Infrastructure Finance Associate

Buchanan; London; Hybrid; NOK 1,522,000 - 2,030,000; Full time

Job summary

Buchanan seeks an Infrastructure Finance Senior Associate in London to join a broad, post-merger IERP finance team. You will handle acquisition financings, refinancings and portfolio financings for infrastructure assets, with exposure to both sponsors and lenders.

The role prioritises brownfield and operational assets, leveraging a genuine growth trajectory and a broad project footprint across digital, telecoms, airports, and utilities. Hybrid working model offered.

Qualifications

• General Infrastructure Finance background with UK/European exposure.
• Experience with acquisition financings and refinancings.
• Trained at a leading City or US firm with strong banking/finance grounding.

Responsibilities

• Work across acquisition financings, refinancings and infrastructure financing work.
• Engage with sponsors and lenders across UK and Europe.
• Contribute to a diverse, broad infrastructure practice beyond pure project finance.

Skills

Infrastructure Finance

Acquisition financings

Refinancings

Portfolio financings

LevFin

Education

2:1 degree

Job description

About the job

A genuine growth hire into a top-tier, post-merger infrastructure finance practice with a strong live pipeline.

A leading international firm is hiring an Infrastructure Finance Senior Associate (5–7 PQE) into its London Infrastructure, Energy, Resources and Projects (IERP) Finance team part of a large global practice spanning 18 offices. This is a genuine capacity hiredriven by a strong pipeline of live UK and European infrastructure finance work following a recent merger, not a speculative search the team has an immediate, active need rather than simply keeping an eye on the market.

The Opportunity

This is a broad Infrastructure Finance practice, not a narrow Project Finance seat. The team covers financing across the full infrastructure lifecycle, including acquisition finance, project finance, portfolio and fund financings, refinancings and restructurings acting for infrastructure funds, sponsors, lenders and financial institutions across both sides of the market.

Recent deal experience spans a genuinely strong and varied asset mix, including:

• A large acquisition financing for a major digital infrastructure platform
• Airport acquisition financings across multiple UK regional airports
• A substantial smart-meter acquisition and roll-out financing
• A significant multi-jurisdictional debt platform spanning fibre, electricity and gas
• A major ports sector financing
• Various UK and European fibre and digital infrastructure financings

The team has closed well over US$250 billion of infrastructure and project finance deals in recent years, reflecting genuine scale and depth in the sector.

Important note on fit: this is specifically a search for broader Infrastructure Finance experience, not another pure Project Finance lawyer. The priority is candidates with strong exposure to acquisition financings and refinancings of existing, operational (brownfield) infrastructure assets — think financing the acquisition of an existing airport, fibre network, utility or telecoms platform — rather than predominantly greenfield development and traditional project finance. Some PF experience is genuinely useful, but a PF-heavy background is not what the team is looking for.

What This Gives You

• Strong, active pipeline. This is capacity-driven hiring off the back of real deal flow, not a speculative search a meaningfully different proposition to firms hiring opportunistically.
• Genuine post-merger growth trajectory. The combined platform is actively looking to expand the practice rather than simply maintain existing headcount, which should create stronger longer-term opportunities for senior associates than at firms with more static teams.
• Broad practice, not just PF. Associates get genuine variety across acquisition financings, operational asset work, portfolio financings and general infrastructure financing work.
• A strong route for Leveraged Finance lawyers. Candidates with strong LevFin experience for funds and lenders, some infrastructure exposure, and a genuine desire to specialise into the sector are also of real interest allowinga LevFin background to translate into a focused infrastructure practice while retaining the underlying financing skillset already built.
• Exposure across both sides of the market. Genuine opportunity to work for sponsors and lenders alike, rather than being fixed to one side of the table.
• Excellent sector mix. Digital infrastructure, telecoms, airports, transport, utilities, power and energy genuinely broad exposure across some of the most active areas of the infrastructure market.

What We’re Looking For

• General Infrastructure Finance background, ideally with strong UK and European operational/brownfield asset financing experience
• Experience with acquisition financings and refinancings
• Exposure to infrastructure funds or private capital is useful but not essential
• Some Project Finance experience is helpful, though a PF-heavy background is not the priority
• Trained at a leading City or US firm, with strong banking/finance grounding
• Minimum 2:1 degree

Working Pattern

Hybrid working, with a 60% office / 40% WFH split.

Process

A straightforward two-to-three stage interview process.