Principal Business Development Partner- NorthStar Clean Energy

NorthStar Clean Energy decarbonizes the economy by providing clean energy and carbon management solutions to utility, municipal, commercial, and industrial customers enabling them to meet their sustainability and business goals. Additionally, we own and operate natural gas assets throughout the United States. To learn more about NorthStar Clean Energy, please visit www.northstarcleanenergy.com.

This position is with NorthStar Clean Energy, a CMS Energy company, and is not a position of employment with Consumers Energy.   

The Principal Business Development Partner for NorthStar Clean Energy applies a sophisticated combination of technical, commercial, project and risk management knowledge to acquire partially developed renewable energy assets, to facilitate negotiation of utility-scale renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPAs), to support financing for renewable energy assets, and to complete development activities that enable the construction of renewable energy generation projects (wind, solar and storage) projects, comprising up to $150 million investment or more, within the U.S. and fulfill the Company's growth plans.

Assembles and manages multi-disciplinary teams of internal and external resources that support evaluation, valuation, due diligence, negotiation, contracting, acquisition, development, sourcing of offtake, and financing of renewable energy assets. 

Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Assembles and manages internal/external cross-functional teams that perform due diligence, negotiate contracts for acquisition of partially- developed renewable energy generation assets (wind, solar or storage), and close on acquisitions of such projects, and complete development that enables construction of assets, comprising approx. $150 million annual project investment.  Manages completion of development studies, permitting,  design, financing, construction, and commercial operation within schedule and budget while delivering target revenue/earnings.
• Manages and completes, with support from internal and external consultants and contractors, the full spectrum of development activities necessary to advance partially developed renewable assets into design and construction and eventually commercial operation while mitigating company risks.
• Assembles and manages multi-disciplinary development teams of internal and external resources that will perform evaluations of opportunities, conduct analyses, valuations, detailed due diligence, and negotiate contracts for acquisition of renewable energy assets/developments and for PPAs that sell renewable energy to customers while mitigating company risks.
• Identifies C&I customer renewable energy needs, formulates offerings to fulfill customer needs, prepares proposals, participates in customer meetings/presentations, and negotiates customer power purchase agreements (PPAs) with input from internal and external subject matter experts.
• Responsible for building and maintaining positive relationships with C&I, muni and coop customers and will be instrumental in successfully developing, evaluating and analyzing strategies to facilitate customer needs for renewable energy and business goals.
• Collaborates and maintains effective communications with internal Company departments inform internal groups on the status of acquisitions and contract opportunities. Manages and coordinates with Corporate Communications on the preparation of new renewable business press releases, talking points, and other tools.
• Builds and maintains positive, repeat business relationships with customers and directs and manages teams that also build and foster positive, repeat business relationships with customers.  Manages teams that successfully develop, evaluate, and analyze strategies to competitively market and fulfill customer needs and business goals.
• Develops, maintains, and leverages strategic business relationships and networking opportunities with entities including but not limited to business leaders, professional organizations and government agencies, leading to new referral source relationships and name and service recognition for the business.  Tracks and reports on progress toward successful contract execution and/or completion of development activities.
• Coordinates with the Finance Department on preparation of valuation financial models and provides support to the Project Management
• Department's execution and oversight of construction and to Operations Department's ongoing operations.
• Assemble and manage internal/external teams that evaluate, acquire land rights, conduct resource assessments, interconnect, siting studies, layouts, preliminary engineering, permit, obtain community acceptance, engineer, finance, construct, operate and maintain renewable energy projects that meet customer needs.
• Develop services agreements, major equipment purchase agreements, and other consulting agreements. engineer, finance, construct, operate and maintain renewable energy projects that meet customer needs and mitigates company risks.
• Prepare and negotiate term sheets and complete commercial and/or detailed due diligence after preliminary bid/offer is accepted and transaction enters exclusivity.  Preparation of cost estimates, preliminary financial models and valuations, contracts and problem solving.
• Successful application of renewable energy generation technology, development (siting, interconnection, resource assessment, land rights acquisition, studies, permitting, community acceptance, engineering, financing, construction, and operation and maintenance and ongoing performance and compliance.
• Conducts private and public meetings with project stakeholders, landowners and agencies.  Conducts due diligence site visits and evaluates prospective assets for acquisition and represents the company at ongoing development meetings to facilitate on time and on budget completion of development and construction of new assets while mitigating company risks.
• Other non-essential duties as assigned or may be necessary

Position Requirements: 

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or equivalent technical field required
• Master's Degree in Engineering or equivalent technical field preferred
• Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Michigan or other states (or capable of obtaining a license) preferred
• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification preferred
• 7+ year's relevant work experience required
• 3+ years of experience in completing from initial siting through development, financing, construction, and operation of new renewable energy or electric generating or similar facilities/assets with experience in business development, strategic planning, exceeding goals and demonstrating revenue growth a plus.
• 3+ years of renewable or related energy development experience leading cross-functional teams of merger and acquisition, due diligence, renewable energy development, sales, marketing, finance, risk management, contracting, construction, and/or business development professionals.
• 3+ years of experience in proposal preparation and writing, customer relationship building, brand marketing, or sales in a product or service business and/or strategic planning, contracting, engineering, construction, asset performance measurement and optimization, and/or energy development.
• Experience in growing customer relationships, customer satisfaction, and company business and knowledge of business development practices for a consulting business or similar business segment.
• Experience in managing and/or performing development activities necessary to successfully advance early to mid-stage utility-scale renewable energy development assets into design and construction and commercial operation, including representing the project at public meetings/hearings for siting approvals.
• Experience in managing and/or performing resource assessments, development studies, landowner relationships/agreements, transmission/interconnect studies, interconnect agreements, market price evaluations, micro-siting, layouts, preliminary engineering, permitting, public hearings, tax abatements and equipment orders.
• Experience in negotiating commercial agreements and contract terms and conditions.
• Experience in contracting strategies for company procurement of and delivery of products and services to customers while achieving results and manage and mitigating risks for the company.
• Experience implementing company risk management procedures and proactive mitigation measures.
• Experience with communicating positively with a wide variety of audiences and preparation of press releases, talking points, and other communication tools.
• Understanding of and experience with Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), Net-Zero standards methodology and implementation, renewable energy 100 (RE100), or other similar standards for advancing corporate or institutional decarbonization efforts a plus.
• Experience in direct line supervision of staff is a plus.

Why should you join our team?

At NorthStar Clean Energy, we offer more than just a place to work. We foster a culture that supports career development, growth, and stability, and we take pride in offering our co-workers excellent benefits and compensation packages. We are deliberately creating an inclusive culture that makes our diverse team of co-workers feel valued, supported, and empowered every day. We're a company made up of thousands of people, all with different stories to share and work to do, but we stand united in our company purpose: world class performance delivering hometown service.

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation packages
• Medical, Dental and Vision
• 401k with company match
• Paid parental leave
• Up to 13 paid Holidays
• Paid time off
• Educational Assistance Program

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: 

We, at NorthStar Clean Energy, value Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. It is part of our DNA. We treat our employees with respect, we treat each other fairly and we value the opinions of others. We are passionate about building and nurturing an environment where everyone feels included. We don’t discriminate. We seek to learn about each other and better understand our unique differences. Our uniqueness makes us authentic. We create safe spaces where everyone can be who they truly are. We invite difficult conversations and uncomfortable topics. We value diverse perspectives; this is what makes us great together. We harbor an inclusive environment where employees feel empowered to share their backgrounds, experiences, and ideas. Our Employee Resource Groups, Women’s Advisory Panel (WAP), Women’s in Energy (WE), Minority Advisory Panel (MAP), Pride Alliance of Consumers Energy (PACE), GENERGY, capable, Interfaith and Veterans Advisory Panel (VAP) are key enablers to living the values of our company culture: Caring, Empowered, Deliberate, Agility, and Ownership.

All qualified applicants will not be discriminated against and will receive consideration for employment without regard to protected veteran status, disability, race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.