Contractor Consultant (Owner’s Representative / Technical Advisor)
The Organization
Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, Inc. (MHET) is a not-for-profit community-based organization headquartered in Kingston, NY, that empowers municipalities, their residents, and businesses to own and share renewable energy, create healthier buildings, and join in community wealth-building to strengthen the resilience of the Hudson Valley in the face of climate change. We engage and build on the active involvement of communities, with particular emphasis on low-income and communities of color that are being harmed first and worst by climate change.
Contractor Consultant
(Owner’s Representative / Technical Advisor)
Summary:
We are seeking to engage 1-3 Contractor Consultants to support our team on a part-time, as-needed basis for complex residential and small-scale construction projects. This role functions as an “owner’s engineer” / technical advisor, providing expert-level review, on-site oversight, and quality assurance support to ensure contractor work aligns with scope, standards, and best practices.
This is a flexible, hourly contract role averaging ~10–20 hours per month, with variability depending on project load and complexity.
Job Responsibilities:
Pre-Construction / Planning Support
- Conduct property assessments and site visits to evaluate existing conditions, identify project needs, and develop detailed scopes of work for contractor bidding.
- Prepare clear, comprehensive scopes of work that outline required repairs, upgrades, materials, and project expectations.
- Review contractor quotes and bids for completeness, accuracy, and value comparison
- Identify scope gaps, inconsistencies, overages, and potential cost risks
- Evaluate proposed materials and methods for durability, code compliance, and appropriateness
- Flag red flags in pricing, sequencing, or contractor assumptions
- Support scope refinement prior to contract execution
Construction Oversight / Field Support
- Conduct periodic site visits during active construction
- Observe work in progress and flag issues related to quality, safety, or scope deviation
- Ensure adherence to approved plans, specifications, and contract terms
- Provide real-time technical guidance when issues arise in the field
- Document findings and recommend corrective actions when needed
Project Closeout / Review
- Review invoices for alignment with completed work and contract terms
- Support punch-list development and final quality assurance checks
- Confirm completion meets agreed-upon scope and standards
Ideal Background:
We are open to a range of professional backgrounds depending on project needs. Ideal candidates
may include a combination of:
- General Contractor (GC) with strong field and estimating experience
- Licensed Architect or Architectural Associate
- Professional Engineer (PE) or Structural Engineer (SE)
- Home Inspector / Building Inspector / Property Assessment Inspector
- Energy Auditor (BPI-certified)
- Building Science professional or Building Scientist (building envelope, moisture, energy systems, performance-based design/retrofits)
- Licensed NYS Mold and/or Asbestos Specialists
Additional highly relevant experience
- Owner’s representative / owner’s engineer roles
- Construction project management experience across residential retrofit or weatherization work
- HVAC, roofing, electrical, or multi-trade “systems thinker” experience
- Experience enforcing contractor scopes, specs, and agreements
Key Skills & Qualities:
- Strong construction and building systems knowledge (residential preferred)
- Ability to evaluate multiple trades holistically (HVAC, electrical, envelope, roofing, etc.)
- Strong judgment in identifying risk, quality issues, and cost inefficiencies
- Comfortable reviewing technical documents, bids, and scopes
- Field experience with ability to assess work in real time
- Strong communication skills—able to translate technical issues into clear guidance
- Detail-oriented but practical (“knows what actually matters in the field”)
- Willingness to collaborate with contractors while holding standards firmly
- Flexible, responsive, and able to serve in an on-call capacity
Engagement Structure:
- Hourly contract position (independent contractor)
- Estimated 10–20 hours/month, variable based on project pipeline
- Preferred on-call availability during business hours for high-priority or complex builds
- Work includes both desk review (quotes/invoices/docs) and field visits
- Time tracked and invoiced monthly
How to Apply:
Please apply here or send the following to [email protected] with the subject line Contractor Consultant:
- Resume or CV
- The maximum number of hours you can work per month
- The hourly rate for your services
If you have any questions, please call or email Emily Mauro, Program Director, at [email protected] or (845) 328-6254.
Skills Required
- Strong construction and residential building systems knowledge
- Ability to evaluate HVAC, electrical, building envelope, roofing, and other trades holistically
- Experience conducting property assessments and site visits
- Experience developing construction scopes of work
- Ability to review contractor quotes, bids, invoices, technical documents, and scopes
- Construction field experience and ability to assess work in real time
- Ability to identify quality, safety, scope, cost, and compliance risks
- Strong communication and technical guidance skills
- Availability for flexible, part-time, on-call contract work
- General contractor experience with field and estimating expertise
- Licensed architect or architectural associate background
- Professional Engineer or Structural Engineer license
- Home inspector, building inspector, or property assessment inspector experience
- BPI-certified energy auditor experience
- Building science experience involving building envelope, moisture, energy systems, or retrofit design
- New York State mold or asbestos specialist license
- Owner’s representative or owner’s engineer experience
- Residential retrofit or weatherization construction project management experience
- HVAC, roofing, electrical, or multi-trade systems experience
What We Do
Mid-Hudson Energy Transition (MHET) is a Kingston-based nonprofit advancing an equitable clean-energy transition across New York’s Hudson Valley. It helps municipalities, residents, and businesses own and share renewable energy, improve building health and efficiency, and build community wealth. Through community solar, energy upgrades, clean transportation, and mission-driven lending, MHET emphasizes local control, climate resilience, and benefits for low-income communities and communities of color.






