Business Development Manager

Description

First Solar reserves the right to offer you a role most applicable to your experience and skillset.

Basic Job Functions:

This position is a cross-functional role that integrates several independent teams and functions while seeking to recognize cross functional synergies between them. The position requires a strategic development perspective combined with a Markets origination focus to drive the organization’s performance within the US. This role is key to coordinating customer activity within and across those regions, and more globally.

The Manager is responsible for the support and development of growth and customer relationships in First Solar’s US region. The Manager will help drive implementation through preparation and opening of assigned new markets or segments and evolving this network. They will identify market entry points, develop opportunities, and ensure the best strategy is employed to develop a sustainable value proposition and in turn help grow the business.

The successful candidate will further identify companies headquartered in the US region that develop and own utility-scale PV power plants across this region. The candidate will successfully develop and support establishing strong relationships to support these customers. Strong cross-functional coordination and internal/external relationship building will be essential to success.

This position requires analyzing challenging situations and driving clarity while maintaining complex alignment across the decision-making processes. Key aspects of this role will be strategy development, commercial contract execution, managing cross functional relationships and the ability to obtain executive management support and approvals.

Education/Experience:

• An undergraduate degree is required; MBA or Masters is a plus.
• 5+ years of work experience in business development, engineering, sales, project management or other relevant technical experience.
• Minimum of 3+ years of experience in the energy, alternative energy and/or utility sectors.
• Prior experience in utility-scale solar energy industry is required.
• Prior experience living and/or working in multiple geographies is preferred.

Required Skills/Competencies:

• Leadership
  
  Skills:
  • Demonstrated experience navigating complex situations in a fast changing internal and external environment.
  • Demonstrated experience in identifying, implementing, originating, negotiating, and executing commercial contracts.
  • Experience leading cross-regional and/or cross-functional high performing teams, with demonstrated results.
• Analytical
  
  Skills:
  • Demonstrated experience in the core product management analytics:
    • Market/Customer Segment Analysis
    • Competitive Analysis
    • Positioning Analysis
    • Economic Value Analysis
    • Business Case Analysis
  • Understanding of global power and utility markets structures and decision making. Analytical skills to assess the impacts of regulatory changes.
  • Highly detail-oriented and productive.
• Customer/Market Engagement
  
  Skills:
  • Demonstrated expertise in engaging targeted customers to:
    • Acquire and validate key success factors and solution needs.
    • Identify market hypothesis/needs.
    • Establish commercial and technical long-term partners.
    • Negotiate and close commercial agreements.
• Communication
  
  Skills:
  • Excellent written, oral, and executive level communication skills.
  • Demonstrated excellence in defining/aligning organizational priorities with multiple internal stakeholders.
  • Demonstrated excellence in communication of status to objectives; up, down, laterally, and diagonally across the organization.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Lead origination and negotiations resulting in executing commercial contracts with a number of new and existing customers.
• Develop and manage long-term strategic partnerships and framework agreements.
• Being a trusted advisor to the head of strategic accounts, in market segmentation, origination strategies, and collaboration with leadership to implement.
• Facilitates and supports the collaborative development and alignment of the global business plan and strategy for identified market segments or channels.
• Development of a multi-year, multi-segment Market Strategy that includes an integrated segmentation…