Director, Pre-Construction; Project Execution

Director, Pre-Construction (Project Execution)

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Orenda is on a mission to make the grid more efficient with renewable energy projects and proprietary asset management technology. We develop, build, own and operate battery energy storage projects in dense urban environments to bridge the gap between renewables and electricity consumption.

Orenda's Project Execution division is responsible for designing, permitting, procuring equipment, and constructing distributed energy resources. Led by the Chief Project Officer, the Project Execution division is divided into the Development, Pre-Construction, and Construction departments. We are seeking an experienced and strategic Director of Pre-Construction to lead this critical commercial department of the Project Execution team. This senior leadership role will report directly to the Chief Project Officer.

This leadership role is responsible for the entire commercial strategy, from handoff from the Origination division all the way up to the start of construction. You will take command of project portfolios as they advance through the design phase, owning the master project schedule, all commercial agreements, and all lease compliance activities. Your focus will be on mitigating risks for the projects by ensuring all major equipment, field service, and consultant contracts are fully synchronized and executed before breaking ground.

You will lead a new, dedicated team, including a Procurement Manager and a Pre-construction Manager, to manage all strategic sourcing, bidding, and contracting.

• Strategic Commercial Leadership:
  Provide leadership and strategic oversight for all pre-construction commercial activities, ensuring alignment with corporate goals and the successful, efficient delivery of the entire project portfolio.
• Team Leadership & Development:
  Lead, mentor, and manage a team of direct reports, including the Procurement Manager and Pre-construction Manager. Set clear objectives, develop performance KPIs, encourage leadership and autonomy within the team, and foster a culture of accountability, precision, and high performance.
• Process Development & Standardization:
  Develop, implement, and refine robust commercial processes and workflows that align with the Project Execution division's goals. This will include standardizing all commercial agreements and defining clear workflows between internal departments, ensuring seamless coordination with the Director of Project Development and the Director of Construction to manage handoffs, mitigate risk, and ensure scalability to support a high-velocity project pipeline.
• Vendor Universe Management:
  Actively identify, vet, prequalify, and onboard strategic partners for procurement and construction, including major equipment manufacturers, General Contractors, and key field service contractors. Manage and maintain the company's comprehensive database of qualified procurement and construction partners to ensure a robust and competitive supply chain.
• Major Equipment Procurement:
  Lead the strategic negotiation and execution of all major equipment contracts, including Master Supply Agreements (MSAs) and project-specific purchase orders. A key responsibility is to ensure all warranties and long-term service agreements are negotiated to align with the requirements of the Asset Management team.
• Field Services Contracting:
  Lead the competitive bidding, negotiation, and execution of all contracts for field-based services. This includes the main General Contractor agreement, as well as any directly-procured trade contractors (ex. fire alarm, security) and third-party consultants (ex. special inspection, NETA testing).
• Commercial De-Risking & Scope Alignment:
  Take ultimate responsibility for de-risking projects by ensuring all commercial agreements, including major equipment MSAs/POs, field service contracts, and consultant agreements, are fully synchronized in scope, schedule, and cost. This includes eliminating gaps, mitigating project risk, and finalizing all major costs to ensure budget certainty for the construction phase.
• Value Engineering & Constructability:
  Act as the primary commercial partner to the Project Development team. Proactively lead constructability reviews and value engineering exercises, analyzing the cost, schedule, and warranty implications of design alternatives to ensure the most cost-effective project is delivered.
• Landlord & Lease Management:
  Inherit the landlord relationship from the Origination team at project handoff. Act as the main point of contact, proactively tracking and actioning all lease obligations and milestones, including insurance compliance, notice requirements, and milestone payments, throughout the design and pre-construction phases.
• Master Schedule Management:
  Take primary ownership of developing and managing the master project schedule through the design and…