Development Manager

Job Title: Development Manager

Department: Development EMEA

Reporting to: Senior Business Development

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

We are Lightsource bp – and we’re on a mission to become a global leader in onshore renewables, anchored by our proven track record in solar development.

For over a decade we’ve been actively working to diversify the way our world is powered with sustainable and responsible renewable power. We work to safely deliver affordable, reliable, large-scale onshore renewable and energy storage solutions to help the world decarbonise.

Our growing business is constantly innovating and investing to help drive the energy transition. Our people and projects are focused on supporting long-term sustainable growth and energy security.

Lightsource bp operates with five core values: Safety, Integrity, Respect, Sustainability, and Drive.

We seek to attract and hire individuals who share our commitment to creating a safe workplace, uphold the highest standards of integrity, and demonstrate respect for colleagues, communities, and the environment. Our recruitment process promotes sustainability by valuing long-term growth and responsible practices, while seeking candidates with the drive to innovate and lead in the global energy transition.

Together, these values shape how we engage, assess, and welcome talent to join us in delivering transformational solar power solutions worldwide. 

Lightsource bp was fully acquired by bp in 2024.

What You’ll do (the role)

Summary

Originating and developing renewable energy projects (solar PV, wind and BESS), managing project development and permitting processes, coordinating legal, technical and commercial due diligence with internal teams and external partners, negotiating with landowners and strategic stakeholders, preparing financial models to assess project returns and supporting investment and divestment decisions

Duties and Responsibilities

• Identify, pursue and develop new business opportunities


• Prepare financial model to assess the returns of the project and draft non-binding offers


• Coordinate the Legal and Technical Due Diligence process with the support of the internal teams and external advisors


• Manage and supervise the progress of development of projects


• Work with Legal Team and advisors to review and finalise the relevant project contracts: NDA, Exclusivities, Co-development Agreements, Lease, SPA 


• Maintain and develop strong working relationships with third party developers


• Provide timely market intelligence (projects, trends, competitors’ activities, prices) and use of internal CRM tools to keep information up to date

Knowledge & Experience

• Essential to have prior experience in business development of renewable energies industry in Portugal, coming ideally from a financial entity or a project developer 


• Hands on experience in developing renewable energis projects in Portugal: grid applications, land identification and negotiations, environmental permitting, administrative authorisations, etc.


• Solid understanding of environmental constraints and legal documentation review and negotiations 


• User level experience with financial models to assess project returns and evaluate impact of different assumptions


• Familiarity with project financing processes


• Fluent in Portuguese and English


• Good knowledge of the main players in the industry (TAs, investors, EPCs, TSO, DNO, etc).


• Minimum 5 years’ experience in business development in the renewable energy industry in Portugal is required

Who we’re looking for

General Skills/Attributes

• Team-player used to work in cross-functional teams


• Excellent communication and negotiation skills


• Attention to detail


• Ability to work autonomously and multi-task


• Financial model user-level skills required


• Ability to forge long term professional relationships with third parties

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in related discipline


• Postgraduate degree in related discipline

Why you’ll make a great member of the team

Personal Qualities

• Fluent English and Portuguese spoken and written;


• Proactive, autonomous, flexible and driven.


• Forward thinking, a problem solver and solution provider;


• Proactive and being able to prioritise workload;


• Able to promote a positive working culture within the team;


• Strong organisational and good communication skills both verbal and written.

Why you’ll want to work for us

Our company is a place where you can be yourself and grow; a place where your ideas and opinions matter.

Be you

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive community, where every individual is valued and treated with respect.

Be responsible

Our culture is driven by our core values. From operating safely to ensuring our solar projects are responsible and promote biodiversity. 

Be recognized

Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a variety of benefits including annual bonus, retention bank, health insurance, pension and other local benefits.

Be inspired

Beyond your day-to-day working life at Lightsource bp, there’s a variety of initiatives that will contribute to your own personal development. Initiatives to get involved with including our charitable causes, supporting our solar honey project or our sustainability initiatives.

Our Core Values

Lightsource bp truly cares about creating a sustainable future through safe, responsible and meaningful low carbon energy projects. Our core values of Safety, Integrity, Respect, Sustainability and Drive are the guiding principles for everything we do. 

https://www.lightsourcebp.com/careers/

Why You’ll Want to Stay with us

At Lightsource bp, you’ll work within agile, cross-functional teams where diverse perspectives come together. Our culture embraces open knowledge sharing and collaboration, empowering you to learn from others and accelerate progress collectively.

Your career growth is our priority and a shared journey. We are committed to developing talent from within and prepare you for career advancement so you can shape a fulfilling and lasting journey here.

In today’s fast-changing world, a learning mindset is essential and therefore we proactively support upskilling to help you push your skill boundaries and stay ahead in your field, so you can not only keep pace with change, but confidently shape a brighter future.