Director, Interconnection

This is a fully remote role for candidates who are based outside of the New York Metropolitan area. For those located in the area, we encourage you to consider our hybrid work arrangement (1-2 days a week in our NYC office). That said, we value flexibility and if you have a different preference, please do not let that deter you from applying – let’s talk about it!

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States or Canada. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of any employment-based visas at this time.

Energy storage is the key to unlocking a future where our world is powered by renewable resources. At Convergent Energy and Power, our mission is to make the electrical grid cleaner, more reliable, and less expensive by leveraging state-of-the-art energy storage and distributed generation technologies.

The Director of Interconnection will serve as the lead for the company's interconnection activities from a market and commercial perspective, with primary responsibilities including the evaluation of transmission and distribution tariffs, costs, timelines, designs and processes for a variety of markets.  This position will participate in the development of the overall strategic plan for both the development team, and the broader Convergent business.

What You’ll Do

• Manage and track the project portfolio of interconnection related studies and tasks, schedules, and follow-up requirements.
• Lead a team of 4-8 Interconnection Engineers, manage their KPI’s, and individual professional growth plans
• Lead continuous improvement of interconnection processes and standards both within the team and cross-functionally
• Act as a point of contact with independent system operators, regional transmission organizations,transmission service providers, and utilities regarding all interconnection activities.
• Oversee the information exchange process as it relates to interconnection applications between the pre-construction team, engineering team, and development team to ensure schedule milestones are met
• Identify optimal strategies for state and regional project interconnections based on system impacts and available grid/hosting capacity; develop best plan for new markets team
• Oversee coordination of the completion of all interconnection applications with internal stakeholders, external consultants, and utilities.  Lead the review, analysis, and interpretation of interconnection results.
• Oversee identification, contracting, and management of consultants as necessary to support the interconnection process including application deliverables and studies in addition to engineering review of utility schedules and cost estimates.
• Develop a process for evaluating forecasted interconnection system cost upgrades and work with all stakeholders on necessary changes to the project development schedule.
• Oversee performance of (internally or externally) power flow simulation analyses to forecast future system conditions to support optimal siting, IA, PPA, financing, and M&A processes
• Create workflow plans for assembling interconnection information for bid proposals.
• Work with the Development team to identify issues that could impact site selection by reviewing the interconnection queue in utility/ISO regions and provide feedback to the Development team.
• Issue disputes and manage dispute resolution as needed
• Understand interconnection process, timelines, and cost structures for key utilities and ISO's and communicate requirements with the Development, Pre-Construction, and Engineering teams.
• Communicate on a regular basis with leadership and team members, including in-person meetings at the NYC headquarters as needed to foster strong collaboration amongst team

Requirements

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering. 
• Minimum of 8+ years of industry experience and expertise in generation interconnection and transmission planning, acquired at a large infrastructure developer, electric utility, transmission provider, or energy consultancy. 
• Minimum of 3 years of experience leading a team and managing direct reports
• Experience navigating markets such as CAISO, PJM, SPP, ISO-NE, or other RTOs. 
• Firm understanding of AC/DC fundamentals including understanding of three-phase Power systems. 
• Experience with power system software packages such as PSS/e, TARA, Aspen One-Liner 
• Power flow modeling and analysis experience.  
• Ability to comprehend complex Interconnection study reports and communicate project technical and financial impacts. 
• Familiarity with RTO and utility tariffs, business practices, protocols, procedures, and guideli