Director of Project Development and Strategy, High Voltage

About This Role

Directing project development and strategy for the High Voltage Infrastructure business unit is the core of this role, leading all preconstruction activities from opportunity identification through estimate finalization, proposal submission, and handoff to project execution. This position owns the accuracy, consistency, and competitiveness of HV bids and budgets, working closely with Business Development, Engineering, Procurement, and Operations leadership to convert pipeline opportunities into well-scoped, biddable, and constructible projects. The Director builds and standardizes preconstruction processes across a growing HV portfolio and is a key contributor to win-strategy and pricing decisions presented to executive leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead the HV preconstruction team through all phases of estimating and proposal development: conceptual/budgetary pricing, competitive hard-bid estimates, negotiated pricing, and change order/scope development for existing projects
• Own the preconstruction stage-gate process for the HV business unit, ensuring consistent scope definition, take-off methodology, risk review, and estimate quality across all opportunities and estimators
• Partner with Business Development to evaluate incoming opportunities, support go/no-go decisions, and shape win strategy, pricing philosophy, and differentiation for client proposals and RFP responses
• Direct quantity take-offs, unit pricing, and labor productivity assumptions for HV scope, including substations, switchyards, transmission lines, and BOP tie-in work, using both self-perform and subcontracted delivery models
• Lead constructability reviews with Engineering and Operations to identify schedule, sequencing, and cost risk during design development, and to ensure estimates reflect buildable, field-validated approaches
• Manage subcontractor and major equipment vendor bid solicitation, leveling, and qualification (transformers, switch gear, structures, conductor, and specialty subcontract scopes), working closely with Procurement and Supply Chain
• Develop and present cost estimates, risk registers, and pricing recommendations to executive leadership and ownership (American Securities) as part of proposal and award approval processes
• Ensure a clean, well-documented handoff of awarded projects from preconstruction to project execution teams, including budget basis of estimate, key assumptions, and identified risk/contingency items
• Track win rates, estimate-to-actual performance, and productivity/pricing benchmarks across the HV portfolio; use this data to refine future estimating assumptions and unit costs
• Standardize estimating tools, templates, and historical cost databases across HV, incorporating lessons learned from ongoing process improvement work and integration of Spartan Infrastructure and Roberson Waite Electric
• Build and develop the preconstruction team's bench strength, including hiring, mentoring, and succession planning for estimators and preconstruction managers as the HV pipeline grows
• Support long-lead item identification and early procurement (LNTP)

About the Company

SOLV Energy is a leading provider of infrastructure services to the power industry, designing, building and maintaining utility scale solar, battery storage and high voltage substation projects nationwide.