Director, Project Engineering & Design (EV/BESS)

Job description

**About Us** Highland Electric Fleets’ mission is to make electric fleets accessible and affordable for all, enabling communities to realize the benefits of cleaner, quieter and healthier fleets. Highland is North America’s leading provider of Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS). Founded in 2019, Highland partners with school districts, municipalities, and fleet operators to make the transition to electric fleets simple and affordable. Highland proudly serves as the Official Electric School Bus Provider of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA. From pioneering vehicle-to-grid technology to managing some of the nation’s largest electric school bus fleets, Highland delivers reliable, cost-effective solutions that support local communities and drive the future of transportation. ### **Role Summary** The Director of Engineering leads Highland's engineering and design team — drafting, project engineering, and utility interconnection — that supports a fast-moving portfolio of EV charging, battery energy storage (BESS), and edge compute sites from qualified sites through construction-ready. This leader owns the engineering standards, the design package content and quality gates, and the throughput of the entire function, and partners with Project Development to deliver build-ready sites at portfolio scale and on an aggressive timeline. Reporting to the Vice President, Development & Construction, the Director builds and leads a team of internal and external engineering resources. The Director serves as Highland's senior technical authority on utility and Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) requirements, owns the engineering inputs to project schedule and budget, and builds the standards, playbooks, and tooling that make design faster, more repeatable, and more cost-effective. This position is remote with an expectation of approximately 10-15% travel. ### Responsibilities Overview: - Lead and scale Highland's project engineering function — drafting, design engineering, and utility interconnection — with end-to-end accountability for taking a large portfolio of EV charging, BESS, and edge compute sites from qualified site to permit-ready and construction-ready. - Own the engineering function's throughput and quality: define the design package content and the internal approval gates for every stage — conceptual, 30%, Issued-for-Permit (IFP), and Issued for Construction (IFC) — and keep packages moving on an aggressive, portfolio-wide timeline. - Build, develop, and retain a high-performing team of internal engineering resources - Own Highland's external engineering-partner strategy — select, contract, scale, and manage the performance of engineering design and interconnection consultants so that internal and external capacity flex with portfolio volume. - Set and enforce Highland's engineering, CAD, and design specifications and standards, and own the repositories of utility and AHJ requirements that make design compliant, consistent, and repeatable across the portfolio. - Serve as Highland's senior technical authority on utility interconnection and AHJ permitting across EV charging, BESS, and edge compute; resolve the most complex technical and jurisdictional issues and represent Highland's engineering position externally. - Own the engineering inputs to project schedule and budget — sequence and resource design, interconnection, and permitting milestones so each site is build-ready when construction needs it, and contribute to Highland's repeatable unit-cost installation model. - Partner cross-functionally with Development, Execution, Origination, Procurement, and Fleet Operations to align engineering with portfolio priorities and continuously improve the site-to-energized process. - Drive continuous improvement through tooling and process automation (e.g., Procore, Bluebeam, template- and data-driven design) to increase design velocity and improve unit economics as the portfolio scales. - Provide engineering leadership on technical due diligence, estimating, and risk for new opportunities, supporting Origination and Development on feasibility, buildability, and cost. ### Qualifications: **Required** - Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related engineering discipline, or 12+ years of directly related professional experience. - 10+ years of progressive engineering experience in EV charging, renewable energy, power/electrical infrastructure, or utility-scale development, including design management from concept through construction. - 5+ years leading engineering teams, including managing managers and building or scaling a design organization. - Demonstrated ownership of engineering standards, design package content, and QA/QC across a portfolio of concurrent projects. - Proven experience selecting, contracting, and managing external engineering consultants at scale. - Deep working knowledge of utility interconnection, new electrical service, and AHJ permitting requirements. - Familiarity with interconnection standards and processes (e.g., IEEE 1547, utility tariffs, and interconnection rules). - Expertise with CAD-based design delivery (AutoCAD) and design/review tooling (Procore, Bluebeam). **Preferred** - Professional Engineer (PE) license. - Experience delivering EV charging infrastructure, BESS, and/or edge compute / data-center power projects. - Experience building repeatable, unit-cost-driven design programs in a high-growth environment. - Master's degree in engineering or an MBA.