Development Project Manager

Job Summary

The Development Project Manager is responsible for coordinating and executing the early-stage development activities necessary to advance solar and energy storage projects from site control through development completion. This role serves as the central coordinator for discretionary permitting, consultant management, interconnection advancement, environmental due diligence, and development schedules.

Unlike a Project Developer, this position is not responsible for project origination, market selection, site identification, or commercial development strategy. Instead, the Development Project Manager focuses on managing the execution of approved development plans by coordinating internal stakeholders, third-party consultants, regulatory agencies, utilities, and landowners to retire project risks and achieve key development milestones.

The Development Project Manager is accountable for advancing projects through permitting and interconnection processes, maintaining development budgets and schedules, risks, managing consultant performance, and preparing projects for successful handoff to downstream execution teams.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

· Project Development & Permitting

· Lead the advancement of greenfield solar and energy storage projects from site control through development completion.

· Develop and execute project-specific permitting strategies.

· Manage all discretionary permitting processes, including zoning approvals, conditional use permits, site plan approvals, special exceptions, variances, and other local land use entitlements.

· Prepare and manage project schedules that identify all permitting, interconnection, environmental, and land milestones.

· Organize and manage public hearings, planning commission meetings, zoning board meetings, county council meetings, and other regulatory proceedings.

· Support community engagement activities and participate in public outreach efforts.

· Coordinate responses to agency comments and approval conditions.

· Maintain permitting logs, approval matrices, risk registers, and project status reports.

· Interconnection Management

· Coordinate utility interconnection applications and associated technical deliverables.

· Manage utility communications throughout the interconnection process.

· Track study schedules, utility milestones, deposits, and deadlines.

· Coordinate engineering support required for interconnection applications, studies, and technical reviews.

· Review interconnection study results and identify project risks and mitigation strategies.

· Support utility negotiations and technical discussions related to project advancement.

· Land Acquisition & Real Estate Coordination

· Support land acquisition activities, including lease negotiations, purchase agreements, easements, and access agreements.

· Coordinate title review, ALTA surveys, boundary surveys, and related due diligence activities.

· Maintain relationships with landowners and development partners.

· Track real estate deliverables and contractual obligations.

· Coordinate legal review of development, permitting, and land documents.

· Assist with securing and maintaining site control throughout development.

· Consultant & Vendor Management

· Procure, negotiate, and manage third-party consultant agreements.

· Develop scopes of work, budgets, schedules, and deliverables for development consultants.

· Manage environmental engineering consultants, civil engineers, surveyors, geotechnical firms, wetlands specialists, permitting consultants, and other technical experts.

· Review consultant reports and ensure compliance with project requirements.

· Monitor consultant performance, budgets, schedules, and invoicing.

· Coordinate interdisciplinary consultant deliverables to support permitting and interconnection requirements.

· Environmental & Technical Due Diligence

· Coordinate environmental assessments, wetlands delineations, Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, geotechnical investigations, topographic surveys, and other development studies.

· Identify environmental, permitting, and constructability risks.

· Coordinate with development engineering on conceptual layouts and technical feasibility evaluations.

· Ensure project assumptions are supported by appropriate studies and documentation.

· Assist in evaluating site constraints and development opportunities.

· Budget, Schedule & Reporting

· Manage development budgets and consultant expenditures.

· Track project schedules, critical paths, and key milestone dates.

· Prepare development status reports and executive summaries.

· Maintain risk registers and mitigation plans.

· Present project updates to management, investment committees, and other stakeholders.

· Support project advancement decisions through data-driven risk and financial analysis.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

· Required

o Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Environmental Science, Planning, Construction Management, Project Management, Real Estate, or related field.

o 3-7 years of experience in renewable energy development, land development, utility infrastructure, permitting, or project management.

o Experience managing discretionary permitting processes and public meetings.

o Experience managing environmental, civil, survey, and engineering consultants.

o Familiarity with utility interconnection processes.

o Strong project scheduling, budget management, and organizational skills.

o Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

o Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

· Preferred

o Experience with solar PV and battery energy storage projects.

o Experience working with local planning commissions, zoning boards, and regulatory agencies.

o Knowledge of environmental permitting and land use regulations.

o PMP certification.

o Experience with Procore, MS Project, Smartsheet, Salesforce, GIS, or related project management tools.

Core Competencies

· Project Leadership

· Permitting & Regulatory Strategy

· Stakeholder Management

· Public Engagement

· Interconnection Coordination

· Consultant Management

· Negotiation & Relationship Building

· Risk Management

· Financial & Schedule Management

· Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work Environment

· This job operates in a fully in-person work environment, five days per week at our Rockville, MD headquarters, with office and field/site visits.

· Ability to travel to project sites (local and out-of-state).

· Must be able to walk and navigate uneven terrain during site visits.

· May require PPE on active construction sites.

· Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

o This is a full-time in-person position, and hours of work and days are typically Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

· Travel:

o This position will travel to potential project site nationwide and job sites.

· Physical Demands

o While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms. Physical working conditions may also involve the following:

o Lifting up to 50 pounds.

o Extended periods of sitting, walking, standing, reaching and/or bending.

o Extended periods of reading fine print on a computer or in paper-based format.

· AAP/EEO Statement

o Standard Solar is EOE/AA/Minority/Female/Veteran/Disabled employer.