Project Development Lead

Position:

Project Development Lead

Location: Casselton, ND

Geronimo Power (formerly National Grid Renewables) develops, owns and operates large-scale power assets throughout America’s Heartland, including solar, wind and energy storage. As a farmer-founded and community-focused business, Geronimo Power equips landowners and rural communities with sustainable revenue to ignite local economic growth. Geronimo Power is a portfolio company managed by Brookfield Asset Management. To learn more about Geronimo Power, visit geronimopower.com or follow the company on LinkedIn.

Position Description:

The Project Development Lead is responsible for advancing multiple development assets within an assigned region or market by executing on project origination and key strategic milestones. This senior individual contributor role leads cross-functional development efforts across land, permitting, interconnection, stakeholder engagement, budgeting, scheduling, and risk management to deliver preconstruction projects void of fatal flaws and in alignment with Geronimo Power’s return expectations. This role does not require direct management of staff.

Core Responsibilities:

• Manage budget, schedules, and advancement of 4-10+ early to mid-stage projects across various technologies (solar, wind, battery energy storage, data center development, gas, etc.), support on approximately 1-2 late-stage projects. Annual development budgets vary depending on technology type with expected annual range approximately $3 million-$10 million.
• Lead the company in targeting and evaluating markets to identify greenfield developments, Mergers & Acquisitions, and partnership opportunities in assigned area.
• Championing solutions to project risks, management, and comprehensive understanding of how the risks impact development and constructability.
• Work with the commercial and finance teams to prepare financial models, evaluate new technologies, and prepare compelling solutions for customers.
• Represent Geronimo Power with federal, state and local officials, regulators, utilities, transmission operators, and other stakeholders throughout the project development process, effectively managing and maintaining key stakeholder relationships necessary for projects to thrive.
• Manage external consultants, contractors, and/or land agents.
• Lead land negotiations for purchase options, lease options, easements, extensions, and related agreements, including execution, while balancing key considerations across the project lifecycle, including operations, financial modeling, and constructability.
• Coordinate with the Transmission department to site strategic Points of Interconnection, compile relevant application content, and support the process to ultimately obtain Generator Interconnect Agreements.
• Work closely with the Permitting department to manage state, federal, and local permitting efforts, and approval processes for utility-scale electric generation projects.
• Advanced ability to interface with the engineering and construction teams to ensure that projects are deliverable, considerate of site characteristics, and on-budget.
• Update internal data for reports and project schedules.
• Obtain local tax abatements and other agreements as necessary to allow for construction of the projects.
• Travel approximately 40% of the time.
• Other duties as assigned.

Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent work experience.
• 5-8+ years of project development experience in renewable energy or a relatable industry (energy, real estate, commercial development, etc. ) w
• Demonstrated ability to deliver on large scale utility energy development projects and/or data centers is required.
• Demonstrated knowledge of energy markets is required.
• Demonstrated ability to manage project budgets and schedules.
• Willingness to work with and manage relationships with landowners and other stakeholders is required.
• Experience with contract management and negotiation is strongly preferred.
• Previous exposure to project financing is strongly preferred.
• Intermediate to advanced understanding of project constraints and conceptual engineering is preferred.
• Advanced understanding of real property interests is strongly preferred.
• Intermediate understanding of projects models and prior exposure to project financing is strongly preferred.
• Experience using Microsoft Office Suite (Teams; Sharepoint; Word; Excel; PowerPoint)
• Experience with Procore.
• Valid Driver’s License.

Attributes

• Accomplished project management skills and organization.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills.
• Ability to self-prioritize, plan work effectively, and work with competing deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Relationship management skills including but not limited to conflict resolution, negotiation, relationship building, stakeholder engagement, and emotional intelligence.
• High aptitude for creative thinking and problem solving.
• Demonstrated leadership.