Chronos Energy are seeking a Strategic Development Manager to lead the expansion of our clients partnerships and own the growth of the pipeline of heat reuse data centre sites. The goal in this role is to establish and maintain strong partnerships and alliances where heat offtake can be supported, and help identify suitable sites for development, and then drive those host site opportunities into our pre construction team. The role would be ideal for somebody who is currently working in and is well connected in the Heat Network/District Heating sector.

About the Role

You will be responsible and accountable for finding new partnerships and opportunities, development and growth, as well as looking to the future for opportunities where we can establish a foothold. You will be technically knowledgeable around the compute and the datacenter space, understand construction and development, and be able to communicate and develop relationships with ‘C-Suite’.

Responsibilities

• Owning and managing the pipeline and pre-development workstreams. This means owning the process from initial outreach and site scoping to a qualified site that is ready for planning and design submission.

• Ensuring the client has a healthy pipeline of UK sites at each development stage to ensure we hit our build targets.

• Account management of key host partners (e.g. District heat partners, real estate brokers, other heat offtakers) to help find appropriate sites.

• Implement and own, tracking and reporting of pre-development activities. This will include, arranging land documentation and contracts, confirming power availability, initial build viability and design, confirming fibre availability, etc.

• Help build the market view on the UK Heat Network industry and feed this into development strategy. Included in this will be helping to build the heat offtake strategy and look at other potential heat demands that could collocate with data centres.

• Managing third parties to complete site development checklist (e.g. lawyer, power consultant, fibre consultant, planning consultant, architect, contract manager, etc.)

• Manage pre-development budget on a site by site basis (e.g. track costs against sites, forecast spend on new sites).

Qualifications

• Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Building Services Engineering.

• 3-7 years of experience in infrastructure project development. Bonus for infrastructure projects with significant power components (data centres, district heating, utilities, renewable energy, BESS, etc.)

• Strong mechanical and electrical engineering competence.

• Preferred experience with UK planning and power application processes.

• Demonstrable skills in business development and client management.

• Highly organised, results focused, and an independent worker - comfortable with autonomy and ambiguity. We need someone to challenge ways of thinking and implement a system and processes.

• Practical, hands-on mindset with the ability to dive into the details when required.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in large infrastructure construction and operations.

• Familiarity with project and infrastructure finance.

• Experience of working within a fund-backed corporation.