Project Development Director

Country United States / US City AUSTIN
Area
Texas

Workplace location AUSTIN-GAINES RANCH LOOP(USA) Employer company TotalEnergies Renewables USA, LLC Domain Development Studies, Industrial Projects, Strategy, Business & Economics Type of contract Regular position Experience Minimum 10 years

Activities

What You Bring

Required Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Environmental Science, Business, Planning, Economics, Geography, Public Policy, Renewable Energy, or a related field; master's degree preferred.

Experience:

• 10+ years of renewable energy or related infrastructure development experience, including meaningful responsibility for utility-scale projects and multi-project portfolios.

People leadership:

• Demonstrated experience managing direct reports, setting performance expectations, coaching and developing talent, addressing performance issues, delegating effectively, and building team capability.

Regional market knowledge:

• Experience in one or more of ERCOT, SPP, or MISO, with the ability to lead a portfolio spanning all three markets. Knowledge of regional interconnection, permitting, stakeholder, commercial, and development dynamics is strongly preferred.

Portfolio leadership:

• Demonstrated ability to prioritize resources, oversee multiple projects and development professionals, manage budgets and schedules, evaluate strategic tradeoffs, and drive resolution of complex project risks.

Development expertise:

• Strong working knowledge across several development disciplines, including site control and real estate, permitting and land use, environmental diligence, interconnection, engineering, community engagement, incentives and tax, commercial agreements, project economics, governance, and transition to execution.

Strategic influence:

• Ability to translate Central Region market knowledge and active-project lessons into clear recommendations for greenfield targeting, M&A screening, regional portfolio prioritization, and project-specific executive decision-making.

Communication and stakeholder leadership:

• Strong executive communication, presentation, facilitation, negotiation, and relationship-management skills, including the ability to summarize complex issues and enable efficient decisions.

Preferred qualifications:

• Utility-scale solar, wind, battery storage, co-location, integrated power, or large-load development experience; project acquisition or diligence experience; and experience presenting investment or development recommendations to senior governance bodies.

Candidate Profile

The role operates in a matrixed organization, leading the regional development team while partnering with Greenfield, M&A, functional specialists, execution teams, and Platform & Performance. It balances people leadership, regional portfolio oversight, project-specific executive decision support, cross-functional coordination, and strategic regional insight across ERCOT, SPP, and MISO within established enterprise frameworks.

Activities:

People Leadership & Talent Development:

• Demonstrate strong manager-coach capabilities while directly managing, coaching, and developing approximately 4-5 development professionals. Establish objectives and accountabilities; provide feedback and performance management; delegate meaningful ownership; support individual development plans and succession planning; build team capability; and foster a collaborative, inclusive, accountable, and high-performance culture.

Central Region Portfolio Leadership:

• Set regional priorities and oversee development performance using established enterprise portfolio tools and governance processes. Allocate people and financial resources; assess schedule, budget, risk, value, and critical path across the regional portfolio; resolve competing priorities; challenge project assumptions; and recommend acceleration, reprioritization, restructuring, or termination where warranted.

Post-Site-Control Development Ownership:

• Assume regional accountability for projects after completed or substantially completed site control and lead advancement through development approvals, Notice to Proceed, financial close or sale, and transition to pre-construction and execution. Ensure each project has an integrated strategy covering land and title, permitting, environmental, interconnection, engineering, commercial, stakeholder/community, tax, schedule, budget, and governance requirements.

Strategic Partnership with Greenfield & M&A:

• Serve as the Central Region development voice to Greenfield and M&A teams. Provide guidance on target markets and opportunities based on portfolio needs, development feasibility, interconnection and transmission conditions, permitting and community environments, land considerations, development cost and schedule, regional stakeholder dynamics, and lessons learned. Participate in target screening and diligence while preserving Greenfield and M&A ownership of origination and acquisition processes.

Project Governance & Risk Management:

• Review and challenge project strategies, budgets, schedules, development-phase CAPEX assumptions, risk registers, and mitigation plans. Serve as the regional escalation point for material issues, apply established company governance requirements, and sponsor decision-ready project recommendations aligned with investment criteria, HSE expectations, and Code of Conduct requirements.

Cross-Functional & Execution Alignment:

• Lead project- and region-specific alignment with Interconnection, Environment and Permitting, Real Estate, GIS, Engineering and Execution, EPC, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Tax, Insurance, Communications, and Asset Management within established enterprise interfaces and handoff frameworks. Ensure development commitments and assumptions are understood, validated, and effectively transferred through project handoffs.

External Stakeholder Leadership:

• Provide senior oversight for relationships and negotiations with utilities, transmission owners, RTOs/ISOs, regulators, permitting authorities, public officials, landowners, communities, consultants, strategic partners, and other external stakeholders. Participate directly in sensitive, complex, or high-value discussions and support resolution of escalated issues.

Executive Reporting & Decision Support:

• Own the Central Region portfolio narrative, reporting inputs, risk assessments, and recommendations using established enterprise reporting and governance frameworks. Communicate portfolio performance, priorities, risks, opportunities, resource needs, and recommendations to the VP Project Development and Execution and executive leadership. Review and sponsor project approval requests, COMEX materials, Long-Term Plan and budget inputs, and other governance deliverables.

Development Standards & Continuous Improvement:

• Ensure regional adoption and consistent application of established development processes, project schedules, risk management practices, CRM and data quality requirements, reporting standards, and portfolio KPIs. Contribute project lessons learned, improvement needs, and user feedback to the Platform & Performance function to support enterprise-wide improvements to tools, workflows, governance, and organizational capability

• Accountable for Central Region portfolio performance and advancement of transferred projects from site control through development completion and transition to execution.
• Accountable for the performance, development, engagement, and effective deployment of approximately 4-5 direct reports.
• Provide accurate, timely, decision-ready Central Region reporting inputs, portfolio narratives, risk assessments, and strategic recommendations through established enterprise reporting and governance frameworks.
• Ensure regional development activities comply with applicable company policies, procedures, governance, HSE&Q requirements, and the Code of Conduct.
• Provide actionable regional development input to Greenfield and M&A target strategy without duplicating origination or acquisition ownership.