Senior Director, Development

Description

Vitis Energy is an independent power producer developing utility scale battery energy storage (BESS), solar, and flexible dispatchable generation across the United States. We are a small team by design: we win by choosing the right projects, not by volume. That means proactive siting ahead of market signals, a defendable revenue story before capital is deployed, and the discipline to kill weak projects fast and cheap.

The Senior Director of Development owns Vitis development end to end: from market and node level siting strategy through land control, interconnection, permitting, and early stage engineering, all the way to notice to proceed (NTP). The portfolio spans 2 to 4 hour BESS, solar and hybrid solar plus storage, and flexible thermal generation in our priority markets. This role leads the development team day to day, owns the company Tier 1 and Tier 2 siting playbook, and is accountable for converting siting theses into optioned sites, queue positions, and financeable, construction ready projects.

It reports to the Vice President, Development & Commercial, and manages staff from day one.

This is a development first mandate with room to grow: for the right leader, the scope expands into commercial execution, including offtake structuring and RFP and bilateral negotiations, as the development platform matures under their ownership.

• Own and maintain the Tier 1 and Tier 2 market siting playbook: a dated, forward looking siting calendar for each priority market, working backward from interconnection windows, cluster study cycles, and anticipated utility RFPs, so Vitis is positioned ahead of demand rather than reacting to it.
• Direct node and substation level siting analysis (congestion, volatility, hosting capacity, load growth, IRP alignment, and, for natural gas projects, pipeline capacity and access) to build and refresh the priority node list that drives land origination.
• Originate new project theses across storage, solar, and dispatchable generation in ERCOT, MISO, PJM, SPP, SERC, and WECC markets, advancing them through internal review with a clear offtake pathway identified before meaningful capital is committed.
• Run structured after action reviews on every siting campaign, secured or not, and rescore market tiers so the greenfield strategy continuously improves with each cycle.

• Own projects across the full development arc, from origination and site control through advancement to NTP: land option strategy and negotiation support, interconnection application strategy, permitting pathways, and risk management appropriate to each stage.
• Enforce stage gate discipline across the pipeline. Every active project carries a current schedule, risk log, and budget; capital at risk is managed to preset limits; and weak theses are exited early.
• Run the standardized project review process that gives leadership timely, decision ready information on development priorities, risks, and portfolio trade offs.
• Coordinate development inputs to interconnection studies, restudy strategies, and network upgrade negotiations across regulated and unregulated markets.

• Set permitting strategy across jurisdictions: define the approval pathways for county and state land use, environmental reviews and studies, and air permitting for thermal projects, and sequence them against interconnection and offtake milestones so permits never become the critical path by surprise.
• Set the strategy for landowner and community engagement: define how Vitis builds the local relationships and trust that keep approvals on schedule, structured so landowner and community interests are heard and protected.
• Advance late stage projects through interconnection agreements, restudies, and network upgrade negotiations to NTP readiness, partnering with the VP on offtake structure and with finance on the financing package.

• Manage and develop the development team from day one, including land origination and project execution staff, setting priorities, clearing obstacles, and building bench strength through structured mentorship.
• Direct siting analytics work (GIS, node screening, market research) performed in support of origination, and ensure analytical output translates into siting decisions.
• Operate transparently within the team shared KPI scoreboard and operating cadence: written weekly updates, working sessions focused on resolving issues, and collective accountability for team goals.

• Build and maintain relationships with utilities (IOUs, municipals, cooperatives), landowners, community stakeholders, and development partners in priority markets.
• Monitor regulatory, interconnection, and market developments affecting project economics and siting strategy, and translate them into concrete portfolio actions.
• Contribute to investment memoranda and internal presentations…