General Manager: Renewable Energy Projects

General Manager: Renewable Energy Projects (Solar & Wind)

Department: Renewable Energy Project Development

Employment Type: Contract / Temp

Location: South Africa

Reporting To: Executive Leader: Renewables

Description Allied Talent Partners (ATP), a Three Cairns Group initiative, is a mission-driven, not-for-profit talent marketplace focused on solving the human capital bottlenecks slowing down sustainable development efforts in emerging economies, with an initial focus on Africa.  ATP connects vetted, experienced, context-relevant professionals to high-impact opportunities in energy access and sustainable development – strengthening local capacity and fuelling economic vitality. We specialize in fixed-term, deliverable-driven engagements – from interim leadership and generalist projects to niche technical expertise – handling project scoping, talent vetting and matching, contracting, payroll, and compliance so that our clients can focus on impact.

High-Level Overview

Project:

The Client is a renewable-energy company building a long-term portfolio of implementable and commercially scalable projects. They are looking for a General Manager: Renewable Energy Projects (Solar & Wind) to lead the technology strategy, strengthen end-to-end development processes, and build a robust, investment-ready renewable-energy project pipeline. The role will be accountable for identifying and maturing opportunities through the full development lifecycle and delivering projects that are technically sound, commercially viable, and fully prepared for operational handover. 

The ideal candidate brings deep renewable-energy development experience, strong technical and commercial insight, and the leadership capacity to drive a complex, multi-stakeholder transition agenda. They will be a strategic, analytically rigorous leader capable of uplifting capability, embedding delivery discipline, and ensuring that the project pipeline is credible, scalable, and aligned with long-term growth objectives. 

Role and Responsibilities
Role: General Manager: Renewable Energy Projects (Solar & Wind)  
Direct Report: Executive Leader: Renewables  
Candidates Required: 1

Key Deliverables: 

Strategic Leadership & Direction

• Set the strategic roadmap for renewable-energy technology and development in alignment with organisational objectives. 
• Translate strategic mandates into an actionable development programme and a sequenced, prioritised renewable-energy project pipeline. 
• Define frameworks, standards, and methodologies for project development, technical assurance, risk management, and operational readiness. 
• Provide strategic guidance across land, grid, permitting, regulatory, and feasibility pathways to ensure projects progress through the lifecycle. 

Pipeline Development & Front-End Project Preparation

• Build, prioritise, and manage a robust pipeline of renewable-energy projects across solar PV, wind, and adjacent technologies. 
• Progress opportunities through land access, grid-connection applications, environmental approvals, licensing, feasibility studies, and technical scoping. 
• Mature projects to investment-ready status, ensuring they are technically sound, commercially viable, and operationally feasible. 
• Package projects for late-stage co-development, EPC procurement, and eventual execution. 
• Integrate development activities with commercial, deal-structuring, and legal teams to align with PPA structures, direct supply models, and other market-access pathways. 

Project Delivery & Execution

• Oversee the transition from development to execution, ensuring EPC, co-development, and partner-delivery models are properly scoped, contracted, resourced, and aligned with project objectives. 
• Lead end-to-end project delivery through construction, commissioning, and operational readiness, ensuring projects meet technical, commercial, and regulatory requirements for COD. 
• Construction Oversight: Ensure adherence to engineering designs, quality standards, safety requirements, cost parameters, and schedule commitments. 
• Commissioning Oversight: Oversee commissioning activities, including performance testing, grid integration, compliance checks, and operational-readiness milestones. 
• Coordinate cross-functionally with engineering, commercial, legal, environmental, grid, and business-development teams to resolve delivery constraints that impact cost, schedule, or commercial obligations. 
• Engage with EPCs, OEMs, technical partners, and development partners to monitor progress, manage risks, and maintain delivery momentum. 

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Embed operational excellence across the development and delivery functions, ensuring consistent application of best-practice methodologies, technical standards, and processes. 
• Lead transformation and efficiency initiatives to improve development speed, quality, and predictability. 
• Introduce tools, systems, and technologies that enhance project planning, engineering workflows, permitting, and development performance. 
• Monitor performance trends, identify bottlenecks, and drive corrective actions to improve development throughput and project readiness. 
• Foster a culture of disciplined execution, continuous learning, and process maturity. 

Project Development Governance, Quality & Risk Management

• Establish robust development governance, decision gates, documentation standards, and internal controls. 
• Ensure compliance with environmental, technical, regulatory, and statutory requirements across the lifecycle. 
• Oversee risk identification, mitigation, and monitoring across technical, commercial, grid, permitting, land, and execution dimensions. 
• Maintain transparent reporting, pipeline analytics, readiness assessments, and escalation frameworks to support high-quality decision-making. 

Stakeholder Engagement & External Interface

• Represent the renewables development and delivery function in senior leadership forums and external engagements. 
• Build and strengthen relationships with regulators, grid operators, permitting authorities, landowners, environmental bodies, and technology partners. 
• Lead external engagements required to secure land rights, permitting approvals, grid access, and regulatory alignment. 
• Support the organisation's positioning in emerging commercial channels such as bilateral PPAs, distributed contracts, and direct-to-market models. 

People Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead and develop a team of project-development specialists, engineers, and technical professionals. 
• Build capability in technical assessment, regulatory planning, development governance, and cross-functional delivery. 
• Establish high-performance standards, clear accountability, and structured performance-management practices. 
• Embed knowledge-sharing, mentoring, and skills-development practices to support organisational scaling. 

Requirements Experience Required:

• 10+ years' senior-level experience in renewable-energy project development, engineering, or major projects. 
  
• Demonstrated success in maturing projects from concept through to feasibility, development and Commercial Operation Date. 
  
• Strong understanding of land, grid, licensing, permitting, environmental, and regulatory requirements. 
  
• Experience navigating large, complex development portfolios and multidisciplinary teams. 
  
• Familiarity with commercial structures across PPAs, EPC contracts, co-development partnerships, and funding pathways. 
  
• Exposure to blended-finance environments, DFIs, lenders, and IPPs is advantageous. 
  
• Experience working within new or transitioning organisational environments. 
  

Technical Requirements:

• Engineering degree preferred (BEng/BSc at NQF8 or equivalent). 
• Postgraduate qualification in Business Management advantageous. 
• Strong technical assessment, project-planning, and development-governance skills. 
• Ability to translate technical realities into commercially aligned project decisions. 

Other Skills:

• Strategic, analytical thinker with strong problem-solving capability. 
• Demonstrated leadership presence and ability to influence at senior levels. 
• Skilled communicator with credibility among engineers, executives, and external stakeholders. 
• High integrity, sound judgement, and resilience in evolving environments. 
• Strong stakeholder-management and negotiation ability. 

Working Arrangement
Location: South Africa (primary location to be confirmed)
Travel: Occasional travel to project sites, regulatory meetings, and partner engagements.

Terms of agreement:
Start Date: ASAP
Contracting Period: 2–24 months initial contract, with potential transition to permanent role 

---