Project Procurement Director

RWE•Chicago, IL

1d•$160,000 - $210,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Project Procurement Director is responsible for defining and steering the EPC contracting and procurement strategy for a large, multi‑year portfolio of capital renewable energy projects for Central and East US regions to support RWE Americas’ growth targets. The role provides expert commercial and contractual leadership on EPC and related packages, and leads a team that executes end‑to‑end procurement processes and negotiates high‑value, complex EPC agreements in line with RWE’s governance, risk appetite, and strategic objectives. This role is pivotal in optimizing commercial outcomes, securing executable EPC contracts, and ensuring consistency of approach and continuous improvement across the project pipeline.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree with preference for Engineering, Supply Chain, Construction or Business Management
Minimum 11 years of experience
Renewable Energy Industry preferred with a focus on negotiating solar and storage EPC contracts and/or wind BoP construction agreements
Minimum 5 years leading a team and/or function
Proven leadership skills with the ability to build, motivate, and develop high performing teams
Thorough knowledge of the early contractor involvement and competitive bid processes of EPC contracts and negotiation techniques
In-depth understanding of construction and EPC contract structures and typical risk areas
Solid grasp of project economics, cost breakdown structures, and value drivers
Experience in drafting, negotiating and contract management of high value and high-risk major construction project contracts
Knowledge (suppliers, markets, trends) of the renewable energy industry
Experience in applying efficient procurement processes, structures and analytical tools
Experience of liaising with senior management within critical departments and building strong relationships
Highly developed analytical and communication skills, combined with a structured work style and a pragmatic hands-on approach
Ability to challenge “conventional” thinking, considers others’ views and convinces with facts considering a proactive approach to overcome resistance
Strong eye for detail and ensuring accuracy in exchange of information and contracts
Experience and willingness to work independently in a fast-changing environment and in an international team
Sound knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Ariba, and SAP. Ability to learn new systems and tools rapidly
Readiness to travel both nationally and internationally
Business fluent proficiency in English.
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. RWE Americas is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.

Nice To Haves

Spanish and German language skills are a benefit but not essential

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop a team of Senior Project Procurement Managers, ensuring clarity of roles, responsibilities, objectives, processes, tools, and templates, high-quality, consistent process implementation and proper document storage, strong negotiation, commercial, and contract/exhibit management skills, resource planning, workload balancing, and succession management to ensure adequate coverage across diverse and simultaneous projects, and escalation support.
Lead talent development within the function, identifying high-potential employees, facilitating mentorship, and encouraging professional certifications and leadership training.
Foster a high-performance culture with strong stakeholder orientation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Ensure compliance with the RWE Group procurement handbook, Project Procurement Playbook, delegation of authority, signatory policy, and audit requirements.
Continuously improve standard processes, tools, systems, and reporting to increase transparency and efficiency across EPC strategy development and approval, tendering and contracting, evaluation, open-item tracking, and negotiation.
Monitor and support improvement of Project Procurement KPIs.
Lead a department-sized team of procurement professionals, including managers and senior managers, overseeing end-to-end delivery of procurement for multiple large-scale solar, wind, and BESS projects across the Central and East US regions.
Develop, continuously refine, and manage the EPC contracting strategy for a large multi-year pipeline of utility-scale solar, storage, and onshore wind projects, translating corporate procurement and pipeline objectives into actionable regional strategies and measurable team goals.
Serve as the primary commercial interface to EPC contractors for the region, ensuring procurement leads supplier engagement and negotiations with technical teams in a supporting role.
Build and maintain executive-level supplier relationships, negotiating strategic agreements with Tier 1 EPC contractors and ensuring long-term alignment with RWE's growth goals.
Maintain a strong understanding of the EPC and construction market for relevant technologies and regions, including capabilities, capacity, cost and price trends, inflation and tariff drivers, supply-chain constraints, and regulatory changes affecting contracting.
Provide executive stakeholders with market intelligence, supplier performance insights, and commercial risk assessments to influence pipeline planning and investment decisions.
Manage regional procurement capacity against pipeline demand, applying gating criteria to sequence and pace procurement engagement so effort is concentrated on projects with a credible path to Financial Investment Decision.
Drive standardization of Project Procurement processes, tools, and templates across the portfolio and organization.
Lead negotiations and execution of Preconstruction Services Agreements, Master Services Agreements, and Partnership Framework Agreements for EPC services to provide portfolio-level benefits.
Execute EPC allocation strategy to secure capacity and improve pricing, recognizing allocation reflects intent while final award remains performance and price driven.
Oversee execution of multimillion-dollar EPC and BoP procurement packages, ensuring commercial outcomes meet corporate targets for cost competitiveness, risk management, and schedule reliability.
Establish governance frameworks including contract approval thresholds, escalation procedures, and reporting standards, ensuring compliance and efficiency across all procurement activities.
Own portfolio procurement reporting and status dashboards for assigned regions to drive visibility and decision-making across stakeholders.
Maintain a competitive and reliable EPC supply base, including regular cadence of touchpoints and facilitation of formal quarterly business reviews and scorecards with core partners, ongoing development of regional partners, and identification and pre-qualification of new vendors.
Oversee the end-to-end procurement process and act as the senior escalation point for high-value EPC agreements, major sub-packages, and critical contract disputes or risks, including early contractor involvement, target price validation to confirm viability before committing full procurement effort, project procurement plans and stakeholder sign-off, completeness and uniformity of bid packages at various design stages, bid submission management, including value engineering proposals, risks and opportunities, clarifications and assumptions, leveling and analyzing bid forms and proposals, and recommendations.
Lead complex, high-stakes negotiations with EPC contractors and key subcontractors, including lump-sum, target pricing, unit rate, and quantity true-up mechanisms, performance guarantees, LDs, performance incentives, bundle deals, and split scopes, total cost of ownership and risk mitigation.
Close coordination with Legal, Finance, Project Execution, Preconstruction, Engineering, Equipment Procurement, Supply Chain Planning, Development, Estimating, Energy Marketing, HSSE, Quality, Credit Risk, Insurance, Tax, and Project Controls teams to ensure contract terms and scopes are commercially robust, technically sound, and executable.