FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Joe Amara Executive Search Places Sr. Director of Development at Leading Power & Data Infrastructure Firm

Chicago, IL – June 13^th 2025 – Joe Amara Executive Search is proud to announce the successful placement of a Senior Director of Development at a forward-thinking power and infrastructure company focused on natural gas-fired generation co-located with data centers.

The newly appointed executive will be responsible for leading the development of firm generation projects across the United States, supporting critical digital infrastructure with highly reliable and scalable power solutions. This placement marks a key milestone in the client’s growth strategy and their mission to meet the rising energy demands of data-intensive operations.

“We’re honored to have partnered with a client at the forefront of modern infrastructure, and we’re thrilled to have identified a leader with the vision and expertise to drive high-impact development efforts,” said Joe Amara, Founder and Managing Partner of Joe Amara Executive Search. “This role represents the intersection of energy security and digital growth—two of the most vital challenges of our time.”

Joe Amara Executive Search specializes in recruiting executive and senior leadership talent across power generation, digital infrastructure, and grid development. With a track record of success in highly technical and emerging markets, the firm continues to support companies shaping the next generation of energy and infrastructure.

About Joe Amara Executive Search:
Joe Amara Executive Search is a retained executive search firm focused on placing senior talent in the power, energy, and infrastructure sectors. Headquartered in Chicago, the firm partners with companies across North America to build high-performing leadership teams in renewables, firm generation, transmission, and digital infrastructure.

Contact:
Joe Amara
Founder & President
info@joeamara.com
www.joeamara.com

As the Senate takes up its version of the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” one can only hope it corrects the shortcomings of Congress’s earlier draft. In its current form, the bill falls woefully short—failing to meaningfully address the energy crisis, strengthen the U.S. economy, or help America remain competitive in the global AI arms race.

Critics of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and of free-fuel technologies like solar and wind, argue that repealing these clean energy incentives could generate $500 billion in tax revenue over the next decade. But let’s put that in perspective: the U.S. government is projected to spend nearly $90 trillion in the same period. That’s a mere 0.5%—a drop in the bucket, not a fiscal game-changer.

Energy policy in America needs to be driven by facts, not factions.

Proponents of free-fuel technologies often frame their arguments around climate change and sustainability. Yet, in many of the regions where solar or wind is actively being developed, voter data reveals deep skepticism toward both climate science and the value of renewable energy, for decades. Perhaps if economic benefits were only communicated, solar and wind would be in a different situation.

This communication breakdown is a symptom of a larger problem: American tribalism. If our energy future continues to be dictated by political identity rather than national interest, the current energy crisis will not only persist—it will escalate.

Unfortunately, the American public remains unconvinced that an energy crisis is even looming. It’s not hard to see why. Past institutional failures—from Enron’s staged “rolling blackouts” to the Bush administration’s false “weapons of mass destruction” —have eroded public trust and encouraged tribalism.

One area where tribalism cannot be allowed to take hold: long-haul transmission. Expanding and modernizing our transmission infrastructure is among the most critical investments we can make today. For now, transmission remains a rare bipartisan priority—and we all know bipartisanship is fragile.

Moderate Senators resisting the repeal of the IRA understand the stakes. They know that rural communities stand to gain from energy and grid investment, and that dismantling our progress would make America less competitive in the global economy—particularly in the race to lead in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.

If we fail to act with urgency and unity, we risk falling behind. But if we seize this moment to build a resilient, modern grid—one that delivers abundant energy across the country—we can secure not just energy independence, but economic strength for decades to come.

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Joe Amara Executive Search represents companies in power generation, transmission, and digital infrastructure, with a focus on C-suite, leadership, and critical hires.

To learn more, please visit us at joeamara.com

The issue of adjusting compensation based on employee location has long been a topic of debate, particularly among multinationals entering the U.S. market for the first time. A common misconception is that employees living in secondary markets should earn less than those in primary markets, such as New York. The lower cost of living, in their calculations, justifies lower compensation.

While this logic may hold in most industries, it does not reflect the realities within the power and emerging infrastructure sectors. In these sectors, location-based salary scaling often fails to account for the high demand and limited supply of uniquely qualified executives. Compensation benchmarks from global consulting firms—though widely used—often rely on generalist data sets that lack nuance and relevance to novel infrastructure such has power, transmission and data centers.

These compensation models resemble real estate appraisals, using “comparables” that are anything but equivalent. For example, comparing a Chief Development Officer in power generation to a Head of Project Management in highway or bridge construction ignores the fundamental differences between the roles and intricacies of the industries they assist. Power plants, no matter the technology, require highly specialized knowledge and are significantly more complex. To make complicate matters further, these firms make strong suggestions regarding hiring, thwarting the success of these businesses they aim to serve.

Demand is at the core of monetary rewards and title allocation. The demand for executives with expertise in greenfield development, power markets, high voltage electrical engineering and asset management is exceptionally high. These skills are not only rare but take years to develop.

To illustrate the vast talent gap between companies: we asked a seasoned Vice President of Talent Acquisition whether their team handled transmission internally or used consultants. Her response: “What do you mean by transmission?”

Such examples highlight how critical and scarce deep sector knowledge is—and why compensation should be driven by expertise and demand, not zip codes.

Joe Amara Executive Search represents companies in power generation, transmission, and digital infrastructure, with a focus on C-suite, leadership, and critical hires.

To learn more, please visit us at joeamara.com

For the first decade of my executive search career, relocation was expected. Remote work was rare—outside of project development, it just wasn’t part of the conversation. Today, that conversation has completely flipped: it is now uncommon to relocate, no matter the position.

Several of the searches we’ve completed this year required relocation. However, not one client followed through on their relocation plan. Every client chose the top talent for the role—regardless of location.

If hiring the best person is your top priority, it remains unwise to eliminate candidates based solely on location. The demand for professionals with experience in developing and building novel infrastructure grows every year—and that was before AI and data centers began driving exponential load growth. Today, multiple sectors are competing for the same technical talent. For example, where power producers once led the demand for transmission experts, data center and long-haul transmission developers are now aggressively recruiting from the same pool.

When companies implement a return-to-work policy, they already know they’ll lose a percentage of their staff in a short period of time. In fact, some companies quietly welcome it—it’s a subtle form of headcount reduction that avoids the noise of formal layoffs. But for businesses with real growth ambitions, like digital infrastructure, transmission, and power generation, relocation is a constraint.

It is easy to understand why companies want everyone in the office. It builds stronger relationships, encourages productive discussions, and helps ideas flourish. However, as any HR professional knows, building a harmonious office environment no easy task, especially as generational expectations shift. Dress codes, flextime, interpersonal conflict, commuting—and here in Chicago, ice and snow—are all part of the challenge.

No matter the compensation package delivered, offer letters which require relocation will lose to those offers without relocation. This is especially true for parents, or roles which require heavy travel. The relocation battle isn’t going away. But make no mistake: the companies that thrive will be those that adapt.

Joe Amara Executive Search represents companies in power generation, transmission, and digital infrastructure, with a focus on C-suite, leadership, and critical hires To learn more about us, please visit joeamara.com  

Executive Placement Spotlight: Director, Structured Finance

At Joe Amara Executive Search, we specialize in connecting top talent with leading organizations in the power generation and emerging infrastructure sectors.

Our expertise lies in recruiting for C-suite and senior leadership roles across the Americas. To learn more about how we can help you build exceptional teams, visit joeamara.com.

We are Excited to Announce a Key Executive Placement!

We are thrilled to share the successful placement of a Director, Structured Finance for an IPP/Digital Infrastructure company. Our client is co-located natural gas fired power generation with data centers in several key markets.

For more information or to learn how we can support your executive search needs, contact us at info@joeamara.com.

Executive Placement Spotlight: Chief Commercial Officer

At Joe Amara Executive Search, we specialize in connecting top talent with leading organizations in the power generation and emerging infrastructure sectors.

Our expertise lies in recruiting for C-suite and senior leadership roles across the Americas. To learn more about how we can help you build exceptional teams, visit joeamara.com.

We are Excited to Announce a Key Executive Placement!

We are thrilled to share the successful placement of a Chief Commercial Officer for a large multi-national, technology-agnostic independent power producer with an impressive project pipeline exceeding 35GW.

This accomplished executive will lead the company’s commercial efforts across multiple key markets and technologies such as wind, solar, and battery storage.

For more information or to learn how we can support your executive search needs, contact us at info@joeamara.com.

Executive Placement Spotlight: Vice President of Transmission

At Joe Amara Executive Search, we specialize in connecting top talent with leading organizations in the power generation and emerging infrastructure sectors. Our expertise lies in recruiting for C-suite and senior leadership roles across the Americas. To learn more about how we can help you build exceptional teams, visit joeamara.com.

We are Excited to Announce a Key Executive Placement!

We are thrilled to share the successful placement of a Vice President of Transmission for a prominent, technology-agnostic independent power producer with an impressive project pipeline exceeding 5 GW.

This accomplished executive will lead the company’s transmission interconnection efforts across multiple key markets, including MISO, PJM, SPP, WECC, and ERCOT, driving the expansion of clean energy solutions nationwide.

For more information or to learn how we can support your executive search needs, contact us at info@joeamara.com.

An asset-backed trading firm has hired a Senior Director of Commercial Grid Analytics. Reporting to an MD, the Sr. Director is responsible for congestion modeling, pricing and trading strategies, constrained economic dispatch modeling, optimal power flow, siting, acquisitions and operations of standalone storage assets.

Joe Amara Executive Search represents companies within renewable energy and emerging infrastructure. Joe has completed over 300 searches throughout the United States and Latin America.

Joe Amara Executive Search represents companies within renewable energy and emerging infrastructure. Joe has completed over 300 searches throughout the United States and Latin America.

A storage developer has hired a Senior Vice President of Strategy. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer, the SVP is responsible for conceptualizing a greenfield development strategy. The SVP will build a multidisciplinary team to focus on siting, land acquisition, government affairs, grid analytics and permitting.

Joe Amara Executive Search represents companies within renewable energy and emerging infrastructure. Joe has completed over 300 searches throughout the United States and Latin America.