Vice President, Business Development – Transmission Lines – Canada

Cermak Peterka Peterson (CPP) is a global engineering consulting firm specializing in understanding and managing the effects of wind on structures, infrastructure, and the built environment. We work with developers, owners, engineers, architects, manufacturers, and operators to understand how wind interacts with their structures and assets and to translate that understanding into practical engineering guidance that supports safer, more resilient, and more cost-effective designs.
Our work spans buildings, renewable energy, transmission infrastructure, and other wind-sensitive structures. CPP combines deep engineering expertise with boundary-layer wind tunnel testing, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), advanced numerical modeling, field measurements, monitoring, and data analysis to solve complex wind-related problems throughout the lifecycle of an asset, from concept and design through operation, performance evaluation, and failure investigation. CPP has been providing wind engineering consulting services worldwide for more than 40 years.

Purpose & Values Statement

CPP Wind Engineering Consultants strives to maintain an inclusive community that values integrity, respect, and collaboration. We build on the legacy of our founders in pursuit of continued growth, learning, and the application of our knowledge. With our pioneering spirit, and in partnership with our clients, we are committed to delivering innovative engineering solutions for a safe, sustainable, and resilient built environment. As global industry-leading experts, we remain accountable for solving the challenges of today and embrace our natural curiosity and passion for the opportunities of tomorrow. CPP Wind Engineering Consultants provides an environment where talent flourishes to the benefit of the individual, the company, our clients, and society.

Role Summary

CPP is seeking a Vice President of Business Development – Transmission Lines to build and scale CPP’s commercial position in the North American transmission line market. This is a senior, highly entrepreneurial and externally focused role for a self-directed leader who can create business rather than simply manage existing demand. CPP already has technical capabilities and services applicable to the transmission market; a key initial responsibility of this role will be to work with the CTO and technical teams to organize those capabilities into a coherent, differentiated and commercially compelling transmission service portfolio. The ideal candidate brings deep experience in the transmission line ecosystem and an established network of relationships with the organizations and decision-makers who plan, design, engineer, build, maintain, repair, and operate transmission infrastructure.

The VP will define the target clients, buyer profiles, project and asset lifecycle stages, and technical problems for which each CPP offering creates the greatest value, and then develop and execute the corresponding go-to-market strategy. The VP will personally develop new client relationships and opportunities across utilities and transmission owners/operators, developers, EPCs, engineering and line-design firms, specialty contractors, and relevant equipment and technology providers. The role requires enough technical credibility to understand the transmission line project and asset lifecycle, identify where CPP’s capabilities can solve important client problems, and translate those needs into actionable opportunities with CPP’s CTO and technical teams. Success in this position depends on a specific leadership profile: an entrepreneurial builder with strong personal initiative; a relationship-driven business developer who is comfortable creating commercial structure around existing technical capabilities and opening new doors; a technically curious commercial leader who can earn the confidence of engineers and executives; and a
disciplined operator who follows opportunities through from first conversation to proposal, award, and long-term account development. Initially, the role is expected to be highly hands-on, with future opportunity to help shape and build additional transmission business development capabilities as the market grows.

Operational / Market Development (approximately 75% of day-to-day activities):

1. Market Development & Origination: Build and execute CPP’s North American transmission business development plan by market segment, geography, and client type. Personally originate opportunities, open new accounts, and create a sustained qualified pipeline.
2. Service Portfolio Development & Go-to-Market: Work closely with the CTO and CPP technical leaders to assess CPP’s existing transmission-related capabilities and organize them into a clear, differentiated portfolio of client-facing service offerings. For each offering, define the technical scope, client value proposition, target buyer, applicable project or asset lifecycle stage, competitive positioning, pricing approach, and sales messaging. Identify and prioritize the utilities, developers, engineering firms, EPCs, contractors, owners/operators, and other client groups most likely to purchase each service, and establish a focused go-to-market plan.
3. Strategic Accounts & Industry Network: Leverage and expand an established network across utilities, transmission owners/operators, developers, EPCs, engineering/design firms, line contractors, and related suppliers. Identify the highest-value accounts and develop multi-year relationship and growth plans.
4. Client Engagement: Maintain a strong in-person market presence through regular client visits, project meetings, industry events, and executive-level relationship building. Develop trusted relationships across both technical and commercial stakeholders.
5. Proposal & Pipeline Management: Own the end-to-end commercial process for transmission opportunities, including qualification, pursuit strategy, proposal development, pricing coordination, client follow-up, CRM discipline, and forecast accuracy.
6. Solution Selling & Technical Integration: Use the defined service portfolio as a starting point and work closely with the CTO and CPP technical leaders to match CPP’s capabilities to specific client challenges, adapt scopes where appropriate, and develop differentiated technical solutions. The VP is not expected to be CPP’s technical authority, but must be technically credible with transmission engineers and asset owners and effective at bringing CPP’s experts into the sales process.
7. Transmission Lifecycle & Market Insight: Bring practical understanding of the market for new transmission line planning, design and engineering, as well as uprating, reconductoring, refurbishment, reliability improvement, failure investigation, repair/remediation, and ongoing operation of existing lines. Use this perspective to identify where CPP can add value.
8. Strategic Partnering & Ecosystem Development: Build relationships with complementary engineering firms, specialty consultants, contractors, technology providers, and other partners that can expand CPP’s access to projects, strengthen technical offerings, or create joint go-to-market opportunities.
9. Market Positioning & Thought Leadership: Partner with Marketing and technical leadership to establish CPP as a visible and credible transmission line partner through targeted conferences, client-facing content, technical presentations, industry organizations, and focused outreach.
10. Internal Coordination & Delivery Alignment: Maintain close coordination with the CEO, CTO, sector/service line leaders, regional GMs, project managers, Finance, Legal, and Marketing so that commercial commitments align with technical capability, delivery capacity, pricing discipline, and strategic priorities.Strategic / Platform Building (approximately 25% of day-to-day activities):
11. Portfolio Expansion & New Service Development: Once CPP’s initial transmission service portfolio has been established and actively taken to market, use direct client dialogue, win/loss feedback, and market intelligence to identify portfolio gaps, unmet needs, and opportunities for new or adjacent services. Work with the CTO and technical teams to validate, package, pilot, price, and launch new offerings, and help determine whether needed capabilities should be developed organically, through strategic partnerships, through targeted hiring, or potentially through acquisition.
12. Transmission Platform Build-Out: Help define CPP’s longer-term transmission strategy using market response to the initial service portfolio, including priority client segments, capability gaps, investment needs, strategic hires, partnership opportunities, and the future structure of the business development organization as revenue and market presence expand.
13. Strategic Partnerships & M&A Origination: Support the CEO in identifying potential partnerships or acquisition targets that can accelerate CPP’s transmission strategy. Provide market insight, relationship access, and preliminary assessment of strategic fit and commercial potential.

The VP partners closely with the CEO and has a strong dotted-line relationship to the CTO, while collaborating with sector/service line leaders, regional GMs, Finance, Legal, Marketing, and project delivery teams. The role is expected to combine executive-level market presence with the practical, hands-on work required to establish CPP as a meaningful player in the transmission line market.

Qualifications and experience

1. Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, or another closely related technical discipline preferred; an MBA or equivalent commercial experience is a plus.
2. Transmission Market Experience: 10–15+ years of progressive experience in the electric power transmission line market, ideally including meaningful exposure to business development, client leadership, project development, engineering, consulting, EPC, construction, or asset operations.
3. Established Industry Network: A well-developed network of relationships and demonstrated credibility with decision-makers and influencers at utilities, transmission owners/operators, developers, EPCs, engineering/design firms, contractors, or other organizations active in developing and maintaining transmission lines.
4. Lifecycle Understanding: Strong familiarity with how transmission projects and assets move through planning, design/engineering, construction, commissioning, operation, maintenance, uprating/reconductoring, repair/remediation, and life-extension activities.
5. Entrepreneurial Mindset: Demonstrated ability to operate independently, create structure where none exists, pursue opportunities with urgency and persistence, and take personal ownership for results in a developing market.
6. Commercial Excellence: Strong track record in complex technical sales, account development, pursuit strategy, proposal development, commercial negotiation, and converting long sales cycles into profitable revenue.
7. Service Portfolio & Go-to-Market Capability: Demonstrated ability to turn technical capabilities into clearly packaged client offerings, define target customer segments and buyer personas, articulate differentiated value propositions, and build practical go-to-market plans for complex engineering or infrastructure services.
8. Technical Credibility: Ability to engage effectively with transmission engineers and technical executives and translate engineering challenges into business opportunities. Familiarity with wind loading, structural behavior, conductor dynamics, resilience, monitoring.

Travel: Willingness and ability to travel approximately 25–50% of the time across the United States and Canada, with occasional international travel as business needs require

We offer a competitive benefits package including Health, Dental, Vision, Life and LTD. We are an equal-opportunity employer. Apply Today! Resumes are not AI Reviewed. Job Type: Full-time