Director of Project Development Jobs
Director of Project Development jobs are open across construction, real estate, energy, healthcare, and technology, from mid-level project manager to senior director, with specializations in infrastructure development, program strategy, and capital planning. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Position Summary
The Director of Energy Engineering and Project Development will lead the technical development of large-scale energy performance contracting projects while managing and mentoring a distributed engineering team. This role combines technical leadership, customer engagement, project development, and commercial discipline.
The Director will work directly with customers to understand their operational, financial, and capital objectives and translate those needs into technically sound, executable project plans. A critical responsibility is ensuring that energy savings calculations, M&V methodologies, and contractual savings commitments are rigorous, achievable, and appropriately managed for performance risk. Preferred Location is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, however remote candidates will be considered.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and manage a distributed team of energy engineers across the project-development pipeline.
- Direct technical development from initial customer discovery through detailed engineering, proposal, contracting, and implementation transition.
- Serve as a senior technical contact for customers, executives, facility teams, and internal stakeholders.
- Translate customer objectives into clear project scopes, schedules, budgets, responsibilities, and deliverables.
- Lead development of comprehensive energy conservation measure (ECM) portfolios, from conventional efficiency measures to complex engineered solutions.
- Provide technical oversight of HVAC, lighting, controls, motors, VFDs, central plants, boilers, heat recovery, compressed air, water systems, electrification, geothermal, renewables, and process-energy opportunities.
- Ensure ECMs are sufficiently engineered to understand cost, savings, constructability, operational impacts, and performance risk before commitments are made.
- Own the quality and accuracy of energy savings calculations, baselines, engineering assumptions, utility analysis, and supporting documentation.
- Develop and/or approve practical M&V strategies and plans consistent with project requirements and accepted methodologies.
- Balance maximizing customer energy savings with prudent management of technical and savings-guarantee risk.
- Conduct technical and financial reviews to identify cost, schedule, engineering, and savings risks before proposals and contractual commitments.
- Coordinate engineering with sales, estimating, construction, procurement, controls, commissioning, finance, legal, and M&V teams.
- Manage multiple projects while maintaining clear priorities, schedules, budgets, and accountability.
- Communicate complex technical concepts and recommendations clearly to both technical and executive audiences.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of management experience with an ESCO, energy performance contracting organization, or comparable business.
- 7+ years of engineering experience within an ESCO or comparable energy-performance organization; greater experience preferred.
- Demonstrated experience developing large, complex performance contracts involving multiple ECMs and guaranteed energy savings.
- Proven experience leading engineering teams, including distributed or remote personnel.
- Strong customer-facing experience with executive, financial, operational, and facility stakeholders.
- Expert understanding of energy savings calculations, baseline development, utility analysis, engineering modeling, and guaranteed savings.
- Strong knowledge of M&V methodologies and performance-contracting requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to manage project-development schedules, resources, budgets, and customer expectations.
- Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and leadership skills.
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, energy engineering, or a related discipline.
Preferred Qualifications
- Professional Engineer (PE) license.
- Certified Energy Manager (CEM) or similar credential.
- Experience with IPMVP or comparable M&V frameworks.
- Experience working with institutional, municipal, higher education, healthcare, industrial, or complex commercial facilities.
- Located in or near Philadelphia; highly qualified remote candidates will be considered.
What Success Looks Like
Success means building a high-performing engineering organization that consistently develops technically sound, financially attractive projects on schedule while maximizing viable energy savings and managing technical, contractual, cost, schedule, and performance risks.
The ideal candidate is energized by complex technical challenges, enjoys working with customers and senior stakeholders, and wants to make a meaningful impact through both project outcomes and team leadership.
Compensation and Benefits
- Competitive, executive level base salary
- Annual Performance Incentive Plan (MIP)
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k) with Company Match
- Company provided Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance
- Generous Paid Time Off and Company Holidays
- Paid Parental Leave
- Tuition Assistance and Professional Development
- Professional Certification Reimbursement
- Hybrid Work Environment
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring current or future employer sponsorship for employment authorization.
Position Summary
The Director of Energy Engineering and Project Development will lead the technical development of large-scale energy performance contracting projects while managing and mentoring a distributed engineering team. This role combines technical leadership, customer engagement, project development, and commercial discipline.
The Director will work directly with customers to understand their operational, financial, and capital objectives and translate those needs into technically sound, executable project plans. A critical responsibility is ensuring that energy savings calculations, M&V methodologies, and contractual savings commitments are rigorous, achievable, and appropriately managed for performance risk. Preferred Location is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, however remote candidates will be considered.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and manage a distributed team of energy engineers across the project-development pipeline.
- Direct technical development from initial customer discovery through detailed engineering, proposal, contracting, and implementation transition.
- Serve as a senior technical contact for customers, executives, facility teams, and internal stakeholders.
- Translate customer objectives into clear project scopes, schedules, budgets, responsibilities, and deliverables.
- Lead development of comprehensive energy conservation measure (ECM) portfolios, from conventional efficiency measures to complex engineered solutions.
- Provide technical oversight of HVAC, lighting, controls, motors, VFDs, central plants, boilers, heat recovery, compressed air, water systems, electrification, geothermal, renewables, and process-energy opportunities.
- Ensure ECMs are sufficiently engineered to understand cost, savings, constructability, operational impacts, and performance risk before commitments are made.
- Own the quality and accuracy of energy savings calculations, baselines, engineering assumptions, utility analysis, and supporting documentation.
- Develop and/or approve practical M&V strategies and plans consistent with project requirements and accepted methodologies.
- Balance maximizing customer energy savings with prudent management of technical and savings-guarantee risk.
- Conduct technical and financial reviews to identify cost, schedule, engineering, and savings risks before proposals and contractual commitments.
- Coordinate engineering with sales, estimating, construction, procurement, controls, commissioning, finance, legal, and M&V teams.
- Manage multiple projects while maintaining clear priorities, schedules, budgets, and accountability.
- Communicate complex technical concepts and recommendations clearly to both technical and executive audiences.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of management experience with an ESCO, energy performance contracting organization, or comparable business.
- 7+ years of engineering experience within an ESCO or comparable energy-performance organization; greater experience preferred.
- Demonstrated experience developing large, complex performance contracts involving multiple ECMs and guaranteed energy savings.
- Proven experience leading engineering teams, including distributed or remote personnel.
- Strong customer-facing experience with executive, financial, operational, and facility stakeholders.
- Expert understanding of energy savings calculations, baseline development, utility analysis, engineering modeling, and guaranteed savings.
- Strong knowledge of M&V methodologies and performance-contracting requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to manage project-development schedules, resources, budgets, and customer expectations.
- Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and leadership skills.
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, energy engineering, or a related discipline.
Preferred Qualifications
- Professional Engineer (PE) license.
- Certified Energy Manager (CEM) or similar credential.
- Experience with IPMVP or comparable M&V frameworks.
- Experience working with institutional, municipal, higher education, healthcare, industrial, or complex commercial facilities.
- Located in or near Philadelphia; highly qualified remote candidates will be considered.
What Success Looks Like
Success means building a high-performing engineering organization that consistently develops technically sound, financially attractive projects on schedule while maximizing viable energy savings and managing technical, contractual, cost, schedule, and performance risks.
The ideal candidate is energized by complex technical challenges, enjoys working with customers and senior stakeholders, and wants to make a meaningful impact through both project outcomes and team leadership.
Compensation and Benefits
- Competitive, executive level base salary
- Annual Performance Incentive Plan (MIP)
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401(k) with Company Match
- Company provided Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance
- Generous Paid Time Off and Company Holidays
- Paid Parental Leave
- Tuition Assistance and Professional Development
- Professional Certification Reimbursement
- Hybrid Work Environment
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring current or future employer sponsorship for employment authorization.
Director of Project Development Jobs by Experience Level
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Find JobsDirector of Project Development Job Market
Who's Hiring
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in director of project development jobs.
- 7-10 years of experience managing complex development or capital projects end-to-end
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams including engineering, finance, and legal stakeholders
- Proficiency with project management platforms such as Smartsheet, Procore, or Microsoft Project
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, construction management, business, or a related field
- PMP certification or equivalent project management credential strongly preferred
- Experience with budget development, cost forecasting, and project financial reporting
Tips for Your Director of Project Development Job Search
Quantify development portfolios on your resume
Directors of project development are evaluated on scope and outcomes. Replace vague statements with the number of concurrent projects you managed, total capital value delivered, and whether projects closed on schedule and within budget.
Tailor your resume to sector-specific language
A director of project development resume in energy reads differently than one in real estate or healthcare. Match your terminology to the sector in each job posting, 'entitlements' and 'permitting' land differently than 'stakeholder alignment' or 'go-to-market planning.'
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists director of project development openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Target postings that name the project pipeline
Job listings that describe an active pipeline or named initiative are higher-signal than generic postings. Prioritize those openings, they indicate a funded mandate and a faster path from hire to meaningful work.
Prepare a stage-gate case study for interviews
Most director of project development interviews include a scenario round. Walk into it with a real project you can describe end-to-end: initiation, feasibility, approvals, execution, and close-out, with one decision point where you changed course.
Negotiate scope alongside compensation
At the director level, what you own matters as much as what you earn. During offer negotiations, clarify budget authority, headcount, and whether the role has final sign-off on vendor contracts, these define your actual leverage in the job.
Director of Project Development Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most director of project developments?
The companies hiring the most director of project developments right now include American Structurepoint, C.W. DRIVER, and SOLV Energy, with the largest share of openings in California, Texas, and Florida, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Activity tends to concentrate in sectors with active capital programs, including energy infrastructure, commercial real estate, and health system expansion.
How many director of project development jobs are remote?
About 100% of director of project development openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the site-dependent nature of much development work. Sub-functions with the highest remote share include program strategy, vendor management, and pre-development planning, while roles tied to active construction or permitting processes typically require on-site presence.
How do you become a director of project development?
Most directors of project development move up through project manager and senior project manager roles, building a record of delivering complex, multi-stakeholder projects on budget and on schedule. Earning a PMP or sector-specific credential strengthens your candidacy. Lateral experience in areas like feasibility analysis, contract negotiation, or regulatory approvals accelerates the path to director-level consideration.
Can I get hired as a director of project development with limited experience?
Breaking directly into a director of project development role with limited experience is uncommon because employers expect you to have managed full project lifecycles independently. The practical path is to pursue a senior project manager role first, take on P&L or budget ownership, and document outcomes. Some smaller organizations or startups hire at the director title earlier if you bring deep subject-matter expertise in their sector.
What does the director of project development interview process look like?
The interview process for a director of project development typically runs three to five rounds. Early stages involve a recruiter screen and a hiring manager conversation focused on your project history. Middle rounds often include a panel with finance, operations, or engineering leaders. Final rounds frequently involve a case study or presentation where you walk through a development scenario, followed by reference checks before an offer.
Where can I find and apply to director of project development jobs?
You can find and apply to director of project development jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from employers across the United States. Search the listings to find roles that match your sector and experience level, then apply directly to each one that fits.
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