Associate, Project Finance

ABOUT AVANTUS

Avantus is shaping the future by making reliable, low-cost clean energy a global reality. Our legacy of leadership in next generation solar energy includes developing one of the nation’s largest solar clusters and one of the first projects to beat fossil fuel prices back in 2016. Today, we are expanding the boundaries of existing technologies to build one of the largest portfolios of smart power plants with integrated storage, capable of providing millions of people with affordable, zero-emission energy – day and night. Through our relentless pursuit of better, we are decarbonizing our planet at the gigaton level, and bringing the advantages of clean energy to all of us.

ABOUT THE POSITION

We are seeking a highly motivated and organized candidate for the Associate, Project Finance position. The successful candidate will demonstrate sound industry knowledge, superior communications, and detail-oriented organizational skills. This role reports to Director/VP, Project Finance. The Associate will support a team of Project Finance professionals who source, negotiate, and execute project sales and structured financings, including whole or partial cash equity sales, construction financing, back leverage, and tax equity financing. The position requires an individual who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, constantly collaborating with various internal and external teams to meet transaction deadlines. The individual would ultimately be responsible for managing day-to-day execution of these transactions and performing analysis on the market and our competitors to develop project-specific valuation methodologies more effectively. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Valuation and Modeling:  

• Own every aspect of the project financial model for both mid-stage and late-stage development assets, including significant time working on project offtake bidding and structuring.  
• Monitor the debt, tax equity, and cash equity markets for appropriate valuation techniques and pricing  
• Prepare and explain capital structure sensitivities, becoming intimately familiar with the potential capital permutations and value levers  
• Understand the various construction and operational inputs to the model, working closely with cross-functional experts in various functional groups such as Origination, Land Acquisition, Development, Engineering/Optimization, Storage, Interconnection, etc.  

Transaction Support: 

• Support (and eventually lead) various aspects of a project sale and financing, including but not limited to: 
• Due Diligence 
• Data room Management 
• Term Sheet and Transaction Document Support 
• Independent Engineer Reports 
• Appraisal/Cost Segregation Reports 
• Insurance Consultant Reports 
• Project Closing activities 
• Support Project Finance lead on marketing of project capital structure to outside parties, interacting with project finance banks, tax equity investors, infrastructure funds, and strategic buyers 
• Preparation and delivery of materials for Investment Committee review and approval  

Transaction Monitoring:  

• Support projects that are operational and financed by Avantus, including refinancing activities, consent processes, financing document compliance, and modeling  
• Apply learnings from operational project portfolio to Avantus development asset modeling and pricing  

Marketing Analysis: 

• Willingness and ability to monitor competitor transactions to constantly advance Avantus’ internal financing “toolbelt”  
• Macroeconomic analysis, including impacts of tax law change, interest rate environments, and broader sector trends  
• Constant monitoring of the power markets, including structured energy transactions, to help ensure project finance ability and valuation  

Cross-Functional Support and Collaboration: 

• Support other functional areas in ways such as: ▪ PPA Pricing and Financeability  
• Design/Engineering Optimization  
• EPC and O&M Contract Negotiations  
• Corporate FP&A Rollup support 
• Lease vs. Buy analysis  

Other Responsibilities:  

• Support transaction team in various approval stage-gate and committee review processes  
• Manage various tracker and tool updates and dissemination, as needed  

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Expert proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Excel 
• 2-4+ years’ experience with project financial modeling 
• Proven experience with power markets and/or project development 
• Proven experience managing large projects with multiple stakeholders on tight timelines 
• Strong knowledge of structured finance, including tax equity structures 
• Skilled in presenting complex information succinctly and efficiently to audiences internal and external, including financing counterparties  

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