safe, supportive, and environmentally conscious workplace.

Benefits

• 20 days of holiday, increasing after 5 years’ service.
• 401k scheme with up to 4% matching.
• Training budget and opportunities for personal growth and responsibility.
• Discretionary performance-related bonuses; the posting describes bonuses of up to 33%.
• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance, including three medical plans; one offers 100% employer-paid employee coverage and 75% paid dependent/spouse coverage.
• Refer-a-friend bonus scheme.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity benefits.
• Flexible commuter programme.
• Fertility leave.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior