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Position Summary

The Associate Vice President, Project Development & Engineering plays a critical role in Sparkfund’s EPC business, the group responsible for designing, implementing, and servicing our customers’ energy assets and technology, including solar, lighting, controls systems, HVAC systems, EV charging stations, gensets, etc. This role will report to the EVP and General Manager of our EPC business and is responsible for leading the energy auditing, engineering, and vendor management teams.

This role will work cross-functionally with internal teams – including our Revenue, Delivery, Customer Experience, and Commercial Solutions teams – as well as with our external team of vendors and contractors across the country. This person will be the central point of coordination for all project development activities including customer discovery calls, site audits, vendor specifications, and solution design. Therefore, this person needs to possess strong interpersonal, organization, and problem-solving skills.

Location

This role is flexible on location, but applicants should be based in the United States. We expect you to spend some time in Washington, DC to collaborate with other members of the team, learn the ins and outs of our business, and contribute to our company culture. This, of course, depends on local COVID rules and regulations.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish processes and work with the Business Development team to develop solutions engineering and procurement strategies based on market intelligence and areas of competitive advantage for Sparkfund.
• Build, guide, and manage a team to utilize the proper technical support, procurement resources, commercial insights, procedures, consultants, and software to support multi-discipline project teams in order enhance overall business unit planning, revenue forecasting, and quality of project development.
• Lead Project Development staff in the preparation of project estimates using recent project estimates and scoping of project solutions development in order to ensure that all project requirements, options, and recommendations are prepared properly.
• Develop and lead the execution of Sparkfund’s purchasing of materials and services in support of the EPC business, both for current project obligations and future business forecast.
• Serve as an authority on developing and interpreting procurement guidelines, policies, and procedures for a variety of procurement issues.
• Review and manage procurement, including complex bid processes for conformance with regulatory requirements, corporate policies, and procurement practice. Ensure fair and open competition and best benefit to the company in purchasing, and assist management with assembling and maintaining high quality lists of potential bidders.
• Develop and execute a long-term strategy to facilitate company needs for procurement services, including continuous improvement based on company growth and changing market conditions.
• Identify and develop relationships with strategic vendors and service providers to support development of market leading energy solutions.
• Strategize and negotiate with established and newly engaged suppliers in order to secure the most cost-effective terms and pricing.
• As necessary, report to outside stakeholders (program customers, Board of Directors, potential investors, etc.) on pipeline and project development trends.
• Lead, guide, and manage personnel to ensure assigned staff performs appropriately and achieves company goals and objectives.
• Review project pro forma financial models.
• Conduct site visits to define site characteristics and develop relationships with local stakeholders.
• Represent Sparkfund in industry advocacy groups.
• Remain abreast of changes in the energy markets and the national industry trends impacting the future of energy transition project opportunities and their competitiveness as they relate to customers.
• Carry out other duties as assigned.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Has a minimum of 10 years of energy project development or comparable experience.
• Possesses intimate knowledge of the energy market and keeps abreast of changing technologies, regulations, and trends influencing the continued adoption of energy transition technologies.
• Demonstrates a commercial mindset as well as strong prioritization, communication and organizational skills.
• Has experience with Counterparty Management: contract negotiations, M&A, partnership formation.
• Has experience with Financial Valuation: Market analysis, Corporate approvals, Competitive Analysis.

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business or Engineering preferred, and an MBA or other advanced degree desirable.
• Professional Engineer license preferred but not required.
• Experience with or knowledge of one or more of the following technologies: solar, controls systems, HVAC systems, generators, lighting, and/or EV charging stations.
• Experience working with or within the facility management, industrial, utilities, energy efficiency, renewable energy, resilience, or ESCO Industry.
• Experience working with Salesforce, Asana, CAD, and BuilderTek preferred,
• Experience in a fast-paced startup environment,
• Ability to travel to customer sites up to 30% of the time.
• Ability to sit or stand for extended periods and lift up to 50lbs.