Development Manager - Octopus Australia

Responsibilities

• Potentially anything that falls under the banner of Project Development from landowner liaison, development approvals, grid connection, EPC procurement, PPAs etc. Treat the projects as if they are your own
• Assist the wider Investment Team through asset growth opportunities as required, including bringing your contributions and knowledge into project evaluations, acquisition bids, transaction and negotiation processes, due diligence work and supporting Investment Directors through internal approval processes.
• Develop sound relationships with relevant stakeholders including: landholders, community, regulators and policy makers.
• Manage project teams of multidisciplinary internal and external experts, including technical, planning, legal, grid, environmental and engineering advisors.
• Selecting advisors, consultants, OEMs and construction contractors (including EPC contractors), running procurement process and contract negotiations through to financial close.
• Negotiation of high value contracts including project construction (EPC) and transmission connection agreements.
• Manage the grid connection process, working closely with NSPs and grid consultants, to navigate the complexity of the technical, regulatory and commercial connection landscape.
• Manage the delivery of development works within allocated budgets in a timely, efficient and effective manner.
• Development of project execution plans including timelines, costs, risk assessments, communication of project financials and progress reports in a consistent manner across the assigned projects.
• Development of required inputs for management papers, board papers and commercial negotiations as required.
• Prepare and manage budgets for Capex and Opex, project schedules, and technical inputs into financial models, supporting overall project business case development.
• Support our fundraising efforts, including meeting with prospective investors, promoting the Octopus profile, and supporting our fund managers with development expertise as required.
• Support ongoing profile raising activities – networking with industry participants and at times engaging with energy policymakers to influence energy policy.

Qualifications

Ideally, you will have some or all of the following qualifications, skills and experiences:

Outline of skills/experience required

• Eligibility to work in Australia – visa sponsorship is not offered.
• A relevant tertiary qualification
• Previous experience in a similar position working in the renewable energy sector is preferred. Development experience within complex infrastructure projects including oil & gas, transmission, road, rail, pipelines will be well regarded.
• Ability to engage at General Manager/Executive level with superior written and verbal communication.

Core skills required:

• Strong Project Management skills with a background with technical / engineering qualifications and experience. Demonstrated experience managing complex workloads in a fast paced and dynamic environment.
• Applicants are expected to demonstrate awareness of how an investment business and a renewable energy business would operate.
• Knowledge of Health, Safety and Environmental practices, legislation and requirements. Liaising with relevant regulatory statutory bodies will be done in close cooperation with the Octopus Investments HSE Director.
• Contract and project management skills. The candidate must be highly organised, confident in negotiating large and complex contracts and able to handle relationships with external contracts effectively, sometimes in challenging circumstances.
• Candidates must demonstrate a commercial mindset, and in particular be able to consider technical challenges in a broader commercial and investment context.
• The role will not require detailed financial modelling skills, but applicants are expected to have at least a basic understanding of key investment principles – rates of return, risk, IRR and NPV financial concepts and ideally some familiarity with financial models used for renewable energy investments.

Additional Information

What we offer

• 💰 A competitive salary package including annual bonus.
•  🩺 A generous contribution to your private health insurance, when you join the Octopus Australia-sponsored policy.
• ✈️ Extra five days Annual Leave entitlement.
• 🏡 Hybrid working arrangement.
• 💼 Ongoing learning and career development opportunities including a LinkedIn learning subscription.
• 📱Monthly mobile phone allowance.
• 🧘‍♀️Access to our employee wellness program, including an annual wellness allowance and Headspace subscription.
• 🚗 Access to novated leasing.
• ☀️ The opportunity to apply your skills to the renewable energy transition.

Octopus Australia has built an exciting and inclusive high-performance culture where employees feel empowered. We understand the value of diversity, and we are dedicated to creating an inclusive workplace environment. We welcome people of all backgrounds to apply. 

Our Values 

At Octopus Australia we don’t just focus on what we do but also how we do it. Everyone shares our values of being straightforward, helpful, bold and empathetic. Our culture is critical to our success and is built around four principles that underpin how we pursue our goals:

We empower people to:

• Be Bold – make decisions quickly and be OK changing your mind if it turns out there’s a better way of doing things.
• Be Helpful – behave like it always day one and who remember without our customers there is no business.
• Be Straightforward – have opinions and express them in a way that’s respectful and easy to understand.
• Be Empathetic – care about others and take the time to understand different perspectives. It’s about listening, supporting, and creating an environment where everyone feels valued – so we can send our people home happy.