ABOUT AVANTUS

Avantus develops, owns and operates utility-scale clean energy projects across California and the Desert Southwest. Our development pipeline of solar with integrated storage will generate enough dispatchable power to serve more than 10 million Americans, day and night. Backed by strategic investment from KKR and EIG, and building on more than a decade of industry leadership, Avantus is growing its position as an independent power producer, delivering affordable, reliable clean energy solutions to meet America’s growing energy demand.

ABOUT THE POSITION

We are seeking a highly motivated and organized candidate for a Sr. Manager or Director of Land Acquisition position. The successful candidate will demonstrate sound industry knowledge, critical thinking and problem solving skills, superior communication and negotiation capability, and detail-oriented contract analysis and organizational skills. This role reports to the VP, Land Development.

The land team is a highly talented, hard-working, dynamic group with extensive legacy knowledge in the renewable energy industry. The ideal candidate will have the right mix of skills, experience and enthusiasm to succeed in early-stage development and ongoing asset management of large-scale solar projects.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Lead negotiations for all real estate entitlements underlying Avantus’ portfolio of solar and storage projects.
• Lead due diligence tracking and project status reporting for all assigned project workflows.
• Assist with new market and site analysis including investigation of land development criteria and land ownership.
• Assist with review, resolution, and reporting of title matters to support financing of projects, including encroachments, mineral rights mitigation, liens, and other critical matters
• Coordinate efforts among landowners, attorneys, surveyors, utilities, title companies, and other key project stakeholders.
• Assist with drafting, abstraction, and execution of agreements including purchase and lease agreements, surface waiver agreements, easements, crossing agreements, estoppels, subordination agreements, affidavits, etc.
• Preparation of land project budgets and upkeep of other various spreadsheets in connection with cost projections, including option payment spreadsheets.
• Solve cross-functional project hurdles in coordination with other functional groups in the company, including legal, transmission, permitting, engineering, origination, and finance teams.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree, preference given to candidates with Juris Doctor.
• Minimum of 7+ years of real estate specific experience on utility scale renewable energy projects.
• Highly proficient in Google Earth, MS Office Suite, including use of advanced features and AI tools.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Comprehensive understanding of real estate issues specific to energy development and renewable energy financing requirements.
• Ability to read, understand and interpret legal documents and real estate contracts.
• Resourcefulness, a meticulous eye for detail, and investigative skills are essential.
• Strong analytical reasoning and critical thinking skills with the ability to read and analyze large amounts of project data.
• Self-motivated, possesses an eagerness to learn and take initiative.
• Highly personable demeanor, able to connect with and deal with all personality types
• Direct experience leading real estate workflow for utility scale solar projects from greenfield siting to financial closing.  
• Experience managing ALTA surveys mapping out and resolving complex title issues.
• Experience managing large scale greenfield siting campaigns.
• Willingness to travel up to (2) times a month.
• Resides in western United States, preferably San Diego.

NICE TO HAVES

• Experience managing large mineral rights mitigation efforts on solar projects and has a demonstrated comprehension of mineral rights and how to mitigate mineral rights risk.
• Experience providing clear and concise updates to executive teams and creating simple and effective tools to provide said updates.

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