Senior Operations Manager

Gaelectric is a group of companies, founded in 2004 with assets in Europe and the US. The company is active in different fields of renewable power generation and energy storage with experienced teams specialized in all aspects of project planning, permitting, finance, engineering and management.

In 2006, Gaelectric opened its offices in Great Falls, Montana and now employs 15 people in its overall North American operations. In Montana, it has secured circa 250,000 acres under options in high wind resource areas, and has a medium term objective of bringing up to 2000MW of wind generation capacity to shovel ready stage.

In 2010, Gaelectric successfully raised and deposited $18 million to reserve 960 MW of transmission capacity on Northwestern Energy and Bonneville Power Administration for its wind energy developments in Montana, USA.

Position Overview:

The Senior Operations Manager position will lead the development of multiple wind projects primarily in Montana.  This position is responsible for the overall direction of the largest projects of the company and will direct the internal project management of these projects and coordinate with the activities of the technical group, transmission team, finance, turbine procurement and power marketing to ensure that projects are developed on-schedule and on-budget and ensuring 100% contract compliance.  The position will report into the Vice President of Strategic Operations and the President of Gaelectric North America.

Responsibilities:

Manage Company project portfolio

• Lead, mentor and direct project management team in developing projects within budget through financial close
• Establish project objectives and policies, maintain liaison with senior management, and monitor development and project finance
• Identify and communicate project portfolio risks and develop mitigation strategies in order to minimize negative impact on Company
• Serve as project representative with partners and vendors, proposal preparation, and present to internal and external stakeholders.
• Build strong relationships with partners, vendors, consultants and other industry leaders
• Assess all local, state and federal regulatory processes and pursue approval for site development.
• Perform value engineering and due diligence on all projects to ensure maximum return on investment
• Participate in staffing and performance management of project management team
• Assist in developing best practices (standard policies and procedures)
• Ensure that all procedures (including HR & Safety) are established, maintained and adhered to.

Qualifications:

• BS/MS degree in Engineering, Environmental Science or Finance
• Professional registration preferred
• 5-10+ years experience of project development, management processes, and activities, preferably for utility-scale wind projects from land acquisition through financial close
• Strong work ethic, ability to set and meet goals
• Demonstrate excellent inter-personal, leadership, communication and team building skills.
• Demonstrates attention to detail, planning, and organizational skills
• Ability to assess risk and develop mitigation strategies
• Strong problem-solving, strategic thinking, and analytical skills
• Strong contract experience and familiarity with turbine supply agreements (TSA), engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, and power purchase agreements (PPA)
• Working knowledge of transmission operations and power markets in the Pacific Northwest and the Western Interconnect
• Working knowledge of project financial models
• United States citizen or otherwise authorized to work in the United States. Strong commitment to work in Montana and reside in the Great Falls area