Offshore Energy Permit Expert

Together with a team of internal experts and external consultants, you will contribute to a sustainable, green, and reliable energy infrastructure that stimulates economic growth and reduces our ecological footprint. The client believes in the power of diversity: an inclusive work environment leads to more innovation, creativity, and better results.

What you will do. As an Offshore Energy Permit Expert, you will be responsible for managing and monitoring all permits, authorizations, regulatory conditions, and environmental commitments within the offshore projects of an energy company. Your work will include the construction of an energy island in the North Sea and a new international interconnector with a neighboring country.

You will act as the link between the project team, contractors and subcontractors, and a large number of external public and private stakeholders.

Key responsibilities. Permits and regulations.

• You will monitor and master the maritime and environmental regulatory framework, stemming from Belgian and European legislation.
• You will prepare, submit, and obtain the necessary permit and authorization applications, including environmental permits, cable permits, and domain concessions.
• You will supervise the preliminary environmental studies (MER/EIR) carried out by independent consulting firms, and coordinate the points of attention and results with the competent authorities.
• You will supervise the route studies (routing) and seabed surveys for the cables to be laid. For interconnectors, you will coordinate border points and the use of territorial waters with the countries involved.

Monitoring and compliance.

• You will organize and facilitate the regulatory and administrative interfaces necessary for compliant project execution, internally and externally.
• You will translate permit decisions and conditions into concrete project requirements and responsibilities, and monitor their compliance.
• You will report to internal committees and competent authorities on the fulfillment of permit conditions, possible infringements, permit changes, and environmental incidents.

Preparation of the execution phase.

• You will negotiate and finalize crossing and proximity agreements with other operators in the Belgian part of the North Sea.
• You will coordinate activities involving external parties, such as UXO campaigns (removal of explosives), sediment monitoring, and storage zones.
• You will coordinate external communication with the communication team, both for communication materials and for the role of spokesperson.

Nature-inclusive construction and stakeholder management.

• For the energy island, you will manage the Nature Inclusive Design plan. You will coordinate innovative methods and techniques with contractors, external environmental experts, and the competent authorities.
• You will proactively position the client as an actor in the Belgian part of the North Sea and support the authorities in their programs for monitoring and restoring marine life.
• You will represent the client in consultations with authorities and stakeholders regarding the marine spatial plan. You will identify regulations that are insufficiently aligned with offshore reality and contribute to thinking about possible evolutions.
• You will participate in working groups on coordination and knowledge exchange regarding offshore activities.