Director of Utility-Scale Origination & Business Development - New Leaf Energy, Inc.
Oakland, CA
About the Job
New Leaf Energy is an experienced clean energy developer that partners with landowners, policymakers, and other stakeholders to accelerate the transition to a world powered by renewable energy. We identify high-value sites, work with landowners and local communities to develop them, and partner with long-term asset owners to bring the most impactful clean energy projects to life.
New Leaf Energy is seeking a Director of Utility-Scale Origination & Business Development to lead commercial relationship development and power-marketing efforts for the utility-scale team in markets across the country.
This position may be filled out of our Lowell, MA, Boston, MA, Chicago, IL, Oakland, CA, or Troy, NY offices. We value in-person collaboration and offer a hybrid work environment. Hybrid employees work in the office at least two out of every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and are free to work from the office or from home on other days.
About the Role
This position will be key to enabling a deeper organizational understanding of customer needs and in driving development strategy to best position projects to meet that demand. The successful candidate will possess a strong commercial acumen combined with a renewable energy development background and a proven track record for building solid, trustworthy relationships. The candidate must be adept at working independently as well as have strong collaborative capabilities. This position will report to the Vice President of Utility-Scale Policy and Business Development.
Position responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:
- Business strategy: Develop a commercial thesis for each market and provide intelligence to inform development and acquisition strategies. Maintain high awareness of the markets and competitive environment. Be technically astute with the full life cycle of utility solar and storage project origination, development, and valuation;
- Customer relationship development: Represents New Leaf Energy to customers and partners at all levels of their organizations. Develop a deep understanding of the customer's and business partner's needs and provide insight as to how New Leaf Energy can develop projects to meet those needs. Build trust-based relationships by representing New Leaf Energy in a professional and ethical manner;
- Outreach: Research potential customers and partners and identify outreach targets. Lead the preparation of marketing and outreach materials. Assemble and lead internal cross-functional, multi-disciplined teams for support in customer engagement and partnership development. Effectively track and communicate with management the status of opportunities and client activity;
- Development Strategy: Engage directly with project developers to develop market-specific offtake origination strategies and other business partnerships. Help developers make decisions about offtake strategy and timing. Inform project level decisions by providing insights into customer needs and preferences;
- Bid Responses: Screen RFPs and work with developers to identify projects appropriate for customer's needs; Lead bid package preparation in response to offtake opportunities, including RFPs and RFIs for utility scale solar, storage, and hybrid projects throughout North America, targeting a broad range of offtakers such as Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs), co-ops, municipal utilities, and commercial and industrial customers;
- Term sheets, bilateral agreements and contract innovation: Develop innovative partnerships and deal structures. Make recommendations that support project sales and, ultimately, project financing negotiations. Differentiate product offerings, manage risk and reduce collateral requirements. Proposed structures will include PPAs, VPPAs, Develop-Build-Transfer transactions, tolling agreements, and other alternative offtake arrangements;
- Multi-party engagement: Because New Leaf Energy sells its projects to IPPs and utilities pre-construction, offtake opportunities must be considered from the perspective of the future counterparty and pursued, timed, and structured accordingly. In deregulated markets, New Leaf may act more as a matchmaker than a power marketer, connecting asset owners with offtake opportunities and facilitating partnerships and contract terms accordingly.
Desired Qualifications:
While no one individual will possess them all, the successful candidate will bring many of the following experiences, skills, and attributes. If you're unsure whether you meet enough of the qualifications below but believe that your experience and skill set is a good match for this position, we invite you to apply!
- 8+ years of work experience, 5+ years of experience in utility-scale renewable development, power finance, trading, origination, sales & marketing, or comparable experience is required;
- Has participated in the process of a successfully negotiated PPA or BTA, or similar contract type;
- Knowledge of structuring and negotiating offtake deals, including financial hedges, VPPAs, tolling agreements, and other evolving structuring instruments;
- Knowledge of U.S. utility-scale solar development, power markets, and customer segments;
- The ability to stay current with changing technologies, regulations, and trends influencing the continued adoption of renewable energy;
- Ability to quickly step into new tasks and adapt to new circumstances in a dynamic environment;
- Excellent interpersonal, time management, communication, and relationship-building skills;
- Strong personal relationships and reputation in the power and/or renewable energy industry; and
- Travel: up to 25%, at times, to support the needs of the business.
Compensation
New Leaf Energy compensates all employees in three ways: market-competitive base salary, plus above-market variable compensation, plus an equity-like program such that all employees experience the benefits of ownership. We use a data-driven and transparent methodology to calibrate compensation that is externally competitive and internally equitable, guided by the New Leaf Energy compensation manual, which is available to all employees.
Under our compensation framework, the likely base salary range for this position in the Oakland, CA location is $188,330 - $218,870. The on-target annual cash bonus associated with this position is an additional 30% percent of base salary. Your actual salary may be above, in, or below this range, depending on your location and experience.
We value transparency and can share more during the interview process.
Benefits and Culture
New Leaf Energy's success is driven by our collaborative, long-term relationships based on trust and transparency. We offer a flexible work environment that places significant responsibility in independent teams and creates opportunities for innovation and personal growth. New Leaf Energy's benefits are designed to appropriately recognize our employees' contributions and enable a reasonable work/life balance. Our benefits include:
- Competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental and vision;
- A 401k plan with immediate vesting and a company match (100% of the first three percent of your pay; 50% for the next two percent you contribute);
- An open and self-managed paid time-off policy;
- A hybrid work location policy that supports working from home for part of the week;
- A parental leave policy for both birthing and non-birthing parents, available immediately upon hire;
- Professional development and education assistance.
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
New Leaf Energy values the diverse perspectives, skills, experiences, and contributions of all employees. We want all our employees to feel like they belong and are empowered to be their most authentic selves at work. We're actively committed to fostering diversity and creating an inclusive environment not only within our own organization but also within the clean energy industry.
We seek a diverse candidate pool in this–and every–search. New Leaf Energy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, genetics, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by state, federal and local laws. In addition to federal law requirements, New Leaf Energy complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. EEO M/F/D/V.
A Note to Third-Party Recruiters
New Leaf Energy's People + Culture team coordinates all recruiting and hiring at our company. New Leaf Energy does not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters, staffing firms, or related agencies. Resumes are only accepted from third-party recruiters, staffing firms, or related agencies if a signed agreement is in place AND if external recruiting assistance is authorized by the People + Culture team for a specific position. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of New Leaf Energy. New Leaf Energy is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.