VP of Projects at Candid Intelligence (Houston, TX)
Candid Intelligence· Houston, TX·
Role details
Job description
About Candid
Candid is the AI execution layer for capital projects in behind-the-meter gas-fired power generation. We compress pre-FEED and FEED schedules by 30%+ at full engineering quality, run by senior PEs on top of a software platform built around how this work actually gets done. We recently closed a $6.5M round led by Schneider Electric and Yann LeCun. Active pipeline: 200 MW to 2.4 GW BTM gas projects serving AI factories, hyperscale data centers, and gas-to-nuclear bridge architectures across Texas and the Gulf Coast.
The Role
You lead Candid's engineering practice. Walk into the room with a 30-year nuclear-trained CEO or a Fortune 500 head of engineering and be a peer on day one. Hire the project directors. Stamp the deliverables. Defend Candid against incumbent EPCs (B&V, Bechtel, S&L, B&McD, Worley) on FEED bids. Shape what the platform team builds by feeding back what the work actually needs.
What You'll Do
- Lead engineering practice across BTM gas-fired power projects, 200 MW to multi-GW
- Serve as senior engineering counterparty to client CEOs, Heads of Engineering, VPs of Projects
- Stamp FEL-2 / FEED deliverables; defend Class 4 estimates with lenders, IC, incumbent EPCs
- Build and lead the engineering team — project directors, senior PEs, multi-discipline leads
- Architect Candid's dual-team execution model (Project Execution Team + FlowState platform team)
- Shape the platform roadmap with the AI engineering team
What You Bring
- 20+ years in power generation engineering, deep on combined-cycle and simple-cycle gas
- Directed engineering on at least two gas plants at FEED or EPC stage ($200M+ capex). Owned, not participated.
- PE-licensed in Texas (multi-state ideal)
- Background at a major power EPC (S&L, B&McD, Bechtel Power, B&V, Worley, Kiewit) or owner-operator (Vistra, Constellation, NRG, Talen, Duke, AES)
- Have run 10+ disciplines in parallel through HAZID, IDC, IFR, IFI cycles
- BTM / islanded / co-located generation experience — paralleling, redundancy mapping, microgrid architecture
- Tech-friendly without being naive. You see waste in conventional FEL execution and want to fix it.
- Houston-based or relocatable
Nice to Have
- Nuclear-adjacent BOP work (Vogtle, Palisades, NuScale, BWRX-300, Stone & Webster)
- Data center critical-power experience (Tier III/IV)
- ERCOT or PJM market familiarity
- Direct experience with project-finance / IC / lender engineering review
- Compensation
- Senior base + meaningful equity. Unlimited PTO. Medical, dental, vision. Daily lunch and dinner. $150/month wellness budget.
Why work at Candid Intelligence
- Culture: “Partners, not employees” – self-directed, self-managed, and shared control over strategy. No managers, only builders.
- Remote-first: Default remote, with plans for an in-person hub in Houston to stay close to customers. Meetings only when vital.
- Compensation: High and equal base pay with profit-sharing for all partners. Success is shared directly.
- Engineering focus: Small team of top-tier builders; every partner is a full-stack builder with deep expertise in AI, infrastructure, or energy engineering.
- Impact: Work on problems that directly affect the $2T energy infrastructure industry – only 1 in 200 projects finish on time and budget.