Transmission & Substation Project Development Manager

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Transmission & Substation Project Development Manager to lead the early-stage planning and development of high-voltage transmission and substation projects across the U.S. and Canada.

This role is responsible for moving projects through pre-construction and ensuring they are fully prepared for execution. The Project Development Manager will coordinate cross-functional teams across Engineering, Estimating, Supply Chain, Procurement, Construction, Land, Environmental, Legal, Regulatory, and Operations to establish clearly defined project scope, budgets, schedules, procurement strategies, permitting plans, and risk mitigation strategies.

This position is focused on early-stage project development and execution readiness rather than construction execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the early-stage development and planning of high-voltage transmission and substation projects, with a strong focus on execution strategy, cost, schedule, and project readiness.
• Develop comprehensive project plans defining scope, budget, schedule, engineering requirements, procurement strategy, permitting, land needs, and key project milestones.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams including Engineering, Development, Estimating, Supply Chain, Procurement, Construction, Land, Environmental, Legal, Regulatory, and Operations.
• Drive integration across project scope, schedule, budget, risks, and dependencies.
• Develop and prepare RFP packages for engineering, surveying, geotechnical, LiDAR, construction, and other external services.
• Partner with Estimating teams to develop detailed project scopes, assumptions, and supporting information used for financial models and project estimates.
• Coordinate early engineering and procurement activities to ensure projects are positioned for successful execution.
• Identify project risks, constraints, and dependencies early and develop appropriate risk mitigation strategies.
• Support development of permitting and land strategies required to advance transmission and substation projects.
• Monitor early-stage project progress and communicate status, risks, issues, decisions, and mitigation plans to management and key stakeholders.
• Ensure projects transition into execution with a clearly defined scope, approved budget, developed schedule, procurement plan, permitting strategy, and documented risks.

Key Accountabilities

• Clearly defined and execution-ready project scope
• Approved and supported project budget
• Developed project schedule and milestones
• Engineering and procurement readiness
• Permitting and land strategy
• Identification of project risks and constraints
• Documented risk mitigation plans
• Effective cross-functional coordination and stakeholder communication
• Successful transition from early-stage development into project execution

Preferred Background

• Experience supporting or managing electric utility transmission and/or substation projects.
• Strong understanding of the project development and pre-construction lifecycle for large infrastructure or utility projects.
• Experience coordinating Engineering, Estimating, Procurement/Supply Chain, Construction, Environmental, Permitting, Land, Regulatory, and Operations stakeholders.
• Experience developing project scope, budgets, schedules, execution plans, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Experience preparing RFPs and scopes of work for engineering, survey, geotechnical, LiDAR, construction, or related professional services.
• Strong project management, stakeholder management, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Ability to identify project risks and dependencies and drive issues toward resolution.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to provide concise project updates to management.
• Experience working on geographically distributed project portfolios is preferred.