Director of Origination Solar and BESS Assets

Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) is a leading energy solutions provider dedicated to helping customers reduce costs, enhance resilience, and decarbonize to net zero in the global energy transition. We are a trusted, full-service partner to public sector and government entities, K-12 schools, higher education, utilities, and healthcare customers across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Europe. 

At Ameresco, we show the way by developing, constructing and operating tailored smart energy efficiency solutions, distributed energy resources, and infrastructure upgrades that drive cost savings, resilience, decarbonization, and innovation. Our comprehensive portfolio is built to address the challenges of today and adapt the future, ensuring long-term sustainability and success for our customers.

Overview

The Director of Origination Solar and BESS assets is responsible for identifying, evaluating, and securing high-quality sites for utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage projects. This role leads market scouting, land acquisition, transmission-adjacent targeting, early-stage due diligence, and landowner negotiations. The position plays a key role in building a high-value greenfield pipeline and ensuring each site meets permitting, interconnection, and commercial viability requirements.

Responsibilities:

• Identify and evaluate potential solar and storage development sites using GIS tools, transmission analysis, and market research.

• Assess markets based on transmission capacity, interconnection queue status, land costs, incentives, permitting, and competition.

• Source and maintain a pipeline of site leads and landowner contacts through outreach, mailers, brokers, and local partners.

• Negotiate land leases, purchase options, easements, and access agreements; present project details and build landowner relationships.

• Coordinate with legal to review and finalize all land agreements.

• Lead early due diligence, including environmental, zoning, terrain, and access assessments, as well as high-level site layouts with engineering teams.

• Evaluate site suitability for energy storage considering grid congestion, market signals, and proximity to substations or transmission lines.

• Collaborate with interconnection teams on application strategies and queue management.

• Track policy changes, permitting trends, incentives, and market activity relevant to solar and storage development.

• Monitor competitors, land deals, and ISO/RTO queue updates to inform siting strategies.

• Recommend high-priority areas for site origination based on comprehensive analysis.

• Transition qualified sites to the development and project management teams with complete documentation.

• Work with finance to validate land economics and preliminary financial impacts, and with engineering to refine site designs and address permitting challenges.

• Perform additional duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Geography, Energy, Environmental Science, Engineering, or related field.

• Minimum 10  years of experience in renewable energy site origination, land acquisition, or energy development.

Additional Qualifications:

• Strong background in landowner outreach, negotiation, and relationship building.

• Proficiency with GIS tools (ArcGIS, QGIS) and constraints mapping.

• Understanding of utility-scale solar, storage, interconnection, and permitting processes.

• Excellent communication and organization skills; comfort with travel and field visits.

• Experience sourcing sites in competitive markets (PJM, ERCOT, MISO, SPP, WECC, Southeast) preferred.

• Familiarity with energy storage economics and locational value (preferred).

• Background in real estate transactions, right-of-way acquisition, or rural economic development (preferred).

• Experience interpreting ISO queue data and transmission maps (preferred).

The anticipated salary range for this role is $161,000 - $233,000 per year (presented in good faith). In addition to base pay, employees receive a comprehensive benefits package, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off, and may be eligible for performance incentives, bonuses, commissions, or equity, depending on the role.

Actual pay will depend on factors such as internal equity, skills, experience, education, certifications, and location. This range supports our commitment to pay transparency and compliance with applicable laws. Compensation may vary by work location, including remote arrangements.

We disclose salary ranges and benefits in all required external and internal postings and will provide further details upon request at any stage of the hiring process. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

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Ameresco challenges the brightest, most talented, and creative individuals in the industry by providing an environment that fosters initiative and achievement. We are proud of our comprehensive and competitive employee benefits, including people-oriented insurance, investment, and incentive plans.

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Ameresco is an Equal Opportunity Employer.