Project Development Engineer

Eku Energy is deeply committed to our mission of accelerating the global energy transition by delivering safe, secure, and reliable energy storage solutions that provide cost-effective clean energy to existing and future generations. Our vision is to be recognized as the world's best creator of energy storage investment products. At Eku Energy, we are a high-performance global team that is expert and specialist in energy storage. What sets us apart is our technology-enabled business paired with our curiosity and outcomes-focused mindset to deliver innovative solutions around design, contracting structures and financing to achieve the most cost-effective clean energy solution to energy users.

Operating across the entire project lifecycle from origination and development through to construction and ongoing management, Eku Energy is a trusted leader in the energy sector. The company's global presence across Australia, Japan, Italy, and the UK allows us to bring together a wealth of experience in navigating complex regulatory, financial and market environments. Due to Eku's accelerated growth period since launching in November 2022, the company now has 7 projects in either construction or operation with 50+ projects in the pipeline globally.

The Project / Development Engineer for EMEA will be responsible for supporting all technical aspects of the development and construction of Eku Energy's EMEA portfolio of battery energy storage projects, including all technical interfaces with the various functions of the business such as trading, procurement, development, construction and operations as well as external stakeholders and supporting service providers. Reporting to the EMEA Technical Lead, you will work in a multi-disciplinary team to bring projects through the development phases and to completion; identify and track project risks and issues and propose possible solutions and mitigation strategies, ensure Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality project requirements are complied with, ensure technology solutions are fit for our operational and trading strategies, and ensure interfaces with contractors and stakeholders are clearly identified and appropriately managed.

As a part of the development & delivery team, you will be expected to work both independently and with other team members according to the situation, demonstrating flexibility and prioritising / adapting your responsibilities to the changing needs of a growing business across all project phases. You may be engaged in supporting one or all project phases at any given time.

Responsibilities

• Work with the EMEA Technical Lead, development team, product engineering, and procurement teams to develop and consistently implement project design and equipment standards that support project cost, quality, and performance objectives.
• Manage technical interfaces in the development stage with statutory consultees, agencies and network operators (distribution and transmission), permitting authorities such as highways agency, environment agency etc.
• With the wider development team, assess the feasibility of new BESS sites via both desktop and on-site assessments.
• Prepare, assess, and optimise project designs - including site layouts, system sizing, and equipment selection - through both direct engineering work and management of external consultants.
• Lead design reviews, quality assurance processes, and acceptance activities.
• Prepare technical scopes of work for construction contracts and other development activities such as geotechnical testing/site surveys.
• Review and manage grid connection requirements and associated technical deliverables.
• Maintain and update the technical risk register throughout development and handover, contributing to project scheduling and planning.

Construction and Delivery

• Work with the EMEA Technical Lead and the Delivery team to deliver the execution strategy during the construction phase and support the handover to operations.
• Support procurement by producing project technical documentation including technical schedules and scopes of work for project execution and operations & maintenance and negotiating technical requirements and performance guarantees with contractors and vendors.
• Provide construction management support, ensuring projects meet HSE, budget, programme, quality, and reliability expectations via monitoring of construction activities and reporting of progress.
• Ensuring issues and risks (WHSE, technical, commercial and programme) across the portfolio are managed to optimise investment performance.
• Support handover of the project from development to construction and from construction to operations.

Project financing

• Participating in internal investment decision processes through analysis of project technical performance, costs, and risks.
• Reviewing project financial and revenue models to ensure technical inputs are accurate and optimised.
• Working with technical due-diligence providers, legal advisers and other third parties to achieve financial close of projects.

At all times

• Actively contribute to global team, sharing lessons learned and adopting best practices from colleagues in different regions.
• Uphold the highest standards of safety practices in the office and on site and ensuring the same HSEQ standards are practiced by the contractors and partners who work with us.

Qualifications

• Qualifications in engineering (electrical or civil preferred).
• Minimum 3 years' work experience in the energy industry in project development, engineering consulting or construction.
• Excellent project management, stakeholder management, and critical thinking skills.
• A track-record of adapting to new challenges and problem-solving in a rapidly changing environment.
• Knowledge of Battery Energy Storage System design, control, and performance requirements.
• Understanding of power generation equipment and associated standards such as substations, transformers, power converters, SCADA systems, fire detection and suppression systems.
• A can-do attitude and strong self-motivation.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills and people skills, including the ability to engage and work with third-party consultants, suppliers, development partners, and construction contractors.
• Competency in relevant software packages including Microsoft Excel, Project-management software, and CAD-based tools.
• Commitment to workplace and project health, safety, and environment management.

Short to mid-term job targets

• 3 months: Become familiar with the development, construction and operational projects within the UK portfolio. Develop a comprehensive understanding of project development and delivery risks and critical path on the schedule. Create / update and own technical risk registers. Become familiar with our end-to-end development process including how each Eku function contributes to project development and begin to build relationships across each function in EMEA. Provide technical support to development activities of UK projects.
• 6 months: Become familiar with the wider EMEA development portfolio and have a good understanding of the priority projects. Contribute to the development activities within EMEA by completing technical work on European development projects. Assume responsibility for key tasks within the Construction Management services agreement on one project in delivery. Be a driving force for continued improvement on WHSE at our sites. Have an in-depth understanding of a project in delivery and able to confidently assess the status of the programme and advise on key risks and mitigations to ensure good project delivery. Have a good understanding of the key technical challenges across each of our development pipelines in EMEA. Work with development managers to scope, engage and manage external technical advisors to progress projects through the development lifecycle. Provide technical support on one project financing activity.
• 12+ months: Be capable of performing all tasks within the Construction Management services agreement on a delivery project. Work closely with commercial teams across the business to support key workstreams such as OEM selection & BoP contractor procurement. Own project technical specifications required for successful third-party contracting and commercial negotiations.

Competencies required of all our people

• Organisational: Entrepreneurial thinking and acting - problem solving capability - innovation capability - proactive "can do" attitude.
• Social: Highly motivated with a versatile personality - excellent interpersonal skills - client orientation, communicative - collaborative - keenness to knowledge share.
• Implementation: Self-management - result and solution orientated - quality awareness - Welfare, Health, Safety and Environmentally focused.