On a major offshore energy project, a few key roles determine the success of the construction: a contract manager to drive the contracts, a cost controller to manage the cost at completion, and an HVDC specialist for the grid connection. These profiles are rare, and they are often missing at the worst possible time. Securing them cannot be improvised the day the need becomes urgent; it must be prepared while the project team is being built.
This article is for anyone staffing a major offshore wind project, whether as a project owner or a contractor. It explains why you need to plan ahead, which profiles we are talking about, when to secure them, and how to do so without exposing yourself to risk.
Why these profiles must be secured before the critical phase
A resource brought on too late costs far more than their salary. On a major project, every package moves along a critical path: a vacant key position delays a decision, which delays an order, which in turn delays an offshore operation where a single day of vessel standby already costs hundreds of thousands of euros. You can find more information in this article: Offshore wind vessel standby fees: why CFOs discover them too late.
However, the talent pool cannot be replenished on demand. According to the GWEC, building a qualified talent pool in the wind industry can take up to ten years, while projects are starting now. This gap between training time and project time is precisely what makes these profiles rare.
Two consequences follow. First, the search rarely starts from a neutral position: it is triggered by an event, such as a departure during the project, the start of a new package, or an engineering drift that reveals a need for better management. At this stage, you are searching in a state of urgency in a tight market, and the best candidates are already committed elsewhere. Second, replacement is never immediate: it often takes three to six months for a newcomer to be fully operational. During this period, project management quality declines and alerts are not escalated as effectively.
Rare profiles in energy: what exactly are we talking about?
A rare profile combines two things that are difficult to find together: a skill set that is scarce in the market and concrete experience with major offshore projects. It is this combination that distinguishes them from a generic resource.
The scarcity is sector-specific. The market has plenty of good project managers and good financial professionals. What is missing is experience with major offshore energy projects: mastering weather windows, installation contracts, and offshore standards. The profile exists, but rarely with that specific perspective, and that is what makes the difference when the time comes.
The confusion between a cost controller and a management controller illustrates the challenge. The cost controller tracks the project's cost at completion, package by package, in conjunction with the schedule. The management controller manages the entity's performance, budgets, and variances. Swapping the two causes a loss of the link between schedule and costs, and the error is often only noticed several months too late. Securing a rare profile starts with naming the right role. You can find more information in this article: Cost controller, management controller, financial controller: three roles, three different timelines.
Which profiles to secure: the eight key competencies for a major project
Scarcity does not affect an isolated role, but a chain of competencies that covers the entire project. Eight areas concentrate the most critical profiles.
- Project finance. Financial modeling, sourcing and negotiation with investors, and reporting to investment committees. Project finance profiles are particularly rare and are often snapped up by banks.
- Project control and reporting. Maintaining the critical path and estimate at completion, interface management, project tracking tools, and reporting for steering committees. The core of project management.
- Contract management. Drafting contracts, negotiating penalty and force majeure clauses, and managing the contract lifecycle. One of the most in-demand profiles in the sector, and the one most sorely missed after the ink has dried.
- Engineering. Execution studies and multi-disciplinary coordination.
- HSE. Offshore compliance, site management, and compliance auditing. A single safety incident at sea can halt the entire project, making this a critical role.
- Procurement. Supplier onboarding and resource procurement, package by package, once the staffing plan is approved.
- Logistics. Multi-site planning, anticipating supplier delays, and preparing vessels according to specific zones and weather windows. A skill set that no formal training program truly covers.
- Compliance. Traceability of backgrounds and skills, taxonomy, and CSRD. A field that becomes more stringent every year.
Interface management between packages, which draws on several of these skills simultaneously, is the subject of a dedicated article. You can find more information here: Interface management in offshore wind: mastering packages before they become disputes.
Across the industry, the labor shortage is well-documented: according to WindEurope, the European wind energy workforce must grow from 443,000 to 607,000 by 2030, while the French nuclear sector aims for 100,000 new hires by 2035, according to France Travail.
When to secure talent: from staffing plan to procurement
Securing these profiles follows a precise logic that plays out well before construction begins.
Staffing plan: who is responsible for it on a Major Project?
The staffing plan is developed in advance by the project director and the construction manager. Once approved, it triggers the procurement process, and package managers begin sourcing resources package by package. Anticipating means acting before this final stage, while the market is not yet under pressure for your project.
Securing resources before the ripple effect, when the entire industry is hiring at once
Major Projects arrive in waves. In the wind energy sector, successive calls for tenders mobilize the same profiles during the same periods. In the nuclear sector, the launch of EPR2 projects and the Grand Carénage program add significant pressure, particularly regarding supplier oversight and equipment qualification. You can find more information in this article: Supplier oversight and nuclear equipment qualification: what the client must manage.
Securing resources without exposure: compliance and continuity
Quickly mobilizing an external profile must not create new risks.
The risk of reclassification and foreign umbrella companies
Using service providers carries a real legal risk: reclassification of the service as an employment contract, the use of poorly managed foreign umbrella companies, or undeclared work within the subcontracting chain. Liability ultimately rests with the client. Securing a rare profile therefore requires securing the framework in which they operate.
Shortage of post-signature negotiators: ensuring contract continuity
Another blind spot concerns duration. For example, negotiators are often present to close the contract and then leave the project, even though variations, amendments, and claims must be managed throughout the construction phase. Continuity is prepared in advance: plan from the staffing stage who will manage the contract over the long term.
Two levers and one condition for sustainably securing rare profiles
To sustainably secure rare profiles, two levers can be combined.
Technical assistance or recruitment: the right trade-off based on needs
Internal recruitment secures a long-term position but requires time and an available talent pool. Mobilizing an expert through managed services or technical assistance provides an operational profile from day one for the duration of a specific need. The two approaches complement each other: one builds the permanent team, while the other provides reinforcement during high-pressure phases and for specialized expertise.
Reducing market dependency: upskilling your teams
The final lever is to upskill your own teams on offshore specifics to reduce reliance on the external market. This is a medium-term investment that addresses scarcity at the source.
Our consultants work as Renergy employees; this is precisely what addresses the risk of reclassification and umbrella company issues.
Renergy strengthens the execution control of major projects through two complementary levers: the deployment of immediately operational industry experts and training for internal teams.
If these challenges sound familiar, you can book a meeting with a Renergy consultant to discuss them. The conversation is confidential and aims to identify the right solution for your needs.
To learn more, discover the four engineering phase decisions that save large-scale energy projects.
