Sr. Director, Project Finance

Avantus; United States; Hybrid; USD 230,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) matching

Medical and dental plan

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Avantus is seeking a Sr. Director, Project Finance to lead financing executions for M&A, project and corporate financings.

You will coordinate multi-team closings, build investor relationships, and manage complex financial models across development, construction, and operation stages. The role requires deep experience in project finance within renewables, strong negotiation and communication skills, and the ability to drive deals under tight timelines.

Qualifications

• Typically 8-10+ years in project finance, corporate finance, or investment banking in renewable energy.
• Strong financial modeling capabilities and structuring experience.
• Familiarity with partnership flips, construction financing, and back-leverage.
• Experience creating teasers, CIMs, and managing data rooms.
• Solid knowledge of renewable development processes.
• Ability to analyze new structures and assess merits of alternative financing.
• 2-3 years’ experience with overall financing process, including negotiation, documentation.
• Proven ability to close complex high-value transactions under tight timeframes.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams and coordinating approvals.

Responsibilities

• Lead transaction execution for M&A, project financings, and corporate level financings.
• Primary point of contact to negotiate financing documentation and manage closings.
• Coordinate with analysts and project teams to bring transactions to financial close.
• Identify and develop investor relationships and build project pipelines in NA.
• Maintain and audit complex project finance models for development, construction, and operation.
• Analyze financing terms and constrain scenarios for various loan structures.
• Obtain and negotiate financing term sheets and agreements.
• Prepare marketing materials for fundraising and manage data rooms.
• Mentor associates and managers; present materials to senior teams and Board.

Skills

Project finance

Financial modeling

Negotiation

Communication

Cross-functional teams

Renewable energy knowledge

Job description

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
• Identifyand maintain relationships withpotential 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 basisManage 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 ofmarketing 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 withproject 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

#LI-Hybrid #LI-Remote

Avantus offers competitive compensation with an excellent benefits package, including 401(k) matching; comprehensive medical and dental plan options; and flexible PTO. We are an equal-opportunity employer.

The base salary range for this full-time position is listed below (plus bonus and benefits). Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position in California. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the applicable location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus and benefits.

Pay Range

$230,000—$275,000 USD