st. louis, mo
Compensation: 120.000 - 160.000
Founded in 1990, LS Power is a premier development, investment, and operating company focused on the North American power and energy infrastructure sector, with leading platforms across generation, transmission and energy expansion solutions. Since inception, LS Power has developed or acquired 50,000 MW of power generation, including utility‑scale solar, wind, hydro, battery energy storage, and natural gas‑fired facilities. Through its transmission business, LS Power Grid, the company built and operates 780+ miles of high‑voltage transmission and 7 transmission utilities and has another 375+ miles currently in construction or development. LS Power actively invests in and scales businesses that are meeting the growing needs of the energy expansion, including electric vehicle charging, demand response, microgrids, renewable fuels and waste‑to‑energy platforms. Over the years, LS Power has raised more than $76 billion in debt and equity capital to support North American infrastructure.
Our Purpose, Mission, & Values
Our Purpose is to solve complex energy problems that improve the world
Our Mission is to make lives better by developing a cleaner and more reliable energy ecosystem
Our Values are the willingness to participate in and help strengthen our culture of Integrity, Innovation, Teamwork, and Taking Ownership
Our People create value and are our Most Valuable asset. We take our values of Integrity, Innovation, Teamwork and Taking Ownership seriously and ask candidates to think about how they can help us further enhance our culture with their specific skillsets, capabilities and experiences.
Benefits
We provide our team the opportunity to share their unique perspectives, solve new challenges, and continue in their career growth. We are committed to supporting employees’ happiness, healthiness, and overall well‑being by providing comprehensive benefits that include 100% employer paid premium healthcare, paid parental leave and more.
About the Role
The Senior Director, Land Use & Entitlements ("Entitlements Lead") leads LS Power’s discretionary land use approval and entitlement workstream across the generation development portfolio. The role sits within the Site Development & Permitting department and reports to the Vice President, Site Development & Permitting.
The Entitlements Lead is the Company’s subject‑matter authority on land use and entitlements — the strategy, standards, and execution required to make each prospective site legally developable. This includes crafting the entitlement and public‑hearing strategy for each project; preparing, submitting, and prosecuting applications for the discretionary approvals a project requires — rezonings, special and conditional use permits, variances, site plan approvals, subdivisions, and development agreements; leading public‑hearing preparation and representing the Company before planning commissions, zoning hearing boards, and local governing bodies; and negotiating conditions of approval and development‑agreement terms that protect feasibility and financeability. The role retains and directs land use counsel, planning consultants, and technical experts (traffic, noise, visual, drainage, and similar), and partners closely with the Site Selection & Planning, Environmental Permitting, External Affairs, and Real Estate functions, as well as with Engineering & Construction, Interconnection Planning & Development, Legal, and Finance.
In the Company’s matrix model, the department provides line management for the land use and entitlement function and assigns the Entitlements Lead and supporting staff to project teams. On project‑specific deliverables, the Project Director is accountable for overall project outcomes and directs this role’s work; the Entitlements Lead consults with, and obtains the approval of, the Project Director on any decision affecting scope, schedule, budget, risk, or entitlement commitments that could materially change project economics.
This role is not accountable for overall project outcomes, does not originate or screen sites, and does not secure real property rights or lead title and curative work — those responsibilities sit with the Project Directors, the Senior Director, Site Selection & Planning, and the Director, Real Estate & Entitlements, respectively. Environmental permitting and water rights are a coordinated but distinct workstream. The Entitlements Lead supports project delivery by owning the land use and entitlement strategy, standards, and execution, and by surfacing risk and required decisions early.
Responsibilities
What you will do
The Senior Director, Land Use & Entitlements turns prospective sites into entitled, development‑ready locations — leading the discretionary land use approvals each project requires and the strategy, standards, and stakeholder work needed to secure them on schedule and on terms that protect project economics. The work spans strategy, hands‑on application and hearing execution, consultant and counsel management, and disciplined records, under the direction of the Vice President, Site Development & Permitting and, on assigned projects, the responsible Project Director.
The following responsibilities illustrate the types of work involved and are not intended to be an exhaustive list:
Entitlement Strategy & Discretionary Approvals
- Develop and own the land use entitlement strategy and hearing plan for each project — identifying the discretionary approvals required (rezoning, special and conditional use permits, variances, site plan approvals, subdivision plats, and development agreements), the procedural pathway, decision‑makers, constraints, and critical‑path timeline — and align it with each project’s schedule and decision gates.
- Prepare, submit, and prosecute entitlement applications and supporting narratives, directly or through counsel and consultants; manage the application docket and agency interactions through approval.
- Commission and direct the technical studies that support entitlement applications and hearings — traffic, noise, visual and glare, stormwater and drainage, and similar — coordinating with Engineering & Construction and Environmental Permitting so submittals are complete, consistent, and defensible.
- Lead public‑hearing preparation and represent the Company before planning commissions, zoning hearing boards, and local governing bodies; negotiate conditions of approval and development‑agreement terms that protect feasibility, financeability, and development flexibility.
- Identify and mitigate entitlement risk early; maintain clear go/no‑go recommendations and elevate schedule‑ or economics‑affecting issues to the Project Director and the VP, Site Development & Permitting.
Land Use Diligence, Planning & Site Approvals
- Lead early land use diligence on prospective and active sites — zoning and by‑right analysis, discretionary‑approval mapping, procedural timelines, and identification of key decision‑makers and constraints — in coordination with Site Selection & Planning.
- Translate development‑program requirements (building placement, circulation, utilities, setbacks, buffers, and phasing) into site and master‑plan concepts that are both entitlable and constructible, working with Project Development and Engineering & Construction.
- Coordinate with the Real Estate function to confirm that entitlement strategy aligns with site control, access, and the property rights each approval requires.
- Manage the procurement and completion of property surveys needed to develop site plans and advance engineering design — including ALTA/NSPS land title surveys, boundary surveys, topographic surveys, and any supplemental surveys (utility location, geotechnical, or similar) required to support entitlement submittals, site‑plan development, and construction‑ready design packages.
- Direct and manage contracts with licensed survey vendors — defining scope, deliverable standards, and schedule requirements; coordinating access and site logistics; and ensuring survey products are delivered on time, complete, and fit for their intended use in entitlement applications and engineering design.
Mapping, GIS & Entitlement Records
- Leverage GIS and mapping to support entitlement strategy, application exhibits, hearing presentations, and constraints and feasibility analysis, ensuring exhibits and spatial analyses are accurate, current, and properly attributed.
- Maintain entitlement status, conditions of approval, key dates, and approval documentation for the portfolio in the Company’s system‑of‑record, applying the department’s document‑control, naming, and indexing standards so records are complete and audit‑ready.
- Provide crisp, regular status reporting on entitlement progress, risks, and upcoming milestones to project teams and leadership.
Team, Vendor & Program Leadership
- Build, lead, and mentor a team of land use and entitlement professionals — planning and zoning specialists, entitlement project managers, and analysts — as the portfolio scales; assign work, set priorities, and quality‑control output.
- Establish and manage a bench of external resources — land use counsel, planning and entitlement consultants, and expert witnesses — including scopes, rate cards, KPIs, reporting cadence, and quality control, in coordination with Legal and Procurement.
- Establish and track entitlement schedules, budgets, and risk registers across the active portfolio; support Project Directors with permit and consultant cost estimates and schedule‑driven cash needs.
- Develop and maintain the Company’s entitlement playbooks, standard operating procedures, templates, checklists, and trackers; institutionalize repeatable, transparent processes and standards for land use and entitlement work.
Qualifications
Ideally, you have
This is a senior leadership role for an experienced land use and entitlements professional who can both set strategy and personally carry complex approvals through contentious hearings. Judgment, command of municipal and county decision‑making, and the ability to protect project economics under schedule pressure matter most.
Representative qualifications include:
- 12+ years of progressive land use, entitlements, or land development experience, with direct ownership of discretionary‑approval programs (rezoning, conditional and special use, variances, site plan, and subdivision) and public‑hearing representation.
- A track record of securing complex, large‑scale entitlements and leading cross‑functional teams — developers, planners, land use counsel, engineers, and technical consultants — through project approval.
- Deep command of zoning and land use law and process, public‑hearing dynamics, and the negotiation of conditions of approval and development agreements; familiarity with energy, infrastructure, or large industrial or data center land use is a strong plus.
- Working knowledge of the technical studies that support entitlements (traffic, noise, visual, stormwater and drainage) and how they interact with civil design and environmental permitting.
- Experience leveraging GIS and mapping (ArcGIS, ArcGIS Pro, or equivalent) to support entitlement strategy, exhibits, and constraints analysis.
- Ability to review and critically evaluate surveys prepared by outside vendors — including ALTA/NSPS land title surveys, boundary surveys, and topographic surveys — for completeness, accuracy, and fitness for use in entitlement applications and engineering design.
- Strong vendor and consultant management, including scoping and performance‑managing land use counsel and planning consultants against clear KPIs and reporting.
- Excellent project‑management and records discipline — workplans, trackers, key dates, and decision documentation — and executive‑ready written and verbal communication.
- Bachelor’s degree in Urban or Regional Planning, Public Policy, Geography, Environmental Studies, Law, Engineering, or a related field; an advanced degree (Planning, JD, or MBA) is a plus.
- AICP, PE, GISP, or a land use or real estate law credential is a plus — but your portfolio of delivered approvals speaks loudest.
We want you on our team because you
Beyond any specific experience, this role rewards strategic judgment, credibility in front of decision‑makers, and the discipline to keep many approvals moving at once. The qualities that matter most include:
- Think strategically about approval pathways and risk, and can build a credible plan to get a difficult project entitled — then execute it.
- Are persuasive and composed in public settings, representing the Company credibly before planning boards, regulators, communities, and executive stakeholders.
- Negotiate conditions of approval and development‑agreement terms that protect project economics, schedule, and flexibility without losing the room.
- Are exceptionally organized and deadline‑driven, tracking many concurrent applications, hearings, conditions, and key dates across multiple jurisdictions and rule sets without letting things slip.
- Translate complex land use, legal, and technical information into crisp, executive‑ready decisions and risk framing, and know when to elevate.
- Work effectively in a matrixed organization — clear on accountability, disciplined on handoffs, and collaborative with Project Directors and the Site Selection & Planning, Environmental Permitting, External Affairs, Legal, and Engineering & Construction teams.
- Bring LS Power’s values of Integrity, Innovation, Teamwork, and Taking Ownership to your day‑to‑day work.
Travel
Regular travel is required and will vary with the hearing calendar and active portfolio (approximately 25–40%), including travel to municipal and county offices, public hearings, community meetings, and project sites across the Company’s active development regions in the continental U.S.
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