Operations Controlling Associate

RWE•Chicago, IL

7d•$65,000 - $114,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Operations Controlling Associate is a key role, serving as a trusted financial partner and advisor to RWE Americas (RWEA) Operations leadership to support in delivering on their core financial targets. This role provides crucial support for the financial reporting and forecasting for a 13 GW portfolio of Onshore Wind, Solar, and Energy Storage operating assets. This role performs analysis of asset performance and cost drivers to explain results and identify opportunities to improve financial and operational outcomes and helps implement scalable process improvements to support RWEA’s ambitious growth targets.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in finance / accounting / economics / business or equivalent professional experience
Minimum 1 year of relevant experience
Basic knowledge of the core accounting concepts and principles
Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal), and comfortable driving collaboration across functions
Explains findings clearly to internal stakeholders; acts as finance partner with asset managers and technical teams
Demonstrates initiative and structured, analytical, and problem-solving thinking; identifies core insights in financial data
Proficient understanding of forecasting, variance analysis, asset performance metrics and systems/reporting tools (e.g., Power BI)
Focuses on building relationships to standardize processes and solve problems
Strong technical acumen, with advanced proficiency in Excel, SAP, SAC, PowerBI, and/or Tableau a plus
Detail-oriented, has strong business acumen and analytical mindset, and a sound understanding of business concepts
Proven ability to empathize, build relationships, and effectively communicate with people from a diverse set of backgrounds
Motivated self-starter, goal-oriented, and strong problem-solving abilities
Strong organizational skills and ability to coordinate multiple tasks and deliverables
Identifies issues and modifies processes and methods as needed
Demonstrates desire to learn about the Company and the renewables space
Responds well to direction, is easy to challenge and develop, and is coachable
Leads assigned tasks with management direction/guidance
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. RWE Americas is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.

Nice To Haves

CPA is preferred, but not required
Experience in an FP&A role and/or within the renewable energy sector preferred, but not required
advanced knowledge of the core accounting concepts and principles is a plus
advanced proficiency in Excel, SAP, SAC, PowerBI, and/or Tableau a plus

Responsibilities

Assists with the preparation of monthly and quarterly financial reporting activities for a portfolio of Onshore Wind, Solar, or Energy Storage operating assets and internal support teams, ensuring accuracy and completeness of actuals, commentary, and KPIs (with a focus on OpEx, Ops CapEx, Inventory)
Supports quarterly and annual forecasting by gathering input data from the business, validating source files, and inputting assumptions into the various models and systems
Maintains asset-level cost trackers, data logs, and budget support files for operating wind, solar, and storage projects
Performs variance analyses to identify key drivers of deviation from forecasted performance and escalate findings to senior staff
Collaborates with team members to prepare presentation materials for performance review meetings with senior management
Participates in meetings with stakeholders to take notes, track action items, and follow up on action items
Assists with data extraction, report formatting, and consolidation of key KPIs (e.g., cost/MWh, EBIT)
Contributes to ad hoc tasks such as cost reclassification efforts and benchmarking assets
Acts as a trusted financial partner to site Operations and Asset Management leads, helping to translate operational plans into KPIs