Application Guide
How to Apply for Director, Powered Land Development
at Redwood Materials
🏢 About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials, founded by Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, is North America's largest lithium-ion battery recycler and is building a closed-loop domestic supply chain for critical minerals. The company is profitable, operates in a market projected to grow 20–50x over the next decade, and has deployed the world's largest second-life battery project for AI data centers. Working here means joining a mission-driven, fast-scaling company that is redefining energy storage and materials.
About This Role
As Director of Powered Land Development, you will build Redwood Energy's site development function from scratch—sourcing, evaluating, and advancing land for solar and storage projects. You'll lead site selection, permitting, and real estate negotiations to enable rapid deployment of power to AI data centers in months rather than years. This is a high-impact, entrepreneurial role where you'll shape the strategy and team for a critical growth area.
💡 A Day in the Life
You might start your day reviewing GIS data and site feasibility reports, then jump on a call with a landowner to negotiate an option agreement. Later, you'd meet with your team to strategize permitting approaches for a new market, and end the day briefing Redwood's leadership on pipeline progress. Expect frequent travel to visit sites and meet with local officials, balanced with remote work.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Redwood Materials Is Looking For
- 10+ years of experience in utility-scale solar or energy storage project development, with a proven track record of taking projects from site identification through permitting and financial close.
- Deep expertise in land acquisition, real estate negotiations, and permitting processes across multiple US markets, including familiarity with interconnection and environmental regulations.
- Experience building and leading teams, with the ability to operate in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment and drive projects independently.
- Strong network of land agents, developers, and permitting consultants, plus proficiency in GIS and project management tools.
📝 Tips for Applying to Redwood Materials
Highlight specific deals you've closed: quantify the MW of solar/storage projects you've developed, the number of sites you've permitted, and the speed at which you've moved projects from concept to construction.
Emphasize your ability to build processes from scratch—Redwood is hiring you to create the powered land development function, so showcase any experience establishing new teams, playbooks, or systems.
Research Redwood's recent energy projects, especially the second-life battery deployment for AI data centers, and mention how your site development skills can accelerate that mission.
Demonstrate familiarity with Redwood's target markets: mention specific states or regions where you have permitting and land acquisition experience that align with data center growth corridors.
Use your cover letter to tell a story about a complex project you led, focusing on how you navigated permitting hurdles, community opposition, or interconnection challenges to get to a successful outcome.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
['Your hands-on experience in site selection, permitting, and land acquisition for utility-scale solar or storage projects, with concrete metrics.', 'Your ability to build and scale a development function, including team leadership and process creation.', "Your understanding of Redwood's unique value proposition: using second-life batteries to deliver power to AI data centers quickly, and how your work will directly enable that.", 'Your motivation to work at a mission-driven company that is solving critical supply chain and energy challenges domestically.']
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Redwood's recent announcements about their second-life battery project for AI data centers—understand the technology, scale, and partners involved.
- → JB Straubel's background and vision for Redwood, including interviews or podcasts where he discusses the company's strategy and culture.
- → The competitive landscape for utility-scale solar and storage development, including key players and recent market trends in interconnection and permitting.
- → Redwood's existing facilities and planned expansions, particularly in Nevada and South Carolina, to understand where their energy projects might be located.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Focusing only on your past project successes without connecting them to how you would build Redwood's function from scratch—they want a builder, not just a manager.
- Ignoring the energy storage aspect and only talking about solar; Redwood's differentiator is their battery technology, so show you understand storage integration.
- Being vague about your role in past deals—be specific about your individual contributions and the outcomes you drove.
- Underestimating the importance of speed: Redwood's value proposition is rapid deployment, so any hint of a slow, bureaucratic approach will be a red flag.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Redwood Materials !