Karpel Associates recruits chief operating officers for renewable energy companies across the US. Clients range from early developers to independent power producers with large fleets. A renewable energy COO search with us starts with the work your operations leader must finish in year one, then targets people who have already done that work somewhere else.
Which duties belong to a renewable energy COO?
The COO is the executive who turns signed contracts and financed projects into steel in the ground and megawatt hours on the meter. At a developer, that means owning construction: choosing and managing EPC contractors, holding them to schedule, and settling the disputes that come with every large build. At an independent power producer, the emphasis shifts toward asset management, where availability, warranty claims and O&M costs decide whether a portfolio performs as modeled.
Most COOs also own procurement. Modules, turbines, transformers and battery systems all have long lead times, and a single late delivery can push a commercial operation date past a financing deadline. The best operators build supplier relationships early, write contracts with real remedies and keep backup options alive.
Safety is the core of the job. Field crews work around high voltage, heavy lifts and remote sites, and the COO sets the tone for how seriously the company treats every near miss.
When should a clean energy company hire its first COO?
Founders often carry operations themselves for longer than they should. The signals that a dedicated operating executive is overdue tend to look similar across companies.
| Trigger | What it looks like day to day | What the new COO fixes first |
|---|---|---|
| Moving from development to ownership | Projects reach notice to proceed faster than the team can manage them | Construction governance, contractor selection and a project controls rhythm |
| A fleet that keeps growing | Asset data lives in spreadsheets and nobody owns availability | Asset management reporting, O&M contracts and warranty enforcement |
| Supply chain surprises | Equipment arrives late and change orders keep climbing | Procurement strategy, supplier diversification and contract terms |
| Safety incidents or near misses | Field practices vary by site and contractor | A single safety program with clear accountability |
| A CEO stretched too thin | Every operating decision waits for one person | Delegated authority, operating cadence and a leadership bench |
When the gap is urgent and a permanent hire needs time, an interim operations executive keeps construction and the fleet moving during the search.
What experience separates strong renewable energy COO candidates?
Every finalist on our slate scores 90% or better on the skills we agree on with you. For operating roles, these are the areas we press hardest.
Construction delivery under pressure
Candidates take us through specific builds: the contract structure, what went wrong and how they recovered. People who can explain a schedule slip honestly usually manage the next one better.
Asset performance after commercial operation
Building a plant is half the job. We look for leaders who have improved availability, renegotiated O&M agreements or pushed warranty claims to resolution. Operators who know battery storage operating demands bring a different skill set than those who mainly ran solar or wind fleets, and we screen for the right one.
Scaling the organization
A COO at a company growing from a handful of projects to a national portfolio has to hire managers, write processes and let go of daily decisions. We check how candidates have built teams, not only how they have led them.
Partnership across the executive team
Operations decisions ripple into financing and engineering. Strong COOs work closely with a finance chief who manages project capital and with engineering leaders on design standards and interconnection.
How do we recruit a COO for a clean power business?
Stacey Karpel, who founded and leads the firm, brings 20+ years of executive search to every COO mandate, with the past 15+ spent solely on renewables. Over that span the firm assembled a private file naming more than 40,000 sector professionals, and her LinkedIn network tops 30,000 people.
Good operators are usually mid-build and ignore postings. Eight in ten people we have placed were invisible on public job sites, which is why we call them directly and discreetly. COO mandates usually go through our C-suite search practice for clean energy leadership, with pay benchmarking included so your package competes.
Strong operating leaders leave a measurable mark. A President we recruited grew revenue from new business by 120% in a single year and, in the same period, eliminated five of the ten biggest recurring costs on the books. We hunt for that pairing of growth and spending discipline in every senior operator.
Of every offer extended through us, 98% get a yes, and 94% of those hires are still in the seat.
Ready to start a renewable energy COO search?
Tell us where your projects stand, what the fleet looks like and where operations feel stretched. We will outline the candidate market and a search plan that fits your timeline. Book a COO search conversation with our team.