Manager, Land Acquisition - West (Open to Remote)

Company: Clearway Energy
Location: Scottsdale
Posted on: January 26, 2023

Job Description:

About Us
Clearway Energy Group is leading the transition to a world powered by clean energy. Along with our public affiliate Clearway Energy, Inc., we own and operate over 7.5 gigawatts of renewable and conventional energy assets across the country. As we develop a nationwide pipeline of new renewable energy projects for the future, Clearway's 5 gigawatts of wind, solar, and energy storage assets offset the equivalent of nearly 8.8 million metric tons of carbon emissions for our customers today. Clearway Energy Group is headquartered in San Francisco, CA with offices in Carlsbad, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Houston, TX; and Princeton, NJ. For more information, visit clearwayenergygroup.com.

Summary
The Manager, Land Acquisition West Region, is responsible for the diligence, acquisition, and administration of site control rights for wind, solar, linear facilities, and energy storage projects. The Manager, Land Acquisition will be a key member of the team charged with the development and execution of construction of Clearway Energy Group's 9 GW solar, wind and storage project pipeline while specifically focusing on activities in the west. The position will work closely with Development Project Managers, as well as the Real Estate, Legal, Engineering, and Construction teams across much of the project lifecycle, with specific focus on acquiring site control at an early development stage, helping to resolve curative issues during financing and serving as the conduit between project landowners and the Clearway project team through to construction and into commercial operations.
Candidates should have significant prior professional land acquisition experience with ability and expertise to perform fee title due diligence activities, landowner research and contact, negotiate site control agreements (i.e., leases, easements, options, purchases) and administer site control agreements from execution through to commercial operations. Familiarity with the renewable energy development life cycle from project siting through to construction and operations is a strong preference. Candidates should have demonstrable experience designing and implementing land acquisition campaigns within the West Region with regional knowledge of real estate matters, land acquisition consultants, law firms, and landowner relationships. As the face of Clearway in the communities in which we work, a successful candidate will need to interact with a wide array of stakeholders, including landowners, local governmental officials and community organizations and have strong interpersonal communication skills.

Principal Responsibilities & Key Results

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• Working closely with the Development team to develop, lead and implement land acquisition campaigns with the goal of negotiating and securing site control to support all core and ancillary project facilities
  
• Identify and manage land acquisition consultant teams in multiple states.
  
• Support attorney review process through site control agreement negotiations
  
• Conduct fee title due diligence to determine parcel ownership and identification of preexisting liens requiring curative work
  
• Work closely with the Development team to inform early-stage prospecting efforts
  
• Research land values and other sources to inform market rate commercial terms
  
• Develop and maintain landowner lists to track acquisition progress
  
• Work closely with the GIS team to produce lease exhibits and other mapping requirements
  
• Administer the signing and compliance with site control agreements from execution through to handover to the Asset Management team at commercial operations
  
• Support review of title commitments and title curative work, which may include SNDAs, crossing consents, requests for trust documents, affidavits of non-production, etc.
  
• Leverage relationships with landowners to facilitate estoppel process at financing
  
• Act as Clearway's early-stage representative in existing and new communities in communicating project status and supporting the project's permitting, tax abatement, road use agreement, community benefits package, and other local coordination efforts on the local level
  
• Communicate with landowners throughout the development process to keep them apprised of project status, on-site survey timing and access, etc
  
  
  Knowledge & Skills
  
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  • Fundamental understanding of real estate and title concepts and terminology
    
  • Experience performing land ownership due diligence, establishing contact with landowners, and negotiating site control agreements
    
  • Understanding of the development life cycle of wind, solar and storage projects preferred, along with exposure to the benefits and concerns of renewable energy
    
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills with ability to successfully communicate in all situations with internal and external stakeholders
    
  • Experience reviewing title and performing title curative work
    
  • Experience with GIS a plus
    
  • Experience managing contractors
    
  • Ability to manage simultaneous projects/work streams, set priorities, and exercise independent judgment
    
  • Ability and willingness to travel (> 50%)
    
  • Ability to occasionally work outside of regular work hours on short notice when necessary
    
    
    Ideal Qualifications
    
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    • Bachelor's degree in legal studies, business administration, or related field of study
      
    • Minimum of 5 years of career experience acquiring site control and performing title due diligence and preferably title curative work in the energy and/or renewable industry in the U.S.
      
    • Understanding of legal descriptions, title and real estate terminology, comprehension of and ability to explain site control agreement provisions
      
    • Demonstrated expertise or familiarity with the full life cycle development of utility scale solar and wind projects a plus
      
      #remotework

Keywords: Clearway Energy, Scottsdale , Manager, Land Acquisition - West (Open to Remote), Executive , Scottsdale, Arizona