Director, Commercial Structuring
Project Management Division
GS-15
Washington, D.C. or with frequent travel to Washington, D.C.
THE MISSION
In the race to combat climate change, time is of the essence. Created through bipartisan Congressional support, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is investing nearly $30 billion billion in projects that are essential to achieving a clean energy economy. OCED works with private companies – including many Fortune 500 firms – to construct large-scale, next-generation demonstrations of cutting-edge nuclear, hydrogen, carbon, and renewable projects across America supported by a diverse group of bi-partisan political leaders, businesses, and local communities. OCED is at the forefront of the fight against climate change.
THE ROLE
Leads OCED’s Commercial Structuring team, which is responsible for developing solutions to enable both OCED and its award recipients to meet their financial and commercial goals.
OCED’s first-of-a-kind projects have a unique role in driving market adoption of new technologies and accelerating the transition to a decarbonized energy system. The Commercial Structuring team provides thought leadership which helps OCED to navigate opportunities and challenges that arise from the complex nature of OCED’s agreements with its award recipients, as well as from recipients’ relationships with other stakeholders. The Director will set the strategy for OCED’s approach to these challenges and build consensus across the organization to implement solutions.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Provide thought leadership on financial & commercial issues which span multiple programs:
- Develop solutions, guidance, and policies for finance-driven topics that arise in merit reviews, negotiations, and continuation decisions. Partner with other OCED divisions and legal team to develop ideas and build consensus for recommendations.
- Maximize the potential for projects to secure private financing as needed while ensuring OCED’s interests are protected and constraints are respected.
- Assess the need for financial & commercial deliverables across different programs and shape guidance to enable consistency.
- Partner with OCED’s Project Analysis and Portfolio Risk Management teams to develop scalable sensitivities that capture thematic risks.
- Support individual negotiations and continuations:
- Specify financial and commercial project deliverables to achieve OCED goals while minimizing confidentiality concerns and burden to the recipient.
- Review deliverables, including commercial contracts, to support the continuation process.
- Support projects as needed in obtaining project-level financing, ensuring government terms and agreements facilitate the financing.
- Oversee contract support as appropriate to achieve the above.
- Partner with OCED’s Project Analysis team to develop bespoke sensitivities that capture project-specific risks.
- Contribute to new funding opportunities:
- Develop language for key financial terms within the funding opportunities.
- Participate in merit reviews, including on the federal panel as a commercial viability reviewer.
CANDIDATE PROFILE
- 10+ years’ experience in:
- Energy finance, preferably as borrower and/or lender.
- Negotiating commercial agreements, e.g., offtake, feedstock, pipeline, EPC.
- Related experience in some or all of:
- Commodity markets, ability to assess forecasts and price curves.
- Commercial structuring, project finance, structured finance, and/or energy finance.
- Credit analysis and deal underwriting focused on financial diligence of potential investments.
- Negotiating transaction terms & conditions and documentation.
- Strong communication and consensus-building skills; ability to work across stakeholders in large organizations
The candidate profile is meant to inform prospective applicants about the type of background and experience that would be suitable for this position. However, prospective applicants who do not meet the listed requirements but still show considerable potential to fulfill the role are encouraged to apply.
