Director - NECEC Permitting & Compliance

The base salary range for this position is dependent upon experience and location, ranging from: $153,000 - $191,000

Job Summary:

The Director - NECEC Permitting & Compliance is responsible for securing all international, federal, state and municipal environmental and land use approvals for NECEC, and for assuring that NECEC construction and operations comply fully with all conditions of these approvals. The NECEC project is a $1B, 1200 MW HVDC link between the Central Maine Power Company bulk power transmission system and Hydro-Quebec, Quebec, Canada. The project consists of a new 145-mile 320kV HVDC transmission line, New HVDC Converter Station, 1 mile underground horizontal directional drill crossing beneath the Kennebec River, and $200M in network upgrades.

The Director position is a key leadership role, critical to the success of the project throughout its life cycle, responsible for securing and maintaining the approvals that are prerequisites to commencement and completion of NECEC construction and operation. Since its inception NECEC has generated motivated, well-financed, dedicated, widespread and persistent opposition. The Director is responsible for successfully securing all regulatory approvals despite the impacts of this opposition to NECEC, including the resulting significant delays, hearings, numerous additional regulatory and permitting steps, appeals, closer scrutiny, and rework of permitting. The Director is responsible for anticipating and understanding the regulatory, cost, engineering, construction and community relations implications of this opposition, and for working with all levels Avangrid, as well as outside consultants, to develop and implement strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of this opposition.

The Director is responsible for developing and implementing effective permitting and permit compliance strategies, and coordinating with international, federal and state regulatory and natural resource bodies and agencies, stakeholders, project supporters, media consultants, and others to secure practical, cost-effective and favorable approvals. The Director is responsible for ensuring compliance throughout construction of the project, minimizing the financial impact of any potential non-compliances, avoiding and minimizing work stoppages through oversight of environmental inspectors and contractors, and cooperating with regulatory agency leadership as required. 

The Director leads and directs a team of 10+ environmental, legal, real estate, and construction consultants, contractors and professionals to secure and implement NECEC approvals.

The Director will report to AVANGRID’s Vice President of Projects. The Director will coordinate with numerous departments across the organization, ensuring that they perform consistent with all NECEC approvals and all federal, state and municipal environmental statutes, regulations and ordinances.

Key Responsibilities:

• Full responsibility for securing all required NECEC environmental and land use approvals, including identification of all required approvals, development and implementation of permitting strategies, development and contracting of field studies to support applications, review and editing of all applications to ensure completeness, accuracy, consistency, and positive precedents, interacting and negotiating with senior leadership of environmental and natural resource agencies and non-governmental organizations, representing the NECEC project in regulatory hearings and public hearings as a subject-matter expert, and leading team of environmental scientists, attorneys, geologists, engineers and others in development of accurate and timely responses to agency application queries.

• Identification and mitigation of NECEC permitting and permits compliance risks, leading internal and external risk discussions, monitoring the effectiveness of associated risk mitigation strategies, and modifying strategies to optimize permitting and compliance outcomes.

• Effectively advocate for, explain and defend NECEC proposal and its benefits before often hostile or unreceptive municipal boards, citizens, hearing participants, and other stakeholders.

• Serve as the face of the NECEC project and company before multiple audiences and in multiple permitting, regulatory, and community relations settings.

• Reviewing and editing outside legal counsel’s draft regulatory and legal filings to ensure they are strategically effective, accurate, complete and timely.

• Act as functional lead and main point of contact with Engineering and Construction