Project Development Associate I

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. ### **Job Summary:** The Project Development Associate I will deliver fully developed and planned projects in preparation for customer contract execution. This role works closely with Senior Associates and the commercial team to document customer needs and Highland commitments, helping to advance deals by acting as a junior site development resource. The Associate I will collaborate with Legal, Finance, and Market Development to help ensure projects meet underwriting requirements, and will assist in managing external engineers and consultants to finalize site designs for handoff to the Customer Success and Project Execution teams. Over time, the selected candidate will grow into a more autonomous role, taking on these project development responsibilities with increasing independence. This position reports to the Manager, Project Development and is based remotely in California, with an expectation of approximately 20% travel. ### Responsibilities: - Support Senior Associates and Managers in establishing fleet electrification scopes of work for projects in development, including project timelines, budgets, and equipment selection. - Work with engineering teams to develop designs for complex EV charging depot projects, including solar and battery storage components. - Contribute to estimating engineering, construction, and interconnection costs for use in project budgets. - Coordinate the project site diligence process, including identifying real estate, zoning, permitting, and other development restrictions. - Help define project permitting requirements and support the preparation of related project engineering deliverables. - Assist in identifying utility requirements, filing new service requests, and communicating with utility representatives to define utility-related timelines and budgets. - Assist in managing projects through the design and engineering phases, including tracking schedules, budgets, and subcontractor deliverables. - Support the handoff to the project implementation team upon customer contract execution. - Contribute to work scoping methodology and documentation improvement initiatives. ### Qualifications: ### Required - Bachelor's degree or 4+ years of directly related professional experience. ### Preferred - Experience working with electric utilities (e.g., interconnection, new service requests). - Exposure to electric vehicle charging, renewable energy, or related clean energy technologies. - Experience in electrical engineering, construction, or infrastructure project development. - Experience working with permitting authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) or similar regulatorybodies. - Project management experience in engineering and/or construction environments.