Sr Business Dev Analyst (m/w/d)

Job Description

NorthStar Clean Energy decarbonizes the economy by providing clean energy and carbon management solutions to utility, municipal, commercial, and industrial customers enabling them to meet their sustainability and business goals. Additionally, we own and operate natural gas assets throughout the United States. To learn more about NorthStar Clean Energy, please visit www.northstarcleanenergy.com.

This position is with NorthStar Clean Energy, a CMS Energy company, and is not a position of employment with Consumers Energy.

The Senior Business Development (BD) Analyst applies a combination of technical and commercial knowledge to perform technical evaluations and financial analysis and to support project opportunities in screening, due diligence, contracting, development, construction, and operations. The Senior BD Analyst performs technical and financial due diligence, supports contract negotiations for development-stage renewables assets and customer offtake agreements, and provides technical support to the development and execution of utility-scale renewable energy projects. The Senior BD Analyst coordinates with financial analysts to assure that the results from technical due diligence and ongoing development are optimally integrated into project financial models. The analyst will monitor and track project development progress and will perform research on industry and market trends and pricing.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Perform technical evaluations and financial analysis, research industry/market trends and pricing, and provide technical support for screening, evaluation, due diligence, and contract negotiations (offtake and purchase agreements) for renewable energy projects. Perform and support project development, construction activities, and operations for utility scale renewables projects (wind, solar, storage) while collaborating with internal cross functional teams and external consultants/contractors.
• Coordinate and manage support from internal SMEs, consultants, advisors, contractors, partners and developers required for acquisition, development, or continued operation of new renewable energy assets (e.g. Q&A logs, data room requests, tracking modeling inputs & changes, etc.) Prepare and analyze power purchase agreements (PPAs) with input from internal and external subject matter experts.
• Evaluate the findings from due diligence with financial analysts to assure the results of due diligence are optimally integrated into financial models. Assist and coordinate preparation of bids, proposals, and due diligence reports.
• Conduct due diligence project site visits and evaluate prospective assets for acquisition or further development. Participate in private and public meetings with project stakeholders, landowners and agencies.
• Monitor and coordinate delivery of contract commitments to customers, developers and business partners per contracts (offtake agreements, purchase agreements, etc). Help maintain positive, repeat business relationships with customers and business partners by delivering on project team commitments and performance.
• Monitor and track progress of key development milestones to assure schedule and budget commitments are met.
• Prepare due diligence materials (e.g. risk registers, due diligence reports, financial model inputs), and presentation materials to management and board (e.g. white papers, presentations).
• Analyze the performance of operating renewables assets by comparing historical performance versus budgets & original investment decisions, and creating summaries of results.
• Serve as SME for relevant subject matter and track related industry trends and new developments.
• Support project development activities including completion of environmental studies, land lease/purchase option execution, preliminary engineering, and coordination of development tasks to support financing.
• Other non-essential duties as assigned or may be necessary.

Position Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering or equivalent science or technical field required.
• Master's Degree in Business, Engineering, applicable science or technical field preferred.
• Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of Michigan (or capable of obtaining a license) preferred.
• 4+ year's progressive experience in business development or engineering/technical/finance field.
• 1-2 years of progressive relevant experience or experience in renewable energy or similar electric generating facility development.
• Understanding and/or experience in performing resource assessments, development studies, landowner relationships/agreements, transmission/interconnect studies, interconnect agreements, market price evaluations, micro-siting, layouts, preliminary engineering, permitting, public hearings, tax abatements and equipment orders.
• Understanding and/or experience in performing development activities necessary to successfully advance early to mid-stage utility-scale renewable energy development assets into design and construction and commercial operation, including representing the project at public meetings/hearings for siting approvals.
• Experience with utility-scale power plant project development and/or commercial energy storage development and execution are preferred.
• Experience in coordinating design and overall development for new electric generating facilities or similar assets, including renewable energy generation facilities, is desirable.
• Experience in performing due diligence and evaluations of renewable energy development and reporting is desirable.
• Experience in project development and engineering within a large matrixed organization and significant accomplishments in building and developing successful teams is desirable.
• Understanding and/or experience in growing customer relationships, customer satisfaction and company business and knowledge of business development practices for a consulting engineering business or similar business segment is desirable.
• Understanding and/or experience with key technology and services necessary for successful utility-scale renewable energy project acquisition, development, and operation, that support the candidate serving as a subject matter expert (SME) is desirable.
• Understanding and/or experience in negotiating commercial agreements and contract terms and conditions is desirable.
• Understanding and/or experience in proposal preparation and/or performance and delivery of technical consulting services is desirable.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and knowledge of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and Outlook.

Why should you join our team?

At NorthStar Clean Energy, we offer more than just a place to work. We foster a culture that supports career development, growth, and stability, and we take pride in offering our co-workers excellent benefits and compensation packages. We are deliberately creating an inclusive culture that makes our diverse team of co-workers feel valued, supported, and empowered every day. We're a company made up of thousands of people, all with different stories to share and work to do, but we stand united in our company purpose: world class performance delivering hometown service.

What we offer

• Competitive compensation packages
• Medical, Dental and Vision
• 401k with company match
• Paid parental leave
• Up to 13 paid Holidays
• Paid time off
• Educational Assistance Program

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

We, at NorthStar Clean Energy, value Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. It is part of our DNA. We treat our employees with respect, we treat each other fairly and we value the opinions of others. We are passionate about building and nurturing an environment where everyone feels included. We don’t discriminate. We seek to learn about each other and better understand our unique differences. Our uniqueness makes us authentic. We create safe spaces where everyone can be who they truly are. We invite difficult conversations and uncomfortable topics. We value diverse perspectives; this is what makes us great together. We harbor an inclusive environment where employees feel empowered to share their backgrounds, experiences, and ideas. Our Employee Resource Groups, Women’s Advisory Panel (WAP), Women’s in Energy (WE), Minority Advisory Panel (MAP), Pride Alliance of Consumers Energy (PACE), GENERGY, capable, Interfaith and Veterans Advisory Panel (VAP) are key enablers to living the values of our company culture: Caring, Empowered, Deliberate, Agility, and Ownership.

All qualified applicants will not be discriminated against and will receive consideration for employment without regard to protected veteran status, disability, race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.