Renewable Energy
Supporting a Renewable Energy Developer's Growth in the USA
Our client, a global leader in renewable energy project development, operates across multiple countries including Spain, the USA, Brazil, the Caribbean, Italy, Colombia, Romania, and the UK. Since its founding in 2006, the company has steadily expanded, focusing on three core renewable technologies: photovoltaic, photovoltaic-wind hybridization, and green hydrogen. Covering every stage of the project lifecycle—from origination and development to execution and asset management—they bring an all-encompassing approach to renewable energy solutions.
With over 15 years of experience, the company consistently delivers top-quality, environmentally conscious projects worldwide, adhering to the highest industry standards. Their remarkable international expansion has strengthened their global presence, empowering them to make a larger positive impact.
Partnership Initiation
The partnership began in October 2023, when Oliver Hastie, Vice President of our USA Renewable Energy team, was introduced to the company through our Valencia office. At the time, they were in the early stages of planning their US expansion and seeking to build a local team. As they explored direct advertising for initial hires, they were quickly overwhelmed by a flood of irrelevant resumes and inquiries, which distracted them from their primary goal—growing their US presence. By January 2024, our partnership was officially launched.
Our collaboration thrived because we swiftly developed an efficient recruitment process, gaining a deep understanding of the company's specific needs and timelines. This allowed us to provide top-tier candidates with quick turnaround times.
One of the first roles we filled was the Head of Development. Within seven days, four candidates were shortlisted, and within three weeks, the position was successfully filled. Thanks to our vast network and expertise in the USA renewable energy sector, we were able to exceed standard recruitment timelines, which usually span two to four weeks. In addition, we offered valuable guidance on budget and bonus structures, leveraging our network to identify the best strategies for incentivizing senior hires. Ollie’s insight into the company ensured that the selected candidates aligned with their values, ambitions, and growth plans.
Overcoming Expansion Challenges
Despite the client’s international presence, entering the US market posed challenges due to their limited brand recognition locally. Competing in a market dominated by well-established players made their expansion more difficult.
To successfully navigate this landscape, it was clear that they needed seasoned professionals with proven experience in managing large-scale renewable energy projects. We adopted a strategic approach to recruitment, tapping into our deep industry knowledge and extensive network to find candidates who could not only contribute to the company’s growth but also enhance its presence in the US.
As the client’s US footprint expanded, we scaled our recruitment efforts accordingly. After the initial Head of Development role, Sam Smart, our Senior Consultant for USA Renewable Energy, took on three additional positions: two Senior Project Development roles and one Project Development role. Sam successfully placed candidates in all three roles, helping them advance their careers while supporting the client’s long-term growth objectives. Through this successful collaboration, we crafted competitive offers that benefited both the company and the candidates.
Tailored Recruitment Solutions
Since the start of 2024, we’ve maintained a close consultative partnership with the client, delivering a range of recruitment services including permanent recruitment, retained search and market analysis. Our holistic approach has enabled us to consistently find top talent, working exclusively with the company as they establish themselves in the competitive US market.
For each recruitment project, we regularly consult on role specifications, explore the unique benefits the company can offer, and fine-tune their competitive positioning. We go beyond merely advising on salaries, recognizing that top talent often seeks opportunities for professional growth, a sense of purpose, and a collaborative work culture. Our consultative approach ensures that candidates see the full value of joining the company.
Results and Impact
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Our exclusive partnership has positioned the company as a recognized leader in attracting top talent in the renewable energy sector. Through our competitive pricing structure and tailored approach, we’ve successfully filled four key roles and are currently working on more.
Since the start of the partnership, we’ve consistently delivered top-quality candidates for both junior and senior positions across the renewable energy project lifecycle. Whether filling technical engineering roles or senior leadership positions, we have leveraged our network and expertise to meet the client’s diverse needs efficiently.
Our collaboration, rooted in a shared commitment to advancing clean energy, has been crucial in helping the company build a strong presence in the US. We are proud to be their recruitment partner of choice, playing a vital role in their continued success since 2024 and into the future.
Interested in partnering with us? Let’s work together to drive positive change. Discover more about our USA Renewable Energy services here.
Other success stories
Renewable Energy
Scaling ELMYA Teams and Projects
ELMYA stands out today as a leading contributor to the global renewable energy journey and has established itself in the development, construction and operations & maintenance of renewable energy projects and electrical installations globally. We are proud to have partnered with ELMYA on a variety of projects, from 2018 up to today.
About ELMYA
ELMYA is an established global company engaged in the renewable energy and electrical installations sector. The company was founded in 1966 by two friends as an electrical installation company in Spain, with the initial aim of building electrical switchgear panels for multinational electrical equipment suppliers.
ELMYA progressed rapidly, and in 2004 moved into the electrical installations of renewable energy projects in Spain where they built their first photovoltaic plant, making them an EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) contractor. A few years later they expanded their EPC activities to the UK, Greece and Peru. They then set an ambitious international growth plan in motion leading to the establishment of operations in?Italy, Mexico, Chile, the Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.
Throughout their journey and expansion, ELMYA always kept a shared goal: to maintain their growth and expansion rates and be the benchmark in the development and construction of solar power plants and electrical installations worldwide.
Our Partnership Story: 2 Key Periods
Our partnership was initiated by Carlos Soria, Climate17 Director & Co-Founder, who reached out to Carlos Piñar, currently ELMYA’s Managing Director but at the time the HR Director. We initially assisted them in filling EPC roles in Latin America and the UK between 2018 and 2019.
A year later, in 2020 and after a rise in open vacancies, Carlos Soria reached out to ELMYA again. We subsequently assisted in closing positions in EPC roles in the UK, Spain and Italy. By partnering with them on this bigger project, we played a pivotal role in their continuous international growth. We additionally played a key part in building and scaling their UK Development team, ultimately assisting in their overall company development and expansion.
Their Challenges & Our Consultative Solutions
ELMYA’s first key challenge revolved around the growth of their UK EPC projects. EPC positions are usually dependant on specific projects and their locations, creating challenges to hire full-time permanent employees. By providing them with tailored market research and analysis as part of our comprehensive solutions, we guided them through their hiring options for these UK-based EPC projects. This allowed them to assess and understand their options and make informed decisions based on the current market.
Later on, in 2023, ELMYA shared with us their goal to build an EPC team based in the UK. To assist in this growth, our Data & Insights team crafted a tailored and in-depth salary benchmark document. We conducted a multitude of interviews in the UK, providing ELMYA with informed salary bands per position, location and experience, ultimately providing them with the relevant knowledge and insights to start building their UK EPC team in the upcoming months.
Beyond recruitment, we continually support ELMYA by helping them better understand their needs, create attractive packages and benchmark salaries to position themselves competitively and develop effective hiring strategies. Our consultative approach allows us to continuously collaborate with them, helping them grow and expand internationally, finding them the most suitable talent to fill their roles, but also playing a key part in their own company development and hiring.
The Outcomes
Through a consistent partnership since 2020 and a shared vision in advancing the global transition to clean energy and a more sustainable future, we have played a pivotal role in building and scaling ELMYA’s teams and helping them find the best talent to fill their roles. We are proud to remain their recruitment partner of choice and to continue assisting them in their global expansion and growth.
Despite the competitiveness of the markets, we successfully guided them through their challenges and needs, enabling them to establish themselves as a strong global market leader. Through our consultative approach, we provided guidance and insights into building effective recruitment strategies, into their target markets, and their global recruitment needs, ultimately helping them understand the intricacies and uniqueness of each market and adapt their strategies accordingly.
Interested in collaborating? Let’s work together to make a difference. Feel free to reach out to our team here.
Otherwise, our Spanish & LATAM page might provide you with the insights and information you are seeking regarding our presence and expertise in these markets. We look forward to working together!
Renewable Energy
Empowering Innova’s Growth through a Long-Term Partnership
Innova stands out as a particularly impressive success story within the UK’s rapidly growing renewable energy sector. Climate17 is proud to have partnered with Innova since 2020, helping them to scale their business, build new teams and deliver successful renewable energy projects.
About Innova
Innova is a forward-thinking renewable energy business, employing over 120 people across two offices in London and Cheltenham. Innova’s long-term mission is to create utility-scale renewable energy projects using multi-technologies that take large energy intensive users off-grid, positively improving the environment, and benefiting local businesses and communities.
Innova offer a fully integrated approach to renewable energy developments and operations covering the whole life cycle of any project. This includes planning, grid connections, project rights development, financing, construction and asset management, power purchase agreements, and long-term operations.
The company encompasses a range of innovative technologies, including solar, battery storage, green hydrogen, and advanced thermal conversion.
Our Partnership Story
In early 2020, Innova turned to us for assistance, recognising our expertise in renewable energy recruitment. Like many renewable energy companies, Innova was concerned about talent shortages restricting their growth potential.
The partnership was initiated by Tom Wolsey, Climate17 Director & Co-Founder, who met with Innova at their London office and subsequently assisted them in filling a particularly challenging Technical Director vacancy they had struggled with for a while.
Following this initial success, we built a close working relationship with Innova over subsequent years, based on increasing levels of credibility and trust, gained through consistent successful delivery of challenging assignments. This led us to become their exclusive talent partner, as they rapidly scaled their business to match their growing project pipeline and the ever-evolving market opportunity in UK solar & battery storage.
Challenges & Growth
As Innova continued to grow throughout the years, they faced challenges in sourcing specialised talent to support their rapid expansion. The need for skilled professionals in planning, development management, engineering, project delivery, procurement and asset management became increasingly critical. With many of these being new roles to Innova, we had to source suitable individuals who were both motivated and capable of building these functions from scratch.
Meeting Innova's growing demand required us to navigate the intricacies of today's competitive recruitment market. In this dynamic environment, successful hiring requires adept forecasting, a solid understanding and analysis of the market, and an extensive community of engaged talent.
As Innova expanded, we strategically scaled our delivery capabilities and team of recruiters, allowing us to align closely with their evolving needs.
Our Consultative Solutions
By listening to Innova’s challenges and understanding their needs, we have been able to foster a close and long-lasting partnership. We have a dedicated central Account Manager who is responsible for undertaking regular performance reviews and centrally co-ordinating delivery across our specialist teams.
In addition to this, our recruiters engage directly with Innova hiring managers, ensuring a tailored and collaborative approach.
Our comprehensive solutions include permanent recruitment, retained search, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), and insightful market analysis.
Together, these have allowed us to continuously find Innova the best and most diverse selection of talent, allowing Innova to reach their fullest potential. Innova benefits from the scalability and flexibility of our RPO service, whilst utilising our retained search service for harder to fill roles.
We also undertake bespoke annual salary surveys for Innova, ensuring that they achieve pay transparency and position themselves strategically regarding compensation offerings.
This multi-faceted approach has supported Innova's growth and enabled them to define their unique EVP (employer value proposition), as well as recruit a high volume of specialist roles throughout the years.
The Outcomes
"We have outsourced the majority of our recruitment to Climate17 over the past 4 years and they have been pivotal in ensuring the growth of our business, consistently delivering top talent for hard-to-fill positions across planning, technical, project delivery, corporate services and corporate finance. We have worked closely with them to ensure we are consistently developing our employer value proposition and positioning our business as an employer of choice to new employees, as well as retaining our existing staff." - Robin Dummett, Co-Founder & Joint CEO
Through a collaborative approach and a shared commitment towards advancing the global transition to clean energy, Climate17 has played a pivotal role in building Innova's workforce and fuelling their success in the renewable energy sector. Since 2020 and for the foreseeable future, we are proud to be Innova’s recruitment partner and continue to assist with their growth and success.
Interested in collaborating? Let’s work together to make a difference. Reach out to our team here.
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