Manager, Development Engineering

Treaty Oak Clean Energy•Austin, TX

13d•Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, Development Engineering is responsible for leading and managing technical engineering activities during the development, engineering, procurement, and pre-construction phases of utility-scale renewable energy projects, including solar photovoltaic (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), substations, transmission interconnections, and associated balance-of-plant infrastructure. This position serves as the primary technical representative for assigned projects and is responsible for coordinating multidisciplinary engineering efforts with internal stakeholders, engineering consultants, EPC contractors, utilities, Independent Engineers (IE), Owner's Engineers (OE), equipment manufacturers, permitting agencies, and regulatory authorities. The role requires advanced engineering judgment, technical leadership, and extensive knowledge of power systems, renewable energy project development, and utility interconnection requirements. The Manager, Development Engineering reports directly to the Senior Manager, Engineering and plays a critical role in ensuring projects progress from early development through construction with technically sound, commercially optimized, and schedule-driven engineering solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from an accredited university.
Minimum 6 years of progressively responsible engineering experience in utility-scale renewable energy, electric utilities, consulting engineering, EPC contracting, or power delivery.
Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary engineering efforts for utility-scale infrastructure projects.
Strong understanding of utility interconnection requirements, substation engineering, collector systems, transmission systems, power system studies, and renewable energy technologies.
Experience managing external engineering consultants and coordinating engineering activities across multiple stakeholders.
Excellent technical communication, project management, and organizational skills.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent engineering projects with competing priorities.

Nice To Haves

Professional Engineer (PE) license or ability to obtain licensure.
Experience supporting projects within MISO, ERCOT, PJM, SPP, CAISO, NYISO, ISO-NE, or other North American transmission markets.
Experience with utility-scale Solar PV projects greater than 100 MW.
Experience with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
Familiarity with power system modeling software and engineering design tools.
Experience supporting engineering due diligence for renewable energy acquisitions and project financing.
Advanced knowledge of power system engineering principles.
Strong understanding of utility-scale renewable energy project execution.
Ability to evaluate complex engineering issues and develop practical technical solutions.
Strong leadership and decision-making abilities.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
Ability to effectively coordinate internal and external technical teams.
Proficiency with engineering documentation, technical specifications, and project management processes.

Responsibilities

Lead the engineering development of utility-scale solar PV, battery energy storage (BESS), substation, transmission line, and interconnection facilities.
Provide technical leadership throughout project development, detailed engineering, procurement, construction support, commissioning, and project closeout.
Evaluate engineering alternatives to optimize project cost, constructability, reliability, operability, maintainability, and long-term asset performance.
Develop engineering execution strategies aligned with overall project development objectives.
Manage multiple engineering consultants including Electrical Engineers of Record (EOR), Civil Engineers, Geotechnical Engineers, Surveyors, Environmental Consultants, Transmission Engineers, and Owner's Engineers.
Direct engineering deliverables through all project milestones including conceptual design, 10%, 30%, 60%, 90%, Issued for Construction (IFC), and Record Drawing phases.
Review engineering calculations, design reports, technical specifications, construction drawings, studies, and engineering documentation for technical accuracy and compliance.
Coordinate multidisciplinary engineering reviews across civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, controls, telecommunications, and SCADA disciplines.
Lead technical coordination with electric utilities, Independent System Operators (ISO), Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO), transmission owners, balancing authorities, and reliability coordinators.
Review interconnection studies including load flow, short circuit, transient stability, PSCAD, EMT, protection coordination, grounding, harmonic, reactive power, and dynamic model studies.
Coordinate utility witness testing, energization planning, commissioning activities, and commercial operation readiness.
Perform engineering due diligence on greenfield development opportunities and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) projects.
Evaluate site constraints including topography, hydrology, geotechnical conditions, environmental permitting, constructability, access, grading, drainage, and utility infrastructure.
Support project feasibility assessments and engineering risk evaluations.
Develop technical recommendations supporting project investment decisions.
Develop engineering scopes of work for consultants and EPC contractors.
Participate in technical bid evaluations and contractor selection processes.
Review contractor technical proposals and engineering deviations.
Lead engineering reviews for project documentation including: Site layouts, Single-line diagrams, Electrical studies, Civil grading plans, Stormwater management, Hydrologic and hydraulic analyses, Structural calculations Geotechnical reports, Equipment specifications.
Provide engineering support during construction.
Review Requests for Information (RFIs), Engineering Change Requests (ECRs), Field Change Notices (FCNs), and non-conformance reports.
Resolve engineering issues affecting construction schedule or project execution.
Support commissioning, testing, energization, substantial completion, and commercial operation activities.
Ensure engineering compliance with applicable industry standards including but not limited to: IEEE, ANSI, NEC, NESC, NFPA, ASCE, AISC, ASTM, NERC, FERC, State and Local Regulatory Requirements
Develop standardized engineering processes and design standards.
Improve engineering quality assurance and document control procedures.
Establish engineering best practices across the renewable energy portfolio.
Mentor junior engineers and support technical knowledge development within the Engineering team.