Jeff Haas

About Jeff Haas

Some of my most formative character development happened carrying a 90-pound pack through backcountry wilderness as a teenager. The person who shows up every day got his start out there. I’m an engineer with people instincts. I diagnose what’s broken in systems and processes, map several potential fixes, and learn from how they fail – because failures are as informative as solutions. I then work shoulder to shoulder with the people around me to solve it, drawing out the capabilities they already have and making sure the win belongs to everyone. That same approach shows up everywhere I work — on solar installations, project teams, and in the communities I invest in.

Experience

1. Sr Energy Project Manager

   AutoZone

   Jul 2024 — Present

   Promoted to Senior within seven months. The work has been less about managing projects and more about inheriting them already in motion and finding out what’s actually going on- Covered water, lighting, EV, and motion sensor projects before landing on solar — each with different vendors, different technologies, and different degrees of inherited disorganization. The through line was the same in every case: identify the real status, close the gaps, and build something more reliable than what was there before- The solar portfolio told a different story once the data was closely examined. What was thought to be communication issues turned out to be production issues; systems that had been commissioned without full verification. The work now is going back through every site methodically, using vendor information where it’s sufficient and going directly to stores when it isn’t- Along the way I’ve been working closely with the solar vendor. I haven’t just been managing the relationship but teaching him the technical gaps that were contributing to the problems in the first place. The goal is a vendor who doesn’t need correcting, not one who stays dependent- Every site worked through is a data point. The goal isn’t just restoration, it’s building enough institutional knowledge from this process so the next commissioning cycle doesn’t start with the same gaps.The lesson still being learned: everything compounds. The gaps you find, the credibility you build, the trust you earn, the knowledge you preserve — none of it is isolated. It all feeds the next problem you haven’t encountered yet.

Education

• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

  Master of Science (M.S.), Engineering Management

  2017 — 2020

• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Mechanical Engineering

  2009 — 2013