Position summary

New Leaf Energy, a clean energy developer, is hiring a Project Developer for the Midwest to originate and develop buildable, profitable multi-megawatt renewable energy projects in the region. The core responsibility is to begin development activities on dozens of sites, negotiating landowner agreements, starting entitlement and interconnection processes, and moving solar and energy storage projects through development until they are ready to finance and build.

Why this role matters

New Leaf Energy partners with landowners, policymakers and stakeholders to accelerate the transition to a world powered by renewable energy. As a primary regional expert, the Project Developer builds the pipeline of impactful clean energy projects and the local relationships that make them possible, from origination through financial close.

Key responsibilities

• Develop solar and storage projects at megawatt scale from origination through financial close, meeting or exceeding annual volume targets (generally closing multiple projects generating at least $5MM of direct profit per year).
• Drive project-level development including site control, utility interconnection, entitlement/permitting, initial system design and incentive/policy program participation, coordinating with internal engineering and finance teams.
• Build stakeholder relationships with landowners, local governments, utilities and policymakers, and gather market intelligence to refine strategy.
• Generate leads and proposals through account profiling, cold calls, networking and market-penetration strategies, and produce quotes and RFP responses.
• Negotiate and close transactions with legal, finance and executive teams, and support financial modelling and tax, financing and regulatory research.
• Maintain accurate project records in New Leaf Energy’s systems of record.

Team and stakeholders

The role works closely with the regional Policy and Business Development lead, internal engineering, finance, legal and executive teams, and external landowners, local governments, utilities and policymakers.

Key details

• May be based out of the Chicago, IL office; hybrid (in office at least two of every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday).
• 20-50% travel in the assigned territory.
• Compensation is primarily driven by a profit-sharing project incentive plan plus an equity-like ownership program.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree (MBA or other advanced degree preferred).
• Strong knowledge of the solar industry or a similar/adjacent project development context.
• A successful track record in a complex sales or project development environment, preferably in solar and/or energy storage (large, technical, construction/financial products with long sales cycles).
• The ability to filter information to prioritise promising opportunities, and to both lead and follow in cross-functional teams.
• Understanding of key quantitative business concepts, including probabilistic thinking and financial metrics (NPV, IRR).
• The ability to travel frequently in the territory (20-50%).
• A passion for renewable energy and accelerating the clean energy transition.