Experienced Part Time Solar Program Manager

RETI Center is seeking a highly experienced, collaborative, and highly organized solar development professional to lead the continued growth of one of New York City's most innovative nonprofit community solar programs. This Part-Time Solar Program Lead will oversee the continued development and implementation of our community solar portfolio.

The ideal candidate has successfully developed and managed a substantial portfolio of solar projects from initial site identification and origination through development, financing, engineering, permitting, construction, commissioning, subscriber implementation, and long-term operations and maintenance. We are looking for someone who understands this complete lifecycle of solar development and who is excited to bring that experience into a collaborative, mission-driven nonprofit environment.

This role is an opportunity for an experienced solar development professional to help redefine what community solar can accomplish. Rather than focusing solely on megawatts deployed, you'll help create projects that generate local wealth, workforce opportunities, energy savings, and community ownership in historically underserved neighborhoods. If you've spent your career building projects and are looking to apply your expertise to work with lasting social impact, we'd love to speak with you.

The Solar Program Lead will coordinate current projects, advance new project opportunities, manage relationships with solar developers and community partners, support project financial analysis and technical planning, and help ensure that RETI Center's solar projects create meaningful workforce, subscriber-savings, and community-benefit outcomes.

This position sits at the intersection of clean energy project development, community engagement, workforce development, financial analysis, partnership management, and environmental justice. The Solar Program Lead will also manage and support the professional development of a Community Solar Intern.

This position is designed for someone who has spent years successfully developing solar projects and is looking to apply that expertise toward something larger than project delivery alone.

It is critical for the right candidate to understand that at the RETI Center, every solar project is also a workforce project, a community engagement project, an environmental justice project, and an opportunity to build long-term local wealth.

This is an opportunity to help shape how community solar is done, you'll help build a replicable model for equitable clean energy development.

Primary Responsibilities

Clean Energy Project Management and Pipeline Development

Lead the planning, coordination, and advancement of RETI Center's current and future community solar projects.

Responsibilities include:

• Manage active community solar projects from planning through construction, activation, and ongoing community implementation.
• Coordinate project timelines, deliverables, responsibilities, risks, approvals, and next steps.
• Maintain organized project-management tools, schedules, files, and partner records.
• Work with solar developers, property owners, engineers, contractors, utilities, public agencies, financial partners, and community stakeholders.
• Create and review project proposals, scopes of work, budgets, contracts, financial assumptions, and implementation plans.
• Conduct or support preliminary project financial modeling, including development costs, operating assumptions, savings, incentives, revenue, and community-benefit considerations.
• Use or oversee the use of HelioScope and related tools for preliminary solar layout, production estimates, and project analysis.
• Support site research, feasibility reviews, early-stage project assessment, site control and pipeline prioritization.
• Prepare and review solar proposals, presentations, technical summaries, partner materials, and decision documents.
• Identify new community solar opportunities aligned with RETI Center's mission and Local Power Ecosystem.
• Maintain regular communication with community members and stakeholders affected by or participating in projects.
• Translate technical project information into clear, accessible language for residents, partners, funders, and community leaders.
• Identify project challenges early and coordinate solutions with internal and external partners.

The Solar Program Lead will help ensure that projects remain technically sound, financially viable, community-centered, and aligned with RETI Center's environmental justice goals.

Workforce Development and Graduate Hiring

In addition to solar development activities, the Program Lead will work closely with RETI Center's Workforce Program and Career Pathways Managers, training partners, employers, contractors, and project partners to connect graduates to employment opportunities created through RETI Center's solar portfolio.

Responsibilities include:

• Identify workforce needs and employment opportunities connected to current and future solar projects.
• Coordinate with project developers, contractors, subcontractors, unions, and employers to identify roles suitable for RETI Center graduates.
• Share and support project hiring needs with the Workforce Program Manager and Career Pathways team.
• Offer guidance to program graduates in their career development.

The Solar Program Lead will help ensure that RETI Center's community solar projects create a visible and measurable pathway from training to employment.

Subscriber Savings and Enrollment

Work with RETI Center's Community Engagement and Volunteer Department to onboard-subscriber-acquisition partners, build relationships with project partners and community organizations and support outreach to our CSS subscriber community.