Associate Director of Project Development, PJM/MISO - Battery Storage

Company Overview 

Plus Power is an energy storage market leader with a market-leading 10+ GW portfolio across more than 25 US states and Canadian provinces that will transform North American electric grids into cleaner and more versatile critical infrastructure.  

Standalone energy storage is rapidly transforming the U.S. energy markets, because it is cheaper than new natural gas plants, faster to build than fossil peakers or transmission, and able to perform diverse energy services. Plus Power partners with electricity system operators, utilities, and investors to originate, develop, finance, own and operate standalone energy storage projects that provide critical services to the wholesale electric market. Plus Power’s team applies an intentional mindset to energy storage development by using a data-driven approach to development. 

At Plus Power, we are focused on solving hard climate problems, profitably.  We are growing fast, and value candidates who, like us, share a focus on setting high expectations, owning and learning from mistakes in the spirit of radical transparency, and are committed to internal partnering as a key element of our ideas meritocracy. Our team praises Plus Power’s culture and excels through our game-changing mission and supportive ecosystem. 

About the Role 

Plus Power recruits outstanding energy industry professionals who are driven to develop, build and operate assets safely and reliably to decarbonize the power markets while growing their careers. Our team looks for data-driven and fact-based mindsets, engaging and collaborative behaviors, and personal growth-focused professionals.     

In order for the global energy system to make the transition from a carbon-based grid, to a renewable energy grid, large scale energy storage must be introduced into the electricity system to balance intra-hour supply and demand.  Energy storage is the enabler of high penetration variable renewable generation like solar and wind. 

Plus Power is looking to hire an Associate Director of Project Development to be a functional lead of multiple projects within Plus Power’s portfolio in PJM/MISO territories.  The Associate Director of Project Development will own the ultimate responsibility for site identification and acquisition, permitting, interconnection, and development strategy as well as leading the team developing the projects in that region.  The Associate Director will have a sophisticated team of subject matter experts who will provide support for specific discrete deliverables such as real-estate, permitting, cost estimates, commercial strategy and interconnection process navigation. Leadership of this cross-functional team in order to bring a project to the Notice to Proceed Stage (“NTP”) will be the ultimate responsibility of the Associate Director.  Upon NTP, functional responsibility of the project will be transferred to Plus Power’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) team, where the Associate Director and his team will support EPC as necessary.

Responsibilities

• Manage one direct report, a Project Development Manager, to successfully de-risk and advance projects in the PJM/MISO region
• Site identification, acquisition and due diligence: utilize Plus Power’s processes and work with the Real Estate team to identify and acquire project sites to then bring them through the diligence process
• Project development: lead the strategy to manage the project pipeline in the region and execute on complex milestone deliverables across a network of stakeholders
• Risk management: collaborate with Plus Power’s development team to uncover and mitigate real estate, permitting, interconnection, finance and EPC risks for a portfolio of projects
• Permitting: work with the permitting team to create a strategy and execution plan for the State permits in the region
• Project management: problem solving nuanced site, permit, and technology issues with internal experts and external stakeholders
• Project finance: understand the key financing elements of a project and ensure that all projects and deals continue to meet or exceed financial hurdles. Support the finance team on the financing process of each new deal
• Commercial strategy: Work with the Markets and Commercial team(s) to identify and quantify opportunities, then support the commercial team on RFP submittals
• Contract negotiations: work with the subject matter experts during negotiations of terms and conditions of tolling agreements, permitting documents, interconnection or other ISO agreements to protect the commercial sensitivities of each deal
• Interconnection: Work with the Transmission and Interconnection team to identify and quantify the requirements, key decision dates, and other risks to inform decision making for the