Sr. Project Manager- West Region Development

Description As a Senior Project Manager within Scout’s Team, you will be fully responsible for leading your U.S.-based wind and solar projects through all development phases with a focus on early- to mid-stage phases. You will establish land control, coordinate applications for interconnection, and facilitate environmental, permitting, and transmission reviews. You will be responsible for delivering high-quality and profitable projects that meet all project milestones.

Your Day-to-day Responsibilities Will Include

Project Management

• Review regular reports of budget and timeline status. Develop plans to develop and meet project timelines and budgets across your portfolio of projects by leveraging your knowledge of the drivers of project economics and experience building successful projects.
• Beyond PM duties, support and lead junior staff to take on tasks associated with the projects you manage

Contract Management

• Expand relationships with leadership at potentially new contractors to ensure continued access to top-flight support for Development contracting needs.
• Lead the SOW development, solicitation, and negotiation process for your projects, including commercial terms and conditions
• Beyond the listed PM responsibilities, develop a process for ensuring appropriate review, approval, and monitoring of compliance with executed contracts.

Finance and Commercial Matters

• Translate contracts and financing agreements into concise financial and economic analysis. Utilize results of economic analyses to inform project development, creating additional value opportunities for Scout when possible. Lead review and management of project budgets and financial models, working with the Finance team during financial feasibility and analysis and evaluation. Ability to identify financial model input flaws.
• Own negotiations for your project(s), integrating knowledge about a range of complex market and commercial issues and deploying a range of appropriate strategies and tactics in each situation. Continue to enhance negotiating skills. Lead multiple negotiations of complex commercial matters. Mentor more junior staff on negotiation and commercial matters.
• Be the face of a diligent effort. Collaborate with executive, Legal, Finance, and other internal teams while working with the parties to support the negotiation of contract terms to close the transaction.

Stakeholder relationships and Real Estate

• Gather market intelligence and expand relationships with appropriate government, regulatory, and utility officials to understand project approval process, electric rates, and regulations and incentives structures. Mentor junior staff in external relationship building.
• Serve as project lead for discussions with landowners, negotiate site control agreements, identify and mitigate risk, and secure planning / use permit approvals.
• Frequent travel to project sites (potential and in development) to assess opportunities and acquire valuable land rights.

GIS

• Identify innovative uses of mapping tools and organize the implementation of those methods. Advise team members in resolving issues as they arise. Continue to complete independent analysis as needed.

Permitting (local, state, federal) Tax

• Analyze impact of changing regulatory environments and adjust strategy as necessary.
• Lead very complex project permitting. Implement and manage the permitting and tax strategy that delivers on the project’s and company’s goals and objectives.
• Beyond PM duties, provide insights and recommendations for improving the study process, finding efficiencies in both cost and effectiveness of the studies to better ensure the advancement and success of the project or determine the project is not viable and should be terminated. Create and implement strategies based on competitive landscape.

Engineering Design, Technology, Construction and Operation (Includes Interconnection, battery storage, solar, and wind)

• Use information about interconnection trends and availability to shape selection of priority areas and project sites for development.
• Work with the Engineering and Finance teams to identify the most appropriate technical, material, and financial solutions to optimize system competitiveness and clearly present combined technical and financial solutions to internal decision makers.
• Advanced understanding of the construction and operation of battery storage, solar, and/or wind projects and different processes and technologies utilized, and ability to make recommendations on how to better optimize projects based on this knowledge

Internal (Team work)

• Proactively collaborate with members of other teams at Scout to advance collective success. Create systems and protocols to support more junior team members’ ability to do the same.
• Demonstrated and sustained ability to develop direct reports (as assigned), ensuring continued team and individual professional development.
• Resolve issues and concerns identified by more junior staff. Lead problem solving efforts with interdisciplinary groups. Address nearly all issues independently. Identify and elevate only the most complex issues or concerns to more senior staff, accompanied by recommendations for resolution. Lead implementation of solutions.
• Excel in all areas, proactively improving your work and the work of the team. Develop systems and processes to enable more efficient and successful project delivery.
• Design and lead the hand-off of projects from your Development team to the next project phase (e.g., Development, Construction, M&A).

Advance Scout

• Provide leadership to support the creation and implementation of your group’s development strategy.
• Lead multiple projects that progress through Scout’s Tier structure.
• Deliver on the goals you set annually with your manager.
• Embody and model Scout’s mission and values in all interactions.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college program.
• 5+ years of wind and/or solar development experience.
• Knowledge of the full-cycle of utility-scale wind and solar power generation development and marketing, with considerable experience leading mid- to late-stage development.
• Extensive knowledge of interconnection process, permitting, real estate, state/federal regulation, utility procurement goals, politics, law and other issues that impact development of renewable energy projects in the U.S. energy markets.
• Strong understanding of U.S. power markets and transmission system.
• Solid understanding of economic drivers for renewable energy projects.
• Ability to concisely frame issues by providing context, analysis, recommendations and risk/benefit tradeoffs, both in written, verbal, and presentation format, to project teams and to senior management.
• Ability to recognize development opportunities and identify and evaluate risks related to renewable project development.
• Demonstrated ability to work in:
• a flat organization, successfully leveraging the expertise of multiple colleagues in different lines of reporting.
• a dynamic work environment and industry that is constantly evolving.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and GIS platforms (e.g., Google Earth, ArcGIS).
• Willingness to work out of the Boulder office is preferred but not required.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States.
• Willing and available to travel significantly as needed (40%-60%) depending on project stage and COVID-19 restrictions.

Timeline and Location

We would like the Sr. Project Manager- East Region to start as soon as possible.

The ideal candidate will be able to work out of our Boulder office on our current hybrid (3-2) schedule. A remote work arrangement will also be considered for the right candidate.

Scout’s Values

• Mission-Orientation. High achievers who want to make a difference in this world and contribute to Scout’s stated mission.
• Teamwork. Respectful and appreciative colleagues with strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to fostering positive relationships across organizational boundaries to deliver on shared team goals.
• Safety. Uncompromising advocates for the health and safety of fellow employees, contractors, customers, and community members.
• Integrity. Ethical professionals who do the right thing even when it is difficult.
• Initiative. Resourceful self-motivators who thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment because of their exceptional leadership, work ethic, and organizational skills.
• Intelligence. Problem-solving learners who can make informed decisions quickly and create innovative and pragmatic solutions to challenging problems.

Invitation to Women and U.S. Underrepresented Groups

We encourage applications from all demographics and especially those that are traditionally underrepresented in the energy industry. Consistent with our core values, Scout celebrates the diversity of thought and experience that comes from a range of backgrounds including, but not limited to, gender, race, and ethnicity.

Invitation to Veterans

Scout welcomes veterans of the United States Armed Forces to apply for this position. Scout includes veterans of all branches and a diverse set of occupational specialties. We value the independent thinking, problem solving, leadership, and teamwork that our veterans have developed through their service. We welcome applications from any service and any military occupational specialty.

Benefits

Compensation

Target base salary: $140,000-170,000

Attractive bonus potential.

Scout offers a full range of benefits, including medical/dental/vision insurance with attractive premiums, 401(k) match, STD, LTD, an Employee Assistance Program, and a range of optional supplemental insurance coverage.