Solar and Energy Project Coordinator

Solar And Energy Project Coordinator

The purpose of this position is to provide support for the implementation of major grant funded solar projects and energy initiatives that advance decarbonization for the city of Cleveland. These projects include administrative project coordination of the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) that funds two solar on landfill projects, internal energy benchmarking and data tracking for the entire city through EnergyCAP, and reporting related to both.

This role involves collaboration with internal departments, external stakeholders, vendors, sub-contractors, and community partners to advance energy initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy performance, and enhance community resilience in fulfillment and alignment of the city's community and operational Climate Action Plans, called the Cleveland Climate Action Plan and the Municipal Climate Action Plan, both updated in 2025. This role is partially grant-funded.

Climate change is the single greatest challenge humanity has ever faced, threatening water and food security, health, livelihoods, and the safety of billions of people together with drastic negative impact on global ecosystem balance. The City of Cleveland's Mayor's Office of Sustainability & Climate Justice seeks to enhance their climate ambitions under the Paris Agreement, with focus on greater emissions reduction and resilience building.

The next phases of the City of Cleveland's Climate Action Plan update will focus on climate advocacy and long-term planning to ensure inclusive climate action at the speed and scale required to keep global temperature below 1.5°C. Achieving the carbon neutrality in the second half of the century by all countries is a crucial requirement set by the Paris Agreement to avoid the irreversible global climate change.

Realization of this goal involves work on local, regional, national, and global levels, as well as participation of all relevant stakeholders – governments, business, non-profit organizations, community members. The path to carbon neutrality should be just and leave no one behind, while empowering women, youth, black, indigenous and people of color, and vulnerable groups of population.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

The Solar and Energy Project Coordinator ('SEPC") responsibilities include the following.

• Understand and apply to daily work, projects and programming, the tenets of equity, environmental justice and social determinants of health as they relate to sustainability initiatives, especially in terms of climate mitigation and climate change adaptation solutions.

Specific to the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) Project:
The Solar and Energy Project Coordinator is responsible for coordinating project deliverables for two solar projects enabled through the US EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant implementation funding ("CPRG 2") awarded to the city of Cleveland. Specific duties are listed below and more specifically outlined in a project charter tied to the CPRG 2.

• Under the supervision of the office's decarbonization strategist, coordinate with the site-specific project managers for each solar development project and outside vendors: the planning, execution, and monitoring of project deliverables;
• Ensure team adherence to project scopes, budgets, timelines and the project charter through project management best practices for verification of project scheduling, routine meetings, record-keeping, documentation and communications between team members;
• Ensure compliance with local, state, and federal grant management and reporting requirements, in coordination with the Mayor's Office of Sustainability's Sustainability Grant and Fiscal Administrator, as well as site specific financial support staff;
• Acquire knowledge base and keep current at the generalist level on trends in the following areas: clean electricity investment tax credits, solar developments on landfills, US EPA and Ohio EPA regulations relevant to the project, local requirements and utility requirements, including permitting, zoning, FAA regulations, and other applicable aspects of these projects that ensure smooth project…