Director, Power Market Sector

Overview

Celebrated as one of Minnesota’s Top Workplaces! Knutson Construction is accepting applications for a Director, Power Market Sector to join our team. “Together We Make Dreams Real” – that is our purpose as a company and we exist to work in concert with each other, owners, design professionals and trade partners to make the journey as stress-free as possible. Knutson is deeply committed to cultivating and upholding diversity throughout our workforce, relationships, and communities. We recognize the utmost importance of continually advancing our comprehension of diversity, equity, and inclusion as transformative forces within our work, industry, and company values.

At Knutson, opportunities to shine happen daily. We value what makes you different and empower you to act on your ideas.

The Director, Power Market Sector will position Knutson as a general contractor that safely and rapidly delivers complex power generation facilities where safety, schedule, constructability, and owner risk matter most—particularly co-generation and single cycle projects supporting industrial operations and critical infrastructure. This role leads strategic growth, business development, client relationship management, and market expansion for power generation projects, with a primary focus on co-generation, single-cycle, and combined-cycle power facilities, and the continued growth of this sector into larger and more complex generation programs. This role will also pursue utility-support facility and service center project opportunities to provide deep and broad services to match client needs.

The Director is accountable for developing new relationships, driving revenue growth, expanding existing partnerships, developing and owning a business plan and go-to-market strategy, and ensuring the organization captures high‑value work within facilities supporting modern power infrastructure.

The ideal candidate is a strategic leader and market sector expert capable and motivated to deliver The Knutson Experience (TKE) to all clients, employees, and partners, making everyone Knutson works with feel assured, inspired, and appreciated.

Key Responsibilities

Safety

• Model and promote Knutson’s Zero Incident Safety Culture.
• Ensure power sector teams and partners understand and uphold safety expectations.

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute a multi-year power sector strategic plan aligned with company objectives, to include annual business planning, key metrics, go-to-market strategies, key investments, and new and improved services to achieve revenue, margin, growth targets, and competitive differentiation for the sector.
• Serve as the internal subject matter expert on power generation clients (generation owners, utilities, IPPs, developers), with particular expertise in co-generation, single-cycle, and combined-cycle facilities, including capital planning cycles, regulatory impacts, and execution risk.
• Guide internal teams on market requirements, client expectations, safety demands, and quality standards unique to generation facilities and service-center programs.
• Partner with Operations and Preconstruction leadership to define standardized pursuit-to-delivery approaches suitable for repeatable co-generation, single-cycle, and combined-cycle power generation work, including procurement strategy, prefab concepts, commissioning readiness, QA/QC, and turnover standards. Recommend investments in talent, technology, partnerships, and capabilities to support sustainable expansion.

Business Development and Growth

• Own the power generation project pipeline and revenue forecasting with explicit focus on co-generation, single-cycle, and combined-cycle projects, while tracking follow-on service center work generated through generation clients and track conversion metrics. Drive pursuit strategy, go/no-go decisions, and development of proposals and presentations.
• Build, strengthen, and maintain executive-level relationships with utilities, independent power producers (IPPs), EPC firms, OEMs, municipal and cooperative utilities, developers, and other key industry partners and stakeholders.
• Identify transformative clients and develop strategies for long-term partnership growth.
• Co-develop and refine sector-specific value propositions, collateral, and pitch materials.

Leadership and Collaboration

• Model and lead in alignment with Knutson’s core values:
• Care with Action
• Lead with Courage
• Build a Team Environment
• Provide leadership and mentorship to business development, preconstruction, and operations staff engaged in power sector opportunities.
• Foster collaboration, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement across teams.
• Mentor and develop future leaders and support workforce development and succession planning.
• Partner across departments to ensure alignment with sector objectives.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement, Brand Ambassador

• Serve as the sector’s primary executive point of contact for major clients.
• Ensure high levels of client satisfaction and promote repeat business.
• Gather and translate client feedback into actionable improvements and repeatable business.
• Collaborate and be a leading participant in visibility and brand-building efforts including industry events, speaking engagements, and content creation.
• Position Knutson as a trusted and differentiated brand of choice in the Power sector.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Visionary leadership with strong client-focus.
• Proven success in Power sector market development and relationship building.
• Strong understanding of preconstruction, design-build, and construction delivery models.
• Strong financial acumen and metrics-driven decision-making.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge of MEP-intensive systems, commissioning, prefab strategies, and fast-turnover requirements typical of utility-scale clients.
• Proficiency in CRM and business intelligence tools.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel to project sites, client offices, conferences, events, and other locations on a regular and reasonable basis to achieve sector business objectives, which may be up to 50% of the role at times, regionally and nationally where opportunities are present.
• Working knowledge of regulatory and code environments impacting power generation and utility facilities (e.g., OSHA, EPA, NFPA/NEC considerations, and applicable state/local building codes), and ability to integrate code-driven requirements into pursuit and planning.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Architecture, Engineering, or Business; Master’s preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in business development, project management, or sector leadership within commercial construction, EPC, or the utility/power sector.
• Understanding of construction operations, including scheduling, cost drivers, MEP, preconstruction, and risk management.
• Demonstrated experience with market expansion, partnership development, and programmatic playbook creation.
• Ability to engage effectively with C-suite and senior stakeholders.
• Proven experience in business development, strategic planning, and team leadership.
• Technical familiarity with utility coordination, grid constraints, and sustainability requirements relevant to utility-scale Power market clients.

Additional Benefits & Perks

• Competitive Pay
• Performance Based Career Advancement
• Medical, Dental and Vision
• Health Savings Account with employer contribution
• Flexible Spending Account
• Paid Time Off
• Life and Long-Term Disability Benefit with no premium cost to employee
• Mentorship Program
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Employee Referral Bonus Program
• Flex Fridays
• 401k w/Company Match
• Annual Discretionary Bonus Program
• Successful Annual Discretionary Profit-Sharing Program
• Paid Parental Leave

Projected Minimum Base Salary per year $190,000

Projected Maximum Base Salary per year $250,000