Director, Risk Management

SOLV Energy is a leading provider of infrastructure services to the power industry, designing, building and maintaining utility scale solar, battery storage and high voltage substation projects nationwide.

Job Description Summary:
The Director of Risk Management provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for risk management activities across the organization. This position will serve as a trusted strategic advisor to executive leadership, offering independent risk assessments, program recommendations, and cross-functional guidance. The Director will play a pivotal role in evaluating and potentially establishing alternative risk financing mechanisms, including captive insurance structures and self-insurance programs, while also overseeing the successful expansion of the company’s surety bonding program.

This role can be based full-time in our office in San Diego, CA, Denver, CO, Dallas, TX, or Edison, NJ. Specific location details and expectations will be discussed during the interview process.

Job Description:

*This job description reflects management's assignment of essential functions; it does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned

Position Responsibilities and Duties

Strategic Risk Leadership

• Working with leadership, develop, implement, and continuously refine a comprehensive Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework aligned with company strategy and growth objectives.

• Proactively present risk management recommendations, trend analyses, and program updates to executive leadership and the Board

• Establish and track key risk indicators (KRIs) and present regular risk dashboards to senior management.

Insurance Program Management

• Lead all aspects of annual insurance renewals across all lines of coverage, including General Liability, Workers’ Compensation, Commercial Auto, Umbrella/Excess, Professional Liability, and Pollution Liability.

• Manage Builders Risk policy placements, including project-specific and blanket programs, ensuring appropriate coverage terms and limits aligned with project scope and value.

• Conduct and oversee insurance audits, ensuring accurate premium computation and resolving discrepancies with carriers.

• Maintain strong relationships with brokers, underwriters, and carriers; actively market the company’s risk profile to secure favorable terms and pricing.

• Benchmark coverage, retentions, and premiums against industry peers and recommend program adjustments.

Alternative Risk Financing & Captive Development

• Lead the feasibility analysis, design, and potential implementation of a captive insurance company or other alternative risk transfer vehicles.

• Evaluate self-insurance programs for appropriate lines of coverage, including fronting arrangements, loss-sensitive programs, and funded retentions.

• Partner with external advisors (actuaries, captive managers, legal counsel) to structure, domicile, and operate alternative risk financing programs.

• Develop financial models to assess risk retention strategies and their impact on company cash flow and total cost of risk (TCOR).

• Ensure regulatory compliance for all alternative risk structures, including captive licensing, reserve adequacy, and reporting requirements.

Claims Management

• Oversee the end-to-end claims management process across all lines of coverage, ensuring timely reporting, investigation, and favorable resolution.

• Collaborate with project teams, legal counsel, and third-party administrators (TPAs) to manage complex or litigated claims effectively.

• Analyze claims data to identify trends, root causes, and systemic exposures; use findings to drive loss prevention initiatives.

• Establish reserves and monitor claim development against projections; report significant claim activity to senior leadership.

• Manage relationships with defense counsel and monitor litigation spend and strategy.

Contract Risk Review

• Review and negotiate risk-related provisions across all contract types the company executes, including construction owner contracts and subcontracts, supplier and vendor agreements, equipment leases, joint ventures, and professional service agreements.

• Review risk and insurance provisions in real estate transactions, including property acquisitions, dispositions, ground leases, and development agreements; ensure appropriate property, environmental, and liability coverage is in place at all stages of ownership and development.

Surety Bond Program Management

• Oversee the company’s surety bonding program, including the management of bid bonds, performance bonds, and payment bonds across all active projects.

• Monitor aggregate bonding capacity and provide leadership with forward-looking analyses of bonding availability relative to backlog and growth plans.

• Maintain and strengthen relationships with surety underwriters; proactively manage the company’s surety credit profile.

• Coordinate with finance and operations to provide sureties with timely financial and operational updates

• Negotiate favorable bond terms, rates, and collateral requirements.

Safety & Fleet Partnership — Loss Reduction

• Serve as a strategic partner to the Safety department with a shared and explicit mandate to reduce both the frequency and severity of losses across all lines — including Workers’ Compensation, General Liability, and auto/fleet exposures. Translate claims data and loss trends into actionable safety program priorities and field initiatives.

• Establish regular cadence with Safety leadership to review open claims, incident patterns, high-severity exposures, and near-miss data; jointly develop loss prevention programs targeting the most significant contributors to claim frequency and cost.

• Partner closely with Fleet management to oversee auto liability and physical damage exposures; collaborate on driver qualification standards, telematics programs, vehicle maintenance protocols, and accident response procedures to measurably reduce fleet claim frequency and severity.

• Present joint Risk/Safety loss analyses to senior leadership on a regular basis, including lagging indicators (claim counts, incurred costs, experience modification rates) and leading indicators (near-miss rates, safety audit scores, training completion) with trend commentary and recommended interventions.

• Quantify the financial impact of safety and fleet loss reduction initiatives on insurance program costs, experience modification factors, and total cost of risk; use this data to build the internal business case for loss prevention investment.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Risk Culture

• Serve as a proactive risk resource embedded across all business functions, including preconstruction, field operations, Safety, Fleet, finance, legal, and human resources — anticipated and present at the table before decisions are made, not consulted after the fact.

• Educate and train project managers, superintendents, and other stakeholders on risk management best practices, insurance obligations, and loss prevention.

• Champion a risk-aware culture throughout the organization by making risk management practical and accessible at all levels.

• Coordinate with the Finance & Accounting teams on risk-related financial reporting, reserve adequacy, and total cost of risk analysis.

Minimum Skills or Experience Requirements

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required in Risk Management, Insurance, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field.

• Master’s degree (MBA or MS in Risk Management) strongly preferred.

Experience

• Minimum of 15 years of progressive risk management experience, with at least 5 years in the construction industry or a closely related sector preferred.

• Demonstrated experience managing commercial insurance programs in excess of $500 million in insured value or revenues.

• Hands-on experience with alternative risk financing, captive insurance programs, or large