Job Title: Senior Project Finance Associate
Location: El Segundo, CA or Southern CA
Start Date: Immediate
Compensation: $150k base salary + performance bonus structure
ABOUT COAST
Coast (“Coast” or the “Company”) is a rapidly growing clean energy independent power producer focused on distribution-level energy generation and storage. Our portfolio includes onsite commercial and industrial solar and energy storage, microgrids, and distribution-level front of the meter solar and energy storage.
Through the backing of its financial sponsor, Crosstimbers Capital Group, Coast expects to finance, develop, own, and operate $400+ million of energy generation and storage projects across the United States over the next several years. We are looking for talented, results-oriented, self-starters who will consistently deliver exceptional results to our customers and investors in pursuit of becoming a leading independent power producer in the United States.
COAST’S BELIEFS ABOUT PEOPLE
We believe people should feel appreciated and part of a broader—mission-based organization—where their experience and talents are nurtured, and their full potential is realized.
Coast seeks to cultivate a culture that enables talented individuals to thrive by autonomously utilizing their unique abilities and extraordinary work ethic within a highly collaborative environment that fosters innovation, creativity, and teamwork. We view it as one of our greatest responsibilities to enable, lead, and help individuals grow into their best versions. Our team shares a common vision of becoming the best version of ourselves and building the best company we can create while transitioning our country to clean, renewable energy.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND REQUIREMENTS
Coast has identified the need for a Senior Project Finance Associate who will lead Coast’s front of the meter solar and energy storage project financial underwriting and the development of underwriting tools and best practices around underwriting these project types. This individual will collaborate with the origination and finance teams to qualify, underwrite, and finance solar projects and to underwrite counterparty creditworthiness, and uplevel Coast’s underwriting practices through continuous improvement and refining of underwriting tools and strategy.
Responsibilities include:
Project Underwriting and Origination
- Underwrite complex solar and energy storage projects, incentive structures, and financing structures to optimize project benefits and stakeholder returns including distribution-level energy storage and solar projects with contracted or programmatic revenues
- Continuously refine and improve Coast’s proposal templates and underwriting processes
- Maintain Coast’s assumptions related to project underwriting, SREC and energy rate curves and other foundational model inputs
- Build and refine financial and credit underwriting tools and assumptions to qualify solar and energy storage projects and to evaluate creditworthiness of counterparties
- Assist in the negotiation of project terms and generate project term sheets and customer proposals
- Help manage Coast's project origination pipeline and in-bound project documents from development partners and vendors while leveraging internal technology and processes
- Define and update project origination processes and tools for efficient project execution
- Coordinate multiple internal and external origination and development activities, including the receipt of 3rd party reports, to advance projects through the origination and development process
- Support the origination, evaluation, and due diligence of solar and storage projects to reach NTP
- Regularly refine the company's CRM database for project leads and deal sourcing
- Assist in all other responsibilities to support Coast’s continued growth and success
Reporting
- Provide internal reports and presentations on KPIs and dashboards for business and project origination
- Lead investment committee reporting and presentations on project origination
- Support management team by keeping company level origination KPI’s up-to-date in salesforce
- Assist in keeping project models updated through project lifecycles
Leadership and Autonomy
- Oversee Coast’s SREC trading processes
- Identify new tools and process improvements to improve Coast’s credit underwriting processes
- Autonomously enhance Coast’s workflows and processes with minimal support and guidance from leadership
- Actively engage in discussions and demonstrate attentiveness during virtual and in-person meetings
- Lead Coast’s efforts in defining and executing on various strategies or initiatives, including: customer credit underwriting, SREC trading, merchant revenue assumption.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor’s degree in business, finance or related preferred
- 5-7 years of experience in the clean energy industry; energy storage experience highly valued
- Demonstrated ability to underwrite complex solar and energy storage projects, including various incentive structures and financing arrangements
- Demonstrated ability to assess the creditworthiness of counterparties involved in solar and energy storage projects
- Proven ability to autonomously enhance underwriting workflows and processes with minimal support and guidance from leadership
- Experience effectively coordinating multiple internal and external development activities simultaneously
- Proficiency in generating reports and presentations on KPIs and dashboards for various stakeholders
- Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint for data analysis and presentations
- Excellent communication skills and comfort with engaging internal and external stakeholders
- Highly detail-oriented and organized individual
- Innovative and organized self-starter with the desire and ability to work autonomously
- Energetic and driven personality who thrives in a high-paced, dynamic, small-company environment