Principal Permitting Specialist, Offshore Wind Development

K&A Engineering Consulting – White Plains, NY- is a people-first organization. We value knowledge and learning. We believe in the power of connection and collaboration, and we seek to build relationships that mean something. We employ some of the best and brightest in our industry and work hard to maintain a culture that our people can be proud of. Our company has earned its reputation through challenging work, uncompromising precision, and continuous learning and adapting.

K&A Engineering is a privately held company, providing comprehensive consulting, engineering and design, program/project management, construction management, and support services to power utility and industrial clients. K&A’s experience includes all aspects of generation, transmission, substations, distribution, energy efficiency, and distributed energy resource (DER) projects, from planning and environmental and regulatory analyses through engineering and design, construction, program management, project controls, and commissioning. The utility industry is a vast market and we have rapidly established ourselves as a top-tier service provider. We were recently ranked #126 on the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies and the top engineering firm with a three-year growth rate of 3,166%.

Job Overview:

We are actively seeking an experienced Principal Permitting Specialist, Offshore Wind Development to join our team. Candidates must be local and able to report to office in Waltham, MA, Boston, MA, or Melville, NY on hybrid schedule.

This is a key position for someone who is passionate about renewable energy and wants to contribute to the advancement of offshore wind development.

Responsibilities & Duties:

The Principal Permitting Specialist, Offshore Wind Development provides key insights and leadership of the development and permitting of Offshore Wind and Transmission projects. The successful candidate will work closely with the commercial and technical teams, procurement, finance, risk and assurance functions, as necessary, to deliver all necessary approvals to construct projects within the portfolio. The overall goal of this team-oriented role will be to organize, enhance and leverage assets and resources in the permitting of projects within the portfolio.

• Responsible to Lead workstreams to deliver Federal, State and Local Permitting of Large Infrastructure Projects within the NGV Portfolio
• Collaborate with a diverse set of employees (NG and JV) and consultants in a matrix organization to compile, organize, and assemble information leading to successful permit approvals
• Answer any formal or informal questions related to permit applications and/or environmental issues, or other submissions to regulatory agencies
• Provide insights and thought leadership to adjacent organizations in the development overall strategic engagement of external stakeholders within the regulatory (permitting) space
• Engage directly and indirectly with key Stakeholders and Agencies, as necessary to facilitate the permitting process
• Work within a matrix environment to contribute to bid submission(s) of projects that support the clean energy transition
• Review reports, analysis and assessments completed by partnering consultants for completeness and overall accuracy prior to submission to regulatory agencies
• Provide direct feedback to engineering colleagues during the design phase of projects to mitigate overall project risk when/where possible
• Coordinate with all Joint Venture Permitting and Development teams to implement best practices across partnering organizations
• Coordinate, Communicate and Collaborate with Joint Venture teammates to facilitate overall project delivery
• Keep a focus on overall Health, Safety and Environmental issues when reviewing plans or conducting site visits for field related reports, studies, data collection, assessments, etc
• Contribute to Project Risk Registers, as necessary

Qualifications & Skills:

• Bachelors Degree with 10+ years of relevant experience
• Article 7 experience is required
• Demonstrated Experience in Federal, State (NY/NJ) and/or Local Permitting Processes
• Possess a comprehensive understanding of Federal and/or State permitting and environmental processes/requirements
• Possess a comprehensive understanding of typical environmental studies required to permit infrastructure projects within New York and/or New Jersey and on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
• General understanding of processes to obtain easements, requirements within right-of-ways, and processes to acquire and develop real estate
• Experience interfacing with State and/or Federal Agencies strongly preferred
• Proficient within the Microsoft Office suite of programs
• Valid driver’s license required