Senior Director, Engineering

Scout Clean Energy•Boulder, CO

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Engineering leads Scout's Engineering organization within the Technical Services department, overseeing Civil & Design Engineering and Power Systems Engineering. The role is accountable for engineering execution and continuous improvement supporting development, construction, commissioning, and operation of Scout's utility-scale wind, solar, and energy storage projects. Key areas of accountability include engineering standards, technical quality, design governance, resource planning, organizational capability, and technical risk management throughout the project lifecycle. The Senior Director partners with Development, Preconstruction, Procurement, Construction, Asset Management & Operations, and Executive Leadership to align engineering work with project priorities and business objectives. The position builds and develops a high-performing engineering organization and reports to the Vice President of Technical Services. The role establishes engineering policies, procedures, standards, workflows, review and quality assurance processes, governance, and performance metrics. It oversees civil and design engineering activities such as site design, roads, foundations, hydrology, geotechnical engineering, collection systems, and development-stage design packages. It also oversees power systems engineering for electrical standards and performance, including major electrical equipment, protection and controls, SCADA, plant power controllers, substations, collection systems, commissioning readiness, and fleet technical support. The Senior Director provides engineering leadership and technical risk oversight across the project lifecycle, supports due diligence and strategic transactions, and collaborates with internal teams and external stakeholders on technical decisions, project execution, reliability, and performance. The position is based on a preferred hybrid schedule (three days in office and two remote) within commuting distance of Scout's Boulder, Colorado office; remote work with monthly office travel may be considered. Travel to U.S. project sites may be up to 10%. The position is expected to close by January 30, 2027.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering; Electrical Engineering or Civil Engineering is preferred.
20+ years of progressively responsible engineering experience within renewable energy IPPs, electric utilities, power generation, engineering consulting, EPC contracting, or related industries.
7+ years of engineering leadership experience, including management of managers, engineering teams, and senior technical professionals.
Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary engineering organizations.
Strong understanding of utility-scale wind, solar, and energy storage project development, engineering, construction, commissioning, and operations.
Experience managing engineering activities across multiple technical disciplines, including civil, structural, geotechnical, and electrical engineering.
Demonstrated experience establishing engineering standards, governance processes, quality programs, and organizational best practices.
Proven success developing engineering professionals, managers, and technical leaders.
Experience managing engineering resources, consultant relationships, departmental planning activities, and budgets.
Strong communication, stakeholder management, organizational leadership, and decision-making skills.
Ability to balance technical excellence with business objectives, project schedules, and organizational priorities.
Experience with an Independent Power Producer (IPP), utility, owner's engineer, engineering consulting, EPC, or owner-operator business model.
Experience supporting utility-scale wind, solar, and battery energy storage portfolios.
Experience supporting project financing, Independent Engineer reviews, and technical due diligence efforts.
Experience developing and implementing engineering standards and governance frameworks.
Experience leading engineering organizations consisting of managers, technical specialists, and multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Nice To Haves

Professional Engineer (PE) license.
MBA or advanced engineering degree.

Responsibilities

Build and lead Scout's Engineering organization, including Civil & Design Engineering and Power Systems Engineering, and directly lead Engineering managers and Associate Directors.
Set departmental goals, performance metrics, staffing plans, strategic priorities, workforce plans, and engineering resource allocation across project development, construction, commissioning, and operational support.
Recruit, retain, and develop engineering leaders and professionals; lead performance management, succession planning, career development, mentoring, and organizational capability development.
Build a culture of safety, accountability, collaboration, technical excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Manage departmental budgets, consultant expenditures, software tools, and engineering resources.
Establish and maintain engineering policies, procedures, specifications, standards, design criteria, workflows, review processes, and quality assurance programs.
Lead technical reviews, design approvals, stage-gate processes, and other engineering governance activities; track engineering efficiency, quality, responsiveness, and organizational effectiveness.
Improve engineering execution through process improvement, standardization, automation, lessons learned, documentation systems, and knowledge sharing.
Oversee civil and design engineering activities supporting development and preconstruction, including site design, roads, access infrastructure, equipment pads, crane paths, laydown yards, foundations, O&M facilities, hydrology, stormwater, geotechnical engineering, collection systems, and design packages.
Establish civil and design standards and workflows; ensure portfolio consistency; support value engineering, constructability reviews, technology evaluations, design alternatives, site constraint assessments, and technical risk mitigation.
Oversee power systems engineering governance for electrical systems and operational electrical performance across the development portfolio and operating fleet.
Establish electrical engineering standards, design criteria, and best practices; support equipment selection, technology evaluations, standardization, commissioning readiness, technical issue resolution, and operational reliability.
Partner with Asset Management & Operations to improve fleet reliability and electrical performance; support root-cause investigations and corrective actions for significant failures; incorporate operational lessons into future designs and standards.
Provide engineering leadership for project development, construction, commissioning, and operations; guide site and technology selection, constructability, optimization, and technical risk assessments.
Support technical due diligence for project financing, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic transactions, including Independent Engineer reviews.
Identify, mitigate, and communicate engineering risks throughout the project lifecycle; support major incident investigations, root-cause analyses, and corrective action implementation.
Partner with Development, Preconstruction, Construction, Asset Management & Operations, and Executive Leadership to provide engineering recommendations and technical guidance for business decisions and project execution.
Support Supply Chain activities involving equipment qualification, technical specifications, vendor evaluations, and procurement.
Support technical discussions with lenders, investors, Independent Engineers, consultants, OEMs, EPC contractors, and other external stakeholders; build relationships with engineering consultants, suppliers, contractors, and industry partners.
Promote communication and collaboration among engineering and non-engineering stakeholders.