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 the Sr. Associate, Project Finance position. The successful candidate will demonstrate sound industry knowledge, superior communications, and detail-oriented organizational skills.
The Sr. Associate would 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 debt, and tax equity financing. The position requires an individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment, constantly collaborating with various internal and external teams to meet project and transaction deadlines. The individual would ultimately be responsible for supporting day-to-day execution of these transactions and performing analysis on the market and investors to develop project-specific valuations and economic sensitivities.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Valuation and Modeling:
- Able to work independently and collaboratively with a cross-functional team.
- 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 development, construction, and operational inputs to the model, working closely with cross-functional experts in various functional groups such as Origination, Land Acquisition, Development, Construction, 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
- Process Timelines
- Data room Management
- Term Sheet and Transaction Document Support
- Market/Transmission Reports
- Appraisal and Cost Segregation Reports
- Insurance Consultant Reports
- Project Closing activities
- Support Project Finance lead on marketing of project capital structure to outside parties, interacting with lenders, tax equity investors, infrastructure funds, and strategic buyers
- Preparation and delivery of materials for Investment Committee and Risk Committee review and approval
Transaction Monitoring:
- Support projects that are in construction or operational and financed by Avantus, including construction loan draws, refinancing activities, consent processes, financing document compliance, and modeling
- Apply learnings from closed financial transactions and Avantus’ operational project portfolio to revise financial underwriting assumptions for development asset modeling and pricing
Marketing Analysis:
- Macroeconomic analysis, including impacts of tax law change, interest rate environments, and broader sector trends
- 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 Finance ability analysis
- Design/Engineering Optimization
- EPC and O&M Contract Negotiations
- Corporate FP&A Rollup analysis
- 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
- Minimum 3-5 years of experience in project finance, corporate finance, or investment banking, with direct exposure to renewable energy or infrastructure transactions
- Demonstrated experience independently building, maintaining, and auditing complex project finance models, including full capital structure sensitivities (debt sizing, tax equity structuring, cash equity returns)
- Strong working knowledge of project finance structures, including tax equity monetization (partnership flip, sale-leaseback), construction financing, and back-leverage debt
- Proficiency in discounted cash flow analysis across pre-tax, after-tax, unlevered, and levered return frameworks, with ability to explain value drivers to non-technical stakeholders
- Track record of engaging directly with external capital providers (lenders, tax equity investors, infrastructure funds, or strategic buyers) in a deal execution capacity
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent transaction workstreams (due diligence, data room management, closing activities) under tight deadlines
- Advanced Excel modeling skills required; VBA or similar automation experience a plus
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience preparing materials for Investment Committee or Risk Committee review
- Comfortable operating with significant autonomy in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment
NICE TO HAVES
- Investment banking experience, particularly in renewable energy, infrastructure, or project finance coverage
- Experience creating marketing materials (teasers, CIMs) and managing data rooms for live transactions
- Experience with power markets, PPA structuring, or transmission/interconnection analysis
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