Position Description
Do you want to help create a cleaner power supply? Are you looking to launch your career in the growing renewable energy industry? Are you quantitatively driven and able to program in multiple languages? Do you have the ability to visualize data for senior leaders?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, then read on to learn more about the Asset Management team at Scout Clean Energy.
What does our renewable energy Asset Management team do?
Excellence in asset management enables us to deliver on our commitments to our customers, partners, and investors. This service-oriented team combines on-the-ground expertise with analytical insights to inform data-driven decisions about all aspects of operating renewable energy facilities.
Asset management spans a wide range of activities that are all directed toward the same goal: maximizing the profitability of our operating renewable energy generation plants. Key functions within the team include the following:
- The Power and Energy Markets team cultivates an understanding of how energy markets work and how we translate it into revenue and profit through day-ahead scheduling, energy price formation and congestion analysis.
- Asset Managers and Analysts are responsible for the plants’ financial performance, contractual obligations and regulatory compliance. They apply data driven decision making to ensure investment criteria are met.
- The Engineering and Technical Services team combines big data with engineering expertise to ensure optimal up-time availability of our operating projects, maximizing the production of the facilities and protecting the physical integrity of the assets.
- Real-Time Operations – Together, our on-site Facility Operations staff and the Remote Operations Center teams ensure safe, compliant, and effective operations of our operating renewable energy facilities.
Our Asset Management team is growing substantially this year, as we are bringing a new facility online, expanding our portfolio to 5 operating wind farms. You will report to a Senior Asset Manager, you will interface frequently with all other groups within the Asset Management team, and you will collaborate closely with the corporate Accounting team.
What will the FP&A Analyst do?
FP&A Analysts are critical to making renewable energy a profitable – and therefore viable – source of energy for our country. You will join a team of other specialized analysts in our Boulder, Colorado, office who mine our extensive databases for insights to improve our wind facilities’ operating efficiency. The Asset Management Financial Analyst will focus on the financial aspects of our operations – revenue from predictable as well as market-based sources, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures. Your scope will include creating budgets and forecasts, measuring the performance against them, and improving our forecasting methods in the future.
As Scout’s FP&A Analyst, you will make a lasting impact on Scout’s operations. You will support the development of processes, procedures, and reports that improve our team’s efficiency and profitability. You will maintain and improve the infrastructure (i.e., programming / coding) that drives efficiency and accuracy in reporting. You will create a set of proven practices and will set a high bar that helps every future Financial Analyst succeed.
No two weeks will look the same, but here are a few examples of what you may encounter during an average week at Scout:
- Update and Manage SQL database containing each project’s commercial and operational data.
- Use your programming skills to extract data from multiple databases and automate the integration of that data in a reporting platform where you design and update reports.
- Review and interpret contractual terms in key documents to design and conduct analysis that ensures compliance with the contract.
- Create, improve, and deliver weekly / monthly reports about the portfolio’s financial performance.
- Forecast the portfolio’s expected financial performance based on existing data, team input, and other resources that you assemble to quantify and model key operational and commercial drivers.
- Use data visualization and other strategies to tailor reports and forecasts for key audiences, including Asset Management, senior managers, and our investors.
- Leverage the experience and data of the Asset Management and Accounting teams to explain financial variances to budget.
- Drive process development and refinement that promotes the integrity and effectiveness of the evolving reporting process.
- Contribute to special projects and provide ad hoc data analysis upon request
To be more specific, key outputs of your analysis will include monthly cash flow forecasts and cash available for distribution, deferred contribution payments (PayGo’s) from tax equity investors, updating hypothetical liquidation and book value (HLBV) models, and creating nodal pricing models. You may or may not have worked with these terms in the past; if you have, it is a plus, but this is also something you can learn on the job.
Why is Asset Management a great place to launch a career in renewable energy?
FP&A Analysts build their understanding of renewable energy generation based on data derived directly from the wind and solar plants themselves. Plant operations are the heart and soul of a renewable energy firm’s business, and FP&A Analysts help optimize their profitability. You will develop a high-level understanding about what is physically happening at the facility as well as a more detailed understanding of the related cash flows. This combination of knowledge prepares Asset Management Analysts for roles in asset management, commodity trading, development, transmission, and project finance, among others.
Requirements
What kind of experience do I need to be successful as an FP&A Analyst?
We have found that our team members’ interest in and passion for renewable energy is a strong determinant in our individual and collective success.
The successful candidate’s background will look something like this:
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or another field with extensive upper-level math courses.
- 2-4 years of data analysis, model development, programming, and data reporting in the renewable energy industry.
- Advanced knowledge in Excel (e.g., Pivot Tables) and some subset of R, Python, and SQL.
- Database design – data normalization.
- Ability to concisely frame issues by providing context, analysis, recommendations and risk/benefit tradeoffs, both in written, verbal, and presentation format, to the Asset Management team and to senior management.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- High attention to detail and the ability to work proactively and productively without direct supervision.
- Authorized to work in the United States.
Timeline and Location
The target start date for this role is in late September or early October 2023, pending successful reference and criminal background checks.
It will be expected that the FP&A Analyst will be based in our Boulder, CO, office and will work in the office at least three days per week on our hybrid schedule.
Benefits
Scout’s Values
- Mission-Orientation. High achievers who want to make a difference in this world and contribute to Scout’s stated mission.
- Teamwork. Respectful and appreciative colleagues with strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to fostering positive relationships across organizational boundaries to deliver on shared team goals.
- Safety. Uncompromising advocates for the health and safety of fellow employees, contractors, customers, and community members.
- Integrity. Ethical professionals who do the right thing even when it is difficult.
- Initiative. Resourceful self-motivators who thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment because of their exceptional leadership, work ethic, and organizational skills.
- Intelligence. Problem-solving learners who can make informed decisions quickly and create innovative and pragmatic solutions to challenging problems.
Invitation to Women and U.S. Underrepresented Groups
We encourage applications from all demographics and especially those that are traditionally underrepresented in the energy industry. Consistent with our core values, Scout celebrates the diversity of thought and experience that comes from a range of backgrounds including, but not limited to, gender, race, and ethnicity.
Invitation to Veterans
Scout welcomes veterans of the United States Armed Forces to apply for this position. Scout includes veterans of all branches and a diverse set of occupational specialties. We value the independent thinking, problem solving, leadership, and teamwork that our veterans have developed through their service. We welcome applications from any service and any military occupational specialty.
Compensation
Target base salary: $90,000-110,000. Negotiable for the right candidate.
Attractive annual bonus potential and eligibility for a deferred bonus program.
Scout offers a full range of benefits, including medical/dental/vision insurance with attractive premiums, 401(k) match, STD, LTD, an Employee Assistance Program, paid parental leave, and a range of optional supplemental insurance coverage.