Lead, Partnership Development

Recognized as a leader in innovative energy solutions, Creative Energy is the developer, owner, and operator of sustainable district energy systems across North America. Our team has a client-focused, community-driven approach to projects that deliver outstanding quality and service while providing clear, measurable benefits that drive long-term growth and sustainability.

Creative Energy owns and operates a portfolio of sixteen district energy systems across British Columbia, Ontario, and Washington State, ranging from one of Canada's largest thermal networks in downtown Vancouver to bespoke distributed systems serving residential, institutional, and mixed-use developments. We provide significant value to developers, landowners, end-users, and the broader community through flexible thermal energy solutions by reducing carbon emissions, lowering energy costs, and improving energy reliability.

Our projects focus on innovation, resiliency, and sustainability, and span a broad spectrum of technologies including geo-exchange, ocean exchange, sewer heat recovery, thermal storage, and microgrids.

Building on over 56 years of operating experience, Creative Energy is advancing a wide portfolio of new low-carbon district energy systems across North America. We are entering a defining growth phase as we commercialize our Thermal Energy System ("TES") solutions, introducing a new, high-volume, scalable energy-as-a-service offering designed for individual buildings alongside our continued pipeline of large-scale district energy opportunities and ongoing decarbonization of our existing infrastructure.

The Opportunity

We are hiring a Lead, Partnership Development to lead origination of thermal energy system opportunities by selling directly to real estate developers and institutional counterparties across Canada with a focus on Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area. Target opportunities will span mid-rise and high-rise residential, student housing, hospitality, long-term care, and other institutionally owned developments. The role will also support coverage of growth opportunities with health authorities, higher education institutions, and First Nations-led real estate, working in coordination with the broader Creative Energy team that leads those sector relationships.

This is a senior role for someone with established developer relationships and a strong grasp of the real estate development lifecycle. The successful candidate will serve as the external face and brand ambassador for Creative Energy’s TES service offerings; building Creative Energy's brand in the development community, educating the market on a new product category, initiating outreach at the right moments in a project's lifecycle, and developing the trust-based partnerships that drive long-term deal flow.

A critical part of this role is acting as a trusted product advisor to developers, building deep knowledge of our innovative solutions, understanding the value they bring, and marrying that narrative with what developers value most. Success in this role requires bridging the technical and commercial story of the product with the specific drivers, pain points, and decision criteria of the developer audience.

The role's core scope begins at opportunity identification and spans outreach, relationship building, education, pitching, and proposal development, with the goal of establishing a strong market presence through long term partnership development, resulting in accepted proposals and signed LOIs. Once a deal reaches LOI, the successful candidate will work with the Corporate Development team on term sheet drafting, commercial structuring, and deal execution through to close, providing full visibility into the end-to-end deal cycle.

This is a critical hire at a pivotal moment for the business, and the person who steps into this role will play a foundational part in scaling Creative Energy's product lines, serving to shape the next generation of growth.

What You'll Do

• Identify and qualify new TES and district energy opportunities across Canada, with a focus on Metro Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area, spanning mid-rise and high-rise residential, student housing, hospitality, long-term care, and other institutionally owned developments. Support origination across health authorities, higher education, and First Nations-led real estate in coordination with the internal teams covering those sectors.
• Educate developers on the TES product, communicating its technical fundamentals, commercial structure, and value proposition clearly and credibly to audiences who may be encountering the product for the first time.
• Align the product narrative with developer priorities, translating TES's value into the specific commercial, operational, and ESG drivers that matter most to each developer audience, and tailoring messaging accordingly.
• Initiate outreach at the right stage of the development lifecycle, leveraging an understanding of when in a developer's planning, design, and procurement timeline Creative Energy's solutions are most impactful and most likely to land.
• Build long-term, multi-level relationships across counterparty organizations through consistent touch points and ongoing dialogue, mapping decision-makers and influencers, developing ‘zippered’ relationships at multiple levels and maintaining engagement across multiple project cycles, not just transactional conversations.
• Pitch with insight into developer pain points, understanding what motivates developer decisions (capital constraints, schedule pressure, ESG mandates, operational risk transfer) and tailoring Creative Energy's value proposition to the specific drivers behind each opportunity.
• Lead pitches and proposal development, customizing positioning, value propositions, and indicative economics to each opportunity. Own the qualification, pitching, and proposal stages of the sales cycle, with the goal of securing accepted proposals and signed LOIs.
• Collaborate with the Corporate Development team post-LOI on term sheet drafting, commercial structuring, negotiation, and deal execution through to financial close - staying engaged with the developer relationship throughout.
• Develop and manage a partnership and referral ecosystem, including advisory firms, consultants, lenders, and legal counsel that generates qualified, high-conviction deal flow.
• Serve as the external face of Creative Energy for the TES product, including attending and presenting at industry conferences and sector events to elevate Creative Energy's presence and promote visibility for the product.
• Originate traditional district energy opportunities for larger masterplan, institutional, and municipal projects, leveraging Creative Energy's established reference projects and operating track record.
• Provide market intelligence and pipeline reporting to senior leadership and the board, tracking Vancouver and Toronto development pipelines, competitor activity, and regulatory developments.

Required

What You Bring

• 8-10 years of progressive experience in brokerage/real estate development, energy services, infrastructure advisory, or institutional asset management.
• Deep understanding of the real estate development lifecycle knowing when in a project's planning, entitlement, design, and procurement timeline to engage developers, what their pain points are at each stage, and what arguments and value propositions resonate to move opportunities forward.
• Intellectual curiosity and the ability to learn and articulate technical products, comfortable becoming a subject matter expert on TES solutions, with the ability to educate developer audiences clearly and bridge the product narrative to what developers value most.
• Existing relationships in Metro Vancouver and/or the Greater Toronto Area's real estate development community and demonstrated ability to access decision-makers at mid-market and institutional developers.
• Proven track record in consultative, relationship-driven business development, building long-term relationships through consistent engagement and developing trust with sophisticated counterparties over multi-month sales cycles.
• Demonstrated ability to map and build corporate relationships at multiple levels of a counterparty organization, establishing 'zippered' touch points that create resilience, accelerate decision-making, and unlock repeat business across project cycle.
• Strong commercial fluency, including the ability to discuss pro forma economics, capex/opex trade-offs, deal structuring, and indicative rate design with sophisticated counterparties.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to lead pitches, customize materials for specific developer audiences, and represent Creative Energy externally, including formal presentations at industry conferences and sector events.
• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, real estate, finance, or a related discipline.
• Experience / proficiency working with AI tools including Microsoft Copilot, Chat GPT, Claude, or other applications.

Preferred

• Familiarity with district energy, distributed energy, or building mechanical systems.
• Direct experience selling to or working with real estate developers on capital procurement decisions.
• Background in clean energy, infrastructure, or sustainability-focused commercial roles.
• Existing relationships with consultants, lenders, or advisory firms active in the Canadian real estate sector.
• Experience in long-term care, student housing, or hospitality development is an asset.
• Previous experience in commercial contract structuring, financing or similar background.

What We Offer

• Base salary in the $100,000 - $130,000 range. Within the range, individual pay is determined by factors such as job-related skills, relevant experience, education and/or training. The upper end of the range is typically reserved for candidates with demonstrated expertise that is above job requirements or who bring exceptional directly transferable experience.
• Annual performance bonus tied to individual and corporate performance.
• Deal based incentive bonus tied to originated transaction offering upside opportunity for high performers.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including extended health and dental, RRSP matching at 5%, hybrid work arrangement, and flexible work hours.
• Career development and growth opportunities within a company entering a defining phase of expansion.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, we will only be contacting selected candidates for follow-up.