Solar & BESS Project Director

We are seeking an experienced Project Director to take full ownership of the construction delivery of a consented, large-scale solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the UK. The project has secured its Development Consent Order (DCO) and is now entering the pre-construction and build phase. This is a senior leadership role with direct accountability for safety, programme, cost, quality, and compliance across the full construction lifecycle.

You will be the single point of accountability for all construction activity, leading an integrated team of internal professionals and external contractors, EPC partners, and specialist subcontractors. You will ensure that the project is delivered safely, on time, within budget, and in full compliance with all DCO requirements, planning conditions, and regulatory obligations. The role demands a combination of strategic oversight, hands-on site leadership, and strong commercial acumen.

Key Responsibilities

Project Leadership & Governance

• Hold overall accountability for the successful delivery of the project to financial close and through to final energisation and handover to operations.
• Establish and chair the project governance structure, including, weekly progress reviews, and reporting to the executive team and investors.
• Define the project execution strategy, developing the established contracting model (multi-package), and procurement approach in conjunction with the finance and legal teams.
• Maintain the project plan, ensuring all workstreams are progressing, including enabling works, civil, electrical, BESS installation, grid connection, and commissioning.
• Project reporting (monthly) to the board, and lenders, providing accurate updates, forecasts, and risk registers.

DCO Compliance & Planning Requirements

• Maintain a comprehensive understanding of all DCO requirements, such as the Section 106 and associated legal agreements either in place (protective provisions), or to be obtained (e.g. Deeds of Consent)
• Ensure all pre-commencement and pre-occupation requirements are formally discharged with the relevant stakeholders before works commence.
• Oversee the implementation of all management plans, e.g. the Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP), Construction Traffic Management Plan (CTMP), and Landscape and Ecological Management Plan (LEMP).
• Act as the primary interface with the Planning Inspectorate, local authorities and any other consenting bodies during the construction phase.

EPC, EPCm, BoP & ICP Contractor Management

• Continue the appointment of EPC contractors, BESS supplier, civil contractors, electrical balance-of-plant, and other key suppliers.
• Negotiate, review, and manage multi-package contracts, ensuring appropriate risk allocation, performance bonds, liquidated damages, and warranties are in place.
• Oversee contractor performance against programme, quality, and cost targets, implementing corrective action plans where required.
• Manage variation control, change management processes, and formal contract administration in accordance with relevant contract terms.
• Coordinate interfaces between civil, grid, electrical, and BESS contractors to eliminate clashes, resolve technical conflicts, and maintain sequencing efficiency.

Health, Safety & Environmental

• In collaboration with the Construction PM, act as the client duty holder under CDM Regulations 2015, ensuring a Principal Designer and Principal Contractor are fulfilling their obligations.
• Establish and promote a strong, proactive safety culture across all site activities, conducting regular site inspections and leading by example.
• Oversee environmental compliance on site, such as ensuring all ecological, drainage, dust, and noise mitigations, are met throughout construction.
• Ensure incident reporting, near-miss investigation, and lessons-learned processes are embedded across all workstreams.

Grid Connection & Energisation

• In collaboration with the Electrical PM manage the end-to-end grid connection delivery programme, managing the interface with National Grid (NGED/NGET) and the Electrical BoP contractors as appropriate.
• Oversee the design, procurement, and construction of the grid connection infrastructure including the on-site substation, cable route, and connection to National Grid network.
• Coordinate, with assistance from the electrical project manager, the commissioning and energisation sequence for both solar PV and BESS systems, ensuring alignment with the grid connection agreement milestones.
• Manage the formal Acceptance Testing and Performance Testing programmes for both technologies, including BESS factory acceptance testing (FAT) and site acceptance testing (SAT).

Commercial & Financial Management

• Own the project cost plan and cashflow forecast, tracking spend against budget and providing variance analysis and reforecast on a monthly basis.
• In collaboration with finance manage the drawdown of construction finance and equity in accordance with the funding agreement, working closely with the lender's technical advisor (LTA).
• Review and approve contractor payment applications, ensuring valuations are accurate and supported by programme progress and quality evidence.
• Identify and manage commercial risks including delay events, force majeure, supply chain disruptions, and commodity price exposure.
• Support all financing processes, providing technical due diligence input where applicable.

Transition to Operations

• Develop and implement the handover and commissioning plan, ensuring a structured transition from construction to operations and maintenance (O&M).
• Manage the compilation of the Health & Safety File, As-Built documentation package, and O&M manuals.
• Coordinate the appointment and mobilisation of the long-term O&M contractor, facilitating knowledge transfer and system familiarisation.
• Ensure all grid connection, BESS control system, and SCADA commissioning is completed and tested ahead of commercial operations date (COD).

Office presence in Stroud and site visits in Lincolnshire as required.

About You

Essential Experience

• Demonstrable experience as a Project Director or Senior Project Manager delivering large-scale solar PV and/or BESS projects in the UK at utility scale
• Direct experience of delivering nationally significant infrastructure projects or equivalent complex multi-consent regimes including compliance with protective provisions, and with a working knowledge of discharging requirements.
• Strong track record of managing EPC contracts and multi-package delivery, including contract administration.
• Proven experience of managing transmission operator grid connections from design through to energisation.
• Experience as client CDM duty holder, with thorough knowledge of CDM Regulations 2015 and site safety management.
• Track record of delivery against tight programme and budget constraints in a politically and environmentally sensitive context.

Desirable Experience

• Experience of construction finance drawdown processes and working alongside lender's technical advisors (LTAs) and independent engineers.
• Familiarity with BESS technology platforms and BESS-specific commissioning and FAT/SAT processes.
• Knowledge of contract administration, with formal project controls or quantity surveying.
• Experience of biodiversity net gain and environmentally sensitive construction delivery.
• Knowledge of high-voltage (HV) or extra-high-voltage (EHV) substation delivery or transmission infrastructure ideal.

Skills & Competencies

Technical & Delivery

• Solar PV systems & BOP design
• BESS technology & integration
• Grid connection, ICP & HV systems
• CDM & site safety management
• Programme & critical path management
• Clear written & verbal communication
• DCO planning requirement compliance
• Cost control & financial reporting

Leadership & Stakeholder

• Senior stakeholder management
• EPC contractor leadership
• Influencing at board level
• Dispute resolution & negotiation
• Cross-functional team leadership
• Clear written & verbal communication
• Decision-making under pressure

What's in it for you...

Healthcare plan, life assurance and generous pension contribution
Volunteering Day
Hybrid Working
Various company discounts (including shops, gyms, days out and events)
Holiday of 25 days (plus bank holidays) & ability to buy/sell days
Cycle to work scheme, car pooling and onsite parking available

As a valued member of the team, you will be supporting the Group Environmental Policy and its associated sustainability objectives and targets.

Flexibility statement

The fast moving nature of the business means that from time to time you may be asked to perform duties or tasks outside of your original job description on an ad hoc basis. This allows the company to utilise our people in the best possible way at all times and helps our colleagues to make the best contribution in a changing environment.

Ecotricity is Britain's overall greenest energy company- it's more than just green energy - the breadth and depth of our work on green issues is unmatched. When we started back in 1995, we were the first company in the world to provide a new kind of electricity - the green kind.

Our mission was, and remains, to change the way energy is made and used in Britain - by replacing fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy.

We don't just supply green energy, we use the money from our customers' bills to make it ourselves too - we have built windmills and sun parks in Britain. We call this turning 'bills into mills'.

We don't just focus on energy though- we built the Electric Highway, Britain's leading network of electric vehicle charging points; we helped Forest Green Rovers become the greenest football club in the world; and we launched Britain's greenest mobile phone service, Ecotalk, where they use the money from their customers' bills to protect and regenerate Britain's lost rainforests.

Ecotricity is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to providing equality for all.