Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wind Farm Program Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Wind Farm Program Officer leads and coordinates the development, permitting, stakeholder engagement, and early-stage delivery activities for wind farm projects (onshore and/or offshore). This role acts as the day-to-day program owner for defined project portfolios, drives cross-functional execution against schedules and budgets, manages regulatory and environmental approvals, supports commercial contracting and procurement, and maintains positive relationships with landowners, regulators, local communities and key stakeholders. The Program Officer ensures projects meet technical, financial and compliance milestones from concept through to ready-for-construction.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Project Coordinator / Project Assistant (Renewables)
Environmental / Consenting Specialist (Wind or Infrastructure)
Renewable Energy Development Analyst

Advancement To:

Senior Program Officer / Development Manager
Project Development Manager / Portfolio Manager
Head of Projects / Director of Development (Wind)

Lateral Moves:

Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Lead
Permitting & Compliance Lead
Commercial Contracts Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the planning, coordination and delivery of assigned wind farm development programs, ensuring alignment with corporate strategy, budgetary targets and agreed timelines from site identification through to construction readiness.
Manage the consenting and permitting process: prepare and submit permit applications, coordinate with environmental consultants, prepare Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental Statements (ES), address regulator queries, and secure planning permissions and licenses.
Drive stakeholder engagement and community liaison activities including landowner negotiations, local authority consultations, indigenous and fishing community outreach, public consultation events, and ongoing community benefit programs.
Coordinate technical studies required for development: geotechnical surveys, ecological and ornithological assessments, bat and marine mammal surveys (offshore), radar and aviation assessments, noise studies, and shadow flicker modelling.
Work with grid connection teams and transmission system operators to secure grid connection offers, manage grid application processes, coordinate electrical studies (load flow, fault level), and support transmission reinforcement planning.
Prepare and control program-level budgets and forecasts for development activities, track costs and variances, and support financial close activities including cost-to-complete reporting and funding requests.
Manage procurement and contracting for development services: prepare scopes of work, tender and evaluate bids, lead selection of engineering, environmental and survey contractors, and negotiate commercial terms for pre-construction contracts.
Support commercial structuring and offtake planning: contribute to PPA negotiations, advise on market and merchant exposure, and liaise with commercial/ trading teams to align development and revenue strategies.
Identify and manage project risks and opportunities using risk registers and mitigation plans; lead cross-functional workshops to address planning, technical, commercial and consenting risks.
Ensure HSE and sustainability integration across all development activities by implementing safety plans, conducting site risk assessments, and ensuring contractors meet HSE and ESG standards.
Maintain and update project schedules using program and project management tools (MS Project, Primavera, or similar), coordinate milestone tracking and change control processes, and report progress to senior management and stakeholders.
Coordinate land access and lease negotiations including easements, wayleaves and temporary access agreements; prepare and manage landowner agreements, and maintain land registry and rights documentation.
Oversee data acquisition, management and validation for meteorological masts (met masts), LiDAR, SCADA data, and meteorological modeling to support resource assessment and yield studies.
Manage interface with engineering teams for concept designs, turbine micro-siting, foundation and electrical system concepts, and review technical deliverables to ensure constructability and cost-effectiveness.
Liaise with local and national regulators on compliance matters (e.g., wildlife protection, marine licenses, planning authorities), respond to environmental monitoring requirements, and manage post-permit conditions.
Provide program-level reporting including development dashboards, KPI monitoring, monthly steering reports and board-level presentations, ensuring transparent communication of schedule, cost and technical status.
Lead multi-disciplinary project teams and external consultants, define roles and responsibilities, and ensure effective collaboration between legal, commercial, technical and environmental functions.
Support early-stage commercial due diligence and acquisition activities including site assessments, title review, environmental liabilities review, and preparation of investment-ready documentation.
Manage stakeholder conflicts, complaints and sensitive issues proactively; design mitigation strategies and escalations to preserve social license and project timelines.
Support interface management for offshore projects including marine coordination, vessel logistics, cable routing, and maritime permits (if applicable).
Develop and maintain standard operating procedures, templates and best-practice playbooks for wind project development to improve program efficiency and repeatability.
Support internal and external audits related to project development, permitting compliance, HSE practices and contractual deliverables.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives across the development portfolio by capturing lessons learned, implementing process optimizations, and mentoring junior staff.
Coordinate environmental monitoring and post-construction compliance programs where required by permits, including mitigation measures, monitoring plans and reporting to authorities.
Prepare and manage stakeholder-ready project documentation including development plans, executive summaries, technical appendices and consenting packs for public consultation and investor review.
Support the transition handover to construction teams by preparing pre-construction packs, snag lists, technical clarifications and ensuring all statutory conditions are satisfied.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Project management and program scheduling (MS Project, Primavera P6, or equivalent).
Permitting & consenting expertise (planning law, EIA/ES process, environmental permitting, marine licences).
Environmental assessment knowledge (ecology, ornithology, bat surveys, marine mammals, fisheries).
Grid connection and electrical systems understanding (transmission/distribution interfaces, grid applications, power system studies).
Contract procurement and commercial negotiation (RFPs, EPC, consultancy agreements).
Financial acumen (budgeting, forecasting, cost control, financial due diligence).
Technical understanding of wind turbine technology, foundation types (monopile, jacket, gravity), array layout and micro-siting.
GIS and spatial analysis for site selection and collateral (ArcGIS, QGIS).
Data management for met data, LiDAR, SCADA and yield modeling tools (WindPro, WindFarmer, WAsP or similar).
HSE and regulatory compliance systems and processes.
Risk management and mitigation planning, use of risk registers and risk scoring methodologies.
Familiarity with stakeholder management and public consultation platforms and CRM systems.
Experience preparing and presenting board-level reports, consent packs and investor materials.

Soft Skills

Strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to simplify technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders.
Influencing and negotiation skills across multidisciplinary teams and external partners.
Highly organized with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams.
Problem-solving orientation with pragmatic decision-making under uncertainty.
Stakeholder empathy and political awareness when working with communities, regulators and commercial partners.
Leadership and team development skills; ability to mentor junior staff and manage consultants.
Adaptability and resilience in a dynamic regulatory and market environment.
Time management and prioritization skills to meet tight permitting and commercial deadlines.
Cultural sensitivity and collaborative approach for international or multi-jurisdictional projects.

(Collectively these technical and interpersonal competencies are drawn from real wind development, consenting, and program management job descriptions to reflect market expectations.)

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Environmental Science, Geography, Renewable Energy, Marine Science, or a related technical or scientific discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Renewable Energy, Environmental Engineering, Project Management, Marine Science, or Business Administration (MBA).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Civil / Structural / Electrical Engineering
Environmental Science / Ecology / Marine Biology
Renewable Energy or Sustainable Energy Systems
Geography / GIS
Project Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 4–10 years in renewable energy project development, permitting, environmental consenting, or related infrastructure projects.

Preferred:

5+ years specifically in wind farm development (onshore or offshore) with demonstrable experience leading permitting, stakeholder engagement and commercial/technical interfaces.
Proven track record of managing multi-disciplinary consultants, delivering planning consents, and progressing projects through development to construction readiness.
Experience with international permitting regimes, marine coordination (for offshore), or transmission system operator processes is a strong advantage.
Professional certifications (e.g., PMP, Prince2) or technical memberships (IEMA, CED, IEEE) are desirable.