• Title: Vice President, Community & Economic Development, Commercial Solar
• Department: Community and Economic Development
• Reports To: SVP, Community Economic Development
• Supervises: N/A
• Job Classification: Full time, Exempt
• Location: Remote (MS or AR)

The Vice President of Community and Economic Development, Commercial Solar will lead the business and market development activities for commercial solar projects for HEC, with a main focus on multifamily and community solar projects that will be funded by HEC's SFA programs in Mississippi and Arkansas. The Vice President will lead the development of a pipeline for these projects, supporting predevelopment activities, ensuring best practices for community engagement, and driving impact in the form of household savings. The Vice President will be part of the team that evaluates project proposals submitted by solar developers, building owners and others through a competitive RFP process (for SFA-eligible projects) or HEC's typical commercial loan application process (for non-SFA projects). After identifying high-scoring projects, the Vice President will work closely with HEC's Commercial Lending team to move projects from initial proposal through underwriting to closing. Finally, the Vice President will work closely with HEC's teams responsible for data management, reporting and compliance to ensure collection of project-level data and reporting of that data to the EPA's Office of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Responsibilities

• Develop a pipeline of commercial solar projects, with a focus on SFA-eligible multifamily and community solar projects in Mississippi and Arkansas
• Provide predevelopment support to a diverse set of stakeholder's key to multifamily and community solar project development, including but not limited to solar developers, affordable housing owners, municipal leaders, and utilities
• Take a lead role in reviewing responses to HEC's request for proposals for multifamily and community solar projects, drafting internal recommendation memos and award notices
• Ensure a strong service culture with these stakeholders to ensure CED team service level metrics at various stages of loan origination, including but not limited to:
• Communicating SFA requirements and HEC loan policies to borrowers
• Providing feedback on household savings and/or benefits delivery approaches
• Working closely with HOPE's lending team to collect project data and move projects into the underwriting stage
• Reviewing project proposals and financial models
• Contributing to credit memoranda
• Ensure progress resolving solar development challenges like interconnection, permitting and project siting, engaging industry stakeholders like project developers and community stakeholders like municipalities and utilities to reach solutions
• Work closely with HEC's Decision Science and Investor Relations team to ensure collection and reporting of accurate transaction- and project-level for SFA-funded projects
• With other CED team members, help launch and lead HEC's SFA Advisory Board in Mississippi and Arkansas, translating recommendations into program updates.
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

Required

• A combination of at least 6+ years of experience in community and stakeholder engagement-preferably focused on Mississippi, Arkansas, and/or the Deep South and a minimum of 2 years of experience in the solar industry or a related field, ideally in a business development or sales capacity.
• Must possess strong communication skills and ability to motivate direct reports, internal teams, and external partners to work collaboratively
• Proficiency in navigating multiple software applications, including but not limited to the Microsoft Office suite (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook)

Preferred

• Bachelor's degree in related field
• Municipal, utility, solar developer or affordable housing developer/owner relationships in Mississippi and/or Arkansas

Key Competencies & Skills:

• Ability to deal with new problems-many involving few concrete variables-as they arise and create long-term solutions for program health, workplan goals and a better borrower and end-user experience
• Ability to read and interpret documents and/or data files and translate them into regular reports or correspondence
• Ability to set agendas and independently lead meetings with key HEC stakeholders and the public
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers and employees of the organization
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; ability to compute rate, ratio and percent and interpret data
• Ability to perform general management and administrative duties, including attending meetings and tracking time
• Organizational Awareness- Having and using knowledge of systems, situations, procedures, and culture inside the organization to identify potential problems and opportunities; perceiving the impact and the implications of decisions on other components of the organization.
• Results Orientation- Being persistent and showing perseverance on achieving concrete and tangible results out of personal responsibility; getting optimum results from situations and being ready to take action and show tenacity in case of obstacles or resistance.
• Customer Focus- Knowing the (internal and external) customer business needs and acting; accordingly, anticipating customer needs and giving high priority to customer satisfaction and customer service.
• Problem Solving- Having the ability to identify problems and issues of varying complexities and to find effective solutions with few guidelines.
• Initiative- Spotting opportunities within a circle of influence; anticipating threats and acting on them; self-starting rather than waiting passively until the situation demands action.
• External (Strategic) Awareness- Having the ability to put things in context and think broadly. Involves consideration and understanding of future business needs within a changing (external) environment (social, political, economical and related industries, and technology), how process, methods, and resource requirements might be affected by future trends and developments, and developing long term goals and strategies extending over a significant time span (i.e. 3-5 years)

Work Environment:

• Employee may need to travel up to 25% of the time, mostly within Mississippi and Arkansas, but occasionally to the rest of HEC's Deep South footprint and beyond
• Employee is regularly required to sit, stand and walk
• Employee will use hands to finger, handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions
• Municipal, utility, solar developer or affordable housing developer/owner relationships in Mississippi and/or Arkansas

Comprehensive Benefits Package:

• Paid Vacation and Sick Time
• 11 Paid Holidays
• 401(k) with Company Match
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Benefits
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Disability Benefits
• Life Insurance, Critical Illness, Accident
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Tuition Reimbursement, Professional Development

Hope Enterprise Corporation does not participate in or engage in any form of visa sponsorship, including employment-based visa applications or extensions (e.g., H-1B, TN, O-1, OPT, STEM OPT, etc.). Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.