Renewable Energy, Environmental Services, Energy Consulting

Head of Project Development

El Segundo, CAOnsiteFull TimeManager / Head$200,000–$220,000 /yrPosted 3 days agoVisa sponsorship available

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Required skills

energy-plus-CDR
origination
siting
de-risking
generation facilities
carbon management
project pipeline
Texas
Louisiana
U.S. Gulf Coast

Nice to have

distributed energy
microgrids
thermal power generation
midstream infrastructure
early-stage heavy infrastructure
clean-tech pipeline

Role summary

Arbor Energy is seeking a Head of Project Development to lead the end-to-end origination, siting, and de-risking of energy-plus-CDR generation facilities. This executive-level role requires expertise in utility-scale power plant development and carbon management, focusing on building a multi-gigawatt pipeline. Responsibilities include site acquisition, grid interconnection strategy, PPA negotiations, securing carbon storage, managing CO2 transport logistics, and optimizing project finance through incentives and dual revenue streams. The role is based in El Segundo, CA, with an initial focus on Texas, Louisiana, and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

About Us

At Arbor Energy & Resources Corporation ("Arbor Energy"), we’re creating technology to power our lives while protecting the planet that sustains them. Our advanced power systems deliver clean, reliable baseload electricity with zero operating emissions—modular, fuel-flexible, and engineered for the realities of today’s energy demand. At the core is a supercritical CO₂ turbine with integrated carbon capture, designed to bring carbon-neutral power online quickly at meaningful scale.

Our team includes aerospace engineers, combustion experts, and systems thinkers with a shared goal: to build technology worthy of the world we want to live in. While many of us began our journeys looking to the stars, we’re applying that expertise here at home to deliver dependable, emission-free baseload power and a future of lasting abundance.

If you share our values and are drawn to rigorous work with lasting impact, we’d love to learn more about you. Come build what the future will run on.

Steward our planet: We build for tomorrow, ensuring every bolt we tighten and every hand we lend leaves our environment stronger than we found it.

Lead with Love: We champion the success of our people, partners, and planet, nurturing excellence through camaraderie and rigor.

Explore the Uncharted: We embrace the unknown with curiosity, using courage and discipline to transform uncertainty into opportunity.

Role Overview

As the Head of Project Development, you will own the end-to-end origination, siting, and de-risking of Arbor's energy-plus-CDR generation facilities. This is a highly strategic, executive-level role requiring a unique blend of traditional utility-scale power plant development and cutting-edge carbon management. You will be the architect of our project pipeline, taking sites from greenfield concept through to Final Investment Decision (FID) and transitioning them to our engineering and construction teams.

Based out of our El Segundo headquarters, your immediate priority will be capitalizing on our highest-value target deployment markets in Texas, Louisiana, and the wider U.S. Gulf Coast, before scaling the deployment model both nationally and internationally.

Responsibilities

Power Plant Siting & Portfolio Strategy

Pipeline Ownership: Build and execute the strategic blueprint to deliver a multi-gigawatt pipeline of profitable, FID-ready baseload power projects.

Co-Location Scoping: Identify optimal sites based on dual-critical parameters: favorable grid interconnection constraints and direct proximity to fuel inputs (natural gas/biomass feedstock), $CO_2$ pipelines, or Class VI sequestration wells.

Regional Execution: Lead site acquisition, land options, and permitting in the Gulf Coast region, maximizing the advantages of localized Class VI permits and local infrastructure.

Grid Interconnection & Power Offtake

Interconnection Strategy: Strategically navigate regional ISO/RTO queues (with an immediate focus on ERCOT and MISO) to identify fast-track, low-cost grid injection points.

PPA & Utility Negotiations: Originate and negotiate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with utilities, large industrial buyers, and data center operators seeking clean, 24/7 baseload power.

CO2 Management & Fuel Logistics

Sequestration Partnerships: Secure long-term, permanent carbon storage capacity by negotiating and structuring agreements with Class VI injection well operators and subsurface developers.

Midstream & Logistics: Evaluate and secure access to CO2 transport networks (pipelines, trucking, or rail) to handle the pure stream of by-product CO2 generated from our oxy-combustion loop.

Fuel Security: Coordinate with supply chain teams to ensure sites have access to reliable natural gas infrastructure or biomass/syngas logistics to unlock both zero- and negative-emissions monetization pathways.

Incentives, Policy & Project Financing

Cross-Functional Incentive Optimization: Work in lockstep with the Policy and Finance teams to aggressively optimize project returns by blending federal, state, and local incentives—including Section 45Q tax credits, clean energy production incentives, NEPA compliance frameworks, and discretionary government funding.

Project Finance Structuring: Partner with Finance to maximize project bankability, leveraging the dual revenue streams of contracted energy sales and premium CDR credits to secure project finance or private equity.

Requirements

10+ years of infrastructure project development experience, with a proven track record of bringing multiple complex, utility-scale power generation or heavy industrial energy projects to financial close.

Deep sector expertise across distributed energy, utility-scale renewables, microgrids, thermal power generation, or midstream infrastructure. Direct experience in the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS/CDR) sector is highly preferred.

Mastery of Grid Dynamics: A strong understanding of RTO/ISO interconnection queues, transmission planning, utility tariff structures, and PPA negotiations.

Regulatory & Permitting Savvy: Hands-on experience navigating NEPA compliance, industrial zoning, state environmental permits, and local community engagement, particularly in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Strategic & Operational Agility: A leader who can design macro corporate scaling models, yet seamlessly pivot down to granular details—whether it’s reviewing an interconnection application, analyzing utility tariffs, or walking a greenfield site.

Preferred Qualifications

Direct experience with biomass-to-energy projects, oxy-combustion/sCO2 technology, or Class VI sequestration networks.

Experience scaling an early-stage heavy infrastructure or clean-tech pipeline through rapid growth phases.

Background in infrastructure private equity, project finance modeling, or managing government-grant-backed energy developments.

Compensation & Benefits

Pre-IPO stock options

Medical, dental, and vision insurance (Arbor covers 90% for employees)

Basic life insurance fully covered

Health savings account (HSA) with matching

Flexible savings account (FSA)

Unlimited PTO

12+ company holidays, including Earth Day!

401(k)

Commuter benefits

Annual learning and development stipend

And more!

Base Pay: $200,000 - $220,000 USD/year. The salary is subject to the applicant's skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

Our Commitment

Arbor Energy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Solving global energy challenges requires a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and we are committed to building a team that reflects the world we serve.

Our hiring process is designed to be accessible, fair, and focused on the work that matters most for this role. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the hiring process and employment—please let us know if you need one.

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