Lead - Offshore Wind Geotechnical Engineering

Company Information

Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), is a leading developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy facilities in the United States with an eight-gigawatt portfolio of onshore wind and solar projects across 22 states. Avangrid Renewables’ offshore wind business is pioneering this new industry with a development pipeline of five gigawatts off the East Coast. Our offshore portfolio consists of our 50% ownership in the first-in-the-nation Vineyard Wind 1 project, which will deliver 800 MW of clean energy into Massachusetts starting in 2023.  Additionally, Avangrid Renewables owns 100% of Park City Wind, an 804 MW project to serve the state of Connecticut and Commonwealth Wind, a project that will deliver up to 1200 MW to Massachusetts.  Finally, Avangrid Renewables owns 100% of Kitty Hawk Offshore Wind that has the potential to deliver 2,500 MW of clean energy into Virginia and North Carolina.  The company will also actively pursue additional lease areas in the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts and the Gulf of Mexico.

We aspire to be the employer of choice by providing purposeful and challenging work revolutionizing the renewable energy industry in the United States. This role will support the senior management team that is developing, constructing and operating large scale offshore wind projects which will provide affordable, clean energy and will have a transformational impact on local communities.  Avangrid Renewables’ offshore business is located in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Purpose

The Lead Geotechnical Engineer is a critical role within the Offshore Renewables Business, focussing on the delivery of large-scale offshore wind projects in the US but may also have involvement in projects in the UK, Europe, and other overseas markets.

Belonging to the Site Engineering Department and reporting locally to the US Engineering Management team, the Lead Geotechnical Engineer will be responsible for defining and implementing robust and cost effective engineering strategies and plans, tendering, negotiating and managing $multi-million offshore site investigation, leading the geotechnical design, planning and logistics, leading delivery phase including management of multiple offshore contractors and associated interfaces, defining company and business engineering standards and technical acceptance criteria, and ensuring quality, best practices and excellent HSE performance are applied.

The candidate will be managing engineering activities and decisions from a principal engineering perspective across the offshore project portfolio.

The position may require occasional travel to various locations in the UK and overseas and the individual should be capable of managing teams working at different project locations.

•    The current Iberdrola offshore project pipeline is larger than 9 GW, with project delivery scheduled to 2025 and beyond.
•    The Offshore Wind industry is still relatively immature, and a key focus is on driving down cost. The Offshore Technical team is focussed on project delivery from the very earliest phases of project development; developing initiatives to reduce the cost of engineering, mitigating technical and commercial risk through sound engineering design and defining the project business model by optimising engineering solutions to the complex technical aspects of wind farm system design. 
•    Coordination of complex engineering is a key activity in high CAPEX offshore projects with total budgets of several billion $.  Excellent technical ability plus reliable, accurate cost estimation, risk management and budget control are essential requirements.
•    The worldwide spread of projects also translates into very different site conditions and therefore the technical solutions need to adjust accordingly ensuring a robust and efficient solution.
•    It is a constant requirement to lead and maintain high performing, multidisciplinary team(s) spread across Europe and the Americas, which includes the matrix management of engineering specialists operating across multiple projects incorporating many different educational and cultural backgrounds.

Responsibilities

•    Act as Team Leader within the project(s) with high level of demand on the ground conditions risk management perspective, making key judgments, decisions and recommendations that will influence the nature of multi-million dollar contracts.
•    Provide expert advice and guidance on optimised design and installation methodologies for foundations and cables, with tangible benefits, based on the knowledge acquired on the ground conditions of the site. This shall include input into appropriate bid levels / programme strategies / engineering strategies / risk levels and commercial agreements relative to $multi-million, multi-disciplinary, multi-contract work packages.
•    Act as tender, project and programme manager for large geotechnical site investigation and design contracts ensuring delivery on time and within budget of high-quality input to all packages.
•    Provide professional leadership and direction to team members, potentially comprising employees working within a number of countries throughout Europe and the USA, to ensure professional standards are maintained (or enhanced) and the team delivers a consistent, high-quality, cost-effective service to the project portfolio. 
•    Ensure compliance with industry best practice and awareness of latest developments in technology, including assessment of suitable of new technology to project pipeline (identifying potential to reduce cost and risk, or improve safety).
•    Lead innovation projects on behalf of the company and be part of the Steering Committee of those projects ensuring the best interests of the company are kept as priority based on the project pipeline.
•    Support the delivery of multi-contract packages within time, to budget and quality following the highest industry practice and observing the maximum respect for Health, Safety and the Environment to ensure regulatory and legal compliance. 
•    Support the certification process with independent verification bodies (where applicable) to reduce design risk and enhance asset value.
•    Lead the relevant aspects of the foundation installation scope to ensure that assets are installed to the required quality, Health, Safety and the Environment standards.
•    Support Development team on establishing robust business cases for future projects and develop site investigation and design strategies
•    Maintain full awareness of the latest technical and commercial developments and identify potential opportunities to reduce cost and risk, or improve safety.
•    Ensure lessons learnt regarding offshore wind farm development and construction are captured and shared across local and global portfolios.
•    Contribute (or ensure resources are available) to early development projects, giving advice to development teams on build ability / delivery issues.
•    Makes recommendations on the staff requirements to ensure delivery of projects (large packages) over a 4 to 5-year period.

Competencies

Skills and Requirements

•    Significant knowledge and experience of analysis and geotechnical design of large-scale offshore structures, at least 7 years.
•    Significant knowledge and experience of planning, managing and executing offshore site investigations for large scale projects, at least 7 years.
•    Significant knowledge and experience of appropriate structural/geotechnical analysis and design packages, at least 7 years.
•    Significant experience in leading teams involved in large multidisciplinary work packages in international environments.
•    Good knowledge of industry codes and standards and offshore regulations.
•    Proven experience in delivery of large packages/projects, including procurement, contract management, programme management, cost and risk control. 
•    Knowledge of health and safety and environmental legislation associated with offshore construction projects and survey and site investigation activities.
•    Educated to degree level in a relevant engineering discipline with a higher-level degree (e.g. MSc) desirable.
•    Registered Professional Engineer in good standing within the United States. 
•    Pro-active and diligent approach.
•    High degree of competency in future planning.  
•    Proactive People Manager, leader and motivator.
•    Sound relationship management skills and confidence working with Project Directors and Senior Management. 
•    Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to influence and develop key project and business decisions.
•    Excellent report writing, presentation skills and ability to summarise key parameters and drivers impacting the project and business.
•    Ability to work, manage teams and manage decision making processes under pressure and to tight deadlines and budget constraints.
•    Sound planning and analysis skills with the ability to look forward and see / anticipate problems and thereafter plan and implement mitigating solutions to negate the effect of such problems. 
•    Innovative and creative thinking
•    Problem solving – dealing with conflicting requirements
•    Tenacity, persistence and determination to succeed in overcoming obstacles. 
•    High capacity for change and experience of leading others through change.

Our Selection Process

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Mobility Information

Please note that any applicant who is not a citizen of the country of the vacancy will be subject to compliance with the applicable immigration requirements to legally work in that country