Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wind Farm Program Analyst

🎯 Role Definition

The Wind Farm Program Analyst is a cross-functional role responsible for planning, tracking, and optimizing wind development and operational programs across asset portfolios. This role combines project controls, technical analysis, contractual oversight, stakeholder engagement, compliance monitoring, and data-driven performance reporting to ensure projects meet schedule, budget, safety and environmental targets. Ideal candidates have experience in renewable energy project lifecycles (development, construction, and O&M), strong analytical and communication skills, and proficiency with tools like MS Project/Primavera, Excel, Power BI, GIS and SCADA analytics.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Wind Energy Project Coordinator
Renewable Energy Analyst / Asset Analyst
Construction or O&M Planner in Power or Infrastructure

Advancement To:

Senior Program Manager, Wind Assets
Portfolio Manager, Renewable Projects
Development Manager / Construction Manager

Lateral Moves:

Asset Manager, Renewables
Commercial Analyst (PPAs & Market)
Grid & Interconnection Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead program-level planning and scheduling for multiple wind farm projects, creating integrated master schedules (MS Project/Primavera) that align development, procurement, construction and commissioning milestones, and update schedules weekly to flag critical path impacts and recovery actions.
Own budget preparation, forecasting and variance analysis across the program lifecycle; develop cost-to-complete models, track commitments and change orders, and present budget performance and risk exposure to senior leadership and stakeholders.
Manage vendor and contractor performance by drafting scopes of work, supporting RFPs and bid evaluations, monitoring contract deliverables, enforcing payment milestones, and coordinating claims/SLAs to protect project timelines and budget.
Establish, maintain and report on KPIs and dashboards (Power BI/Tableau) for availability, production, O&M costs, downtime, and safety; translate metrics into actionable recommendations to improve fleet performance and reduce LCOE.
Conduct technical and commercial analysis for wind resource assessments, energy yield models, and revenue forecasts; work with developers and resource teams to validate assumptions used in financial models and PPAs.
Coordinate environmental compliance and permitting tasks including coordination with environmental consultants, oversight of mitigation measures, and preparation/submission of regulatory filings and reporting (local, state, federal).
Support interconnection and grid integration activities: prepare interconnection studies, coordinate with transmission owners, manage queue processes, and liaise with system operators and utilities to resolve constraints and curtailment issues.
Perform risk identification, mitigation and contingency planning across development and construction; maintain a program risk register with quantified impacts and recommended mitigation measures.
Oversee landowner agreements, easements and rights-of-way processes in coordination with legal and development teams; track obligations, payments, and title documentation.
Support SCADA and operational data ingestion and analysis to identify performance deviations, wake effects, curtailments, and opportunities for turbine or layout optimization; coordinate troubleshooting with OEMs and service providers.
Lead project coordination across multi-disciplinary teams (engineering, procurement, construction, electrical, civil) to ensure technical requirements and interfaces are resolved and change impacts are documented.
Manage QA/QC and HSE compliance during construction and operations by coordinating inspections, commissioning plans, punch-lists, and ensuring contractors adhere to safety protocols and environmental mitigation commitments.
Prepare and deliver executive-level program reports, board decks and investor updates summarizing schedule, budget, performance, risks and milestones; tailor messaging for technical and non-technical audiences.
Support procurement strategy for long-lead items (turbines, transformers, cables), perform vendor selection support, and maintain procurement schedules to reduce lead-time risks and optimize working capital.
Facilitate financial and commercial close activities in development and asset transactions, including due diligence support, P&L reconciliations and integration planning with asset management teams.
Coordinate commissioning and acceptance testing plans, including witness testing, performance guarantees, and final documentation handover to O&M teams; ensure all commissioning criteria are met before turnover.
Analyze and benchmark O&M contracts and cost structures across the portfolio, identifying opportunities for lifecycle cost reduction through scheduled maintenance optimization, predictive maintenance and spare-parts inventory rationalization.
Manage change control processes and ensure that scope, cost and schedule impacts are tracked, approved and incorporated into baseline documents and forecasts.
Collaborate with commercial teams on energy market exposure, curtailment management, balancing services and ancillary service opportunities; provide analysis to optimize revenue streams.
Maintain and update GIS and asset databases with site boundaries, access roads, turbine locations, topography and other geospatial data used in planning, permitting and operations.
Prepare and submit grant, tax credit and incentive documentation as required; coordinate with tax, legal and finance teams to maximize available incentives and ensure compliance with program requirements.
Support stakeholder engagement and community relations programs by preparing communication plans, responding to inquiries, coordinating site visits, and managing local commitments.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives by documenting lessons learned, implementing best practices, and standardizing program processes, templates and checklists to increase repeatability and efficiency.
Monitor regulatory developments and market rules relevant to wind energy (interconnection standards, renewable portfolio standards, grid codes) and translate impacts into actionable changes for project execution and asset operation.
Provide ad-hoc technical and commercial analysis to support portfolio optimization, repowering studies, decommissioning planning, and scenario modeling for strategic decision-making.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist finance and accounting with month-end reconciliations and variance explanations specific to project costs and capital expenditures.
Support training and onboarding for new project analysts and liaise with HR on competency development programs.
Help prepare procurement documentation, vendor onboarding, and contract administration records.
Provide backup support for site-level operations during major outages or escalations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Project scheduling and controls (MS Project, Oracle Primavera P6) — critical path analysis and schedule risk assessment.
Advanced spreadsheet modeling and financial analysis in Excel (VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, Power Query, scenario modeling).
Data visualization and reporting (Power BI, Tableau) for KPI and performance dashboards.
SCADA/data analytics and familiarity with time-series data, curtailment analysis, and performance benchmarking.
GIS competency (ArcGIS, QGIS) for site mapping, spatial analysis and permitting deliverables.
Knowledge of wind resource assessment tools and energy yield modeling (WindPRO, WAsP, OpenWind).
Understanding of interconnection processes, queue management and grid integration requirements.
Contract and commercial management skills: drafting SOWs, managing change orders, and understanding EPC/O&M contract structures.
Familiarity with environmental permitting, NEPA processes, and mitigation monitoring.
Experience with CMMS/maintenance management tools and predictive maintenance strategies.
Basic programming or query skills (SQL, Python/R) for data extraction and automation.
Budgeting, cost forecasting and financial close processes for capital projects.
Health, safety and environmental (HSE) standards specific to construction and wind farm operations.
Knowledge of electricity markets, PPA structures and renewable energy certificates (RECs).

Soft Skills

Clear, concise communicator able to present complex technical and commercial information to executives and external stakeholders.
Strong analytical thinker with attention to detail and ability to synthesize large datasets into actionable insights.
Effective collaborator and cross-functional facilitator who builds trust across development, construction, operations and commercial teams.
Problem-solver with a bias for practical, risk-reducing decisions under uncertainty.
Stakeholder engagement and negotiation skills — able to manage landowners, regulators, vendors and community groups.
Time management and prioritization skills to manage multiple concurrent projects with shifting deadlines.
Leadership presence and ability to influence without direct authority.
Adaptability in a fast-evolving regulatory and market environment.
Initiative to identify process improvements and implement standardized tools and templates.
Resilience and calm under pressure during outages, escalation, or tight delivery windows.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil), Renewable Energy, Environmental Science, Project Management, Finance, or related discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Engineering, Energy Systems, Business Administration (MBA) or a related technical/management field.
PMP, PgMP, or equivalent project management certification is highly desirable.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Mechanical, Electrical or Civil Engineering
Renewable Energy / Wind Energy Technology
Environmental Science / Natural Resources
Project Management / Construction Management
Finance / Economics (for commercial and PPA analysis)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–7 years of relevant experience for mid-level positions; 7+ years for senior roles.

Preferred:

5+ years of direct experience in wind project development, construction, or operations with demonstrable experience in program controls, contract management, budget forecasting and stakeholder coordination.
Experience working with SCADA data, GIS mapping, interconnection processes and regulatory permitting in the renewable energy sector.