Sr. Director, Project Finance

ABOUT AVANTUS

Avantus develops, owns and operates utility-scale clean energy projects across California and the Desert Southwest. Our development pipeline of solar with integrated storage will generate enough dispatchable power to serve more than 10 million Americans, day and night. Backed by strategic investment from KKR and EIG, and building on more than a decade of industry leadership, Avantus is growing its position as an independent power producer, delivering affordable, reliable clean energy solutions to meet America’s growing energy demand.

 

ABOUT THE POSITION

We are seeking a highly motivated and organized candidate for a Sr. Director, Project Finance position. The Sr. Director, Project Finance leads transaction execution across M&A, projecting financings, and corporate level financings for Avantus. The successful candidate will demonstrate sound industry knowledge, superior communications, and detail-oriented organizational skills. 

 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Lead transaction execution for various types of financing, including M&A, project financings, and corporate level financings
• Primary point of contact to negotiate financing documentation
• Coordinate with analysts, associates, and project team members to manage closing processes, including coordinating reviews and approvals across multi-functional teams, to bring the transaction to financial close under tight timeframes
• Identify and maintain relationships with potential project investors within the equity fund and banking communities and develop strategies to build up our utility-scale solar power generation project pipeline in North America; propose, facilitate, and close project finance solutions
• Maintain and develop external relationships with financing counterparties
• Stay current on market financing terms and obtain intel on financings within the sector
• Maintain and be responsible (internally and externally) for complex project finance models for internal and external parties to evaluate renewable energy projects during various stages of development, construction, and operation on an individual and portfolio basis Manage and audit finance models created by junior team members
• Analyze and draw conclusions from project models which evaluate various financing terms and constraints for construction loans, tax equity bridge loans, and sponsor equity with back-leverage loans in time and yield-based partnership flip tax equity structures
• Obtain and negotiate financing term sheets and agreements
• Review and negotiate project documentation and third-party reports, including PPAs, financing term sheets and agreements, IE reports, etc., and accurately integrate assumptions into financial models
• Voice of the project team to assess financeability issues related to PPAs, EPC and Procurement Agreements, and other major contracts or development topics
• Independently develop and run sensitivities in models and quantify resulting impact on sponsor IRRs, margins, and other key metrics
• Drive creation and completion of marketing materials for fundraising, including teasers, CIMs, and management of data rooms
• Manage closing process, including coordinating reviews and approvals across multi-functional teams, to bring the transaction to financial close under tight timeframes
• Contribute to updates to underwriting standards to ensure proper market and internal assumptions are accurately captured in the financial models
• Perform other duties and special projects, as assigned
• Manage project financings to meet closing timeframes
• Analyze or evaluate complex financing topics.  Lead discussions with external parties and internal SMEs to drive at conclusions or issue resolutions
• Mentor Project Finance Associates and Managers 
• Prepare and present materials to Senior and Executive teams and to the Board, as necessary
• Engage with counterparties to stay current on financing/tax issues affecting the industry

 

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Typically, 8-10+ years of project finance, corporate finance, or investment banking experience in renewable energy or similar industry
• Strong financial modeling capabilities and structuring experience
• Familiarity with project finance structures, including partnership flips, construction financing, and back-leverage
• Experience creating marketing materials, including teasers, CIMs, and managing data rooms
• Strong background knowledge in renewable development process
• Ability to analyze new structures to assess merits of alternative financing structures
• 2-3 years’ experience with overall financing process, including negotiation, documentation, creation of marketing materials 
• Demonstrated ability to bring closure to complex and high value business transactions under tight timeframes; investment banking experience a plus
• Demonstrated ability to work with cross-functional teams, including managing the financial, legal, and internal review and approval process to successfully close transactions
• Strong communication skills with proven track record in building relationships and working in cross-functional collaborative teams
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving and dynamic environment

 

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