Project Finance Analyst

Core Power•Washington, DC

10d

About The Position

The Project Finance Analyst joins the Commercial Analytics team with a focus on the project financing and deal economics of floating nuclear power plants (FNPP) and commercial marine nuclear propulsion (CMNP). The role develops, builds and maintains the project finance models that define the economics of selling and deploying an FNPP/CMNP, covering SPV structures, offtake and PPA pricing, cash flows and project returns, and provides the economic analysis and costing support that feeds delivery programs, including reactor and end user partnerships. The role also supports the evaluation of capital formation options for first-of-a-kind energy infrastructure, spanning equity, debt, export credit and government-backed financing, and the assessment of deployment opportunities for commercial and financial viability. As a pre-revenue, first-of-a-kind business, this analysis directly informs pricing, commercialization strategy, business model development and investor engagement.

Requirements

3 - 5 years' experience in project finance gained at a bank, infrastructure fund, developer, utility or advisory firm, with energy or infrastructure project financing strongly preferred.
Strong financial modelling capability, including project cash flow modelling and scenario analysis; advanced Excel essential, Python an advantage.
Working knowledge of project finance structures and documentation, including SPVs, offtake contracts, security packages and lender requirements.
Comfortable working across technical and engineering interfaces, and with the ambiguity inherent in a novel industry.

Nice To Haves

Python an advantage

Responsibilities

Provides project finance modelling, deal economics and costing support across the Analytics portfolio, alongside broader economic assessment covering market and competitive cost positioning, policy and incentive impacts, and business model economics, always with a commercial focus.
Works closely with the Director of Analytics, the Commercial team, program leads and external partners to ensure the economics of FNPP and CMNP deployment are rigorously modelled, transparently documented and ready for commercial and investor use.
Builds and maintains project finance models for FNPP and CMNP deployments, covering SPV structures, capital structure/stack and gearing, cash flow and project returns (IRR, NPV, DSCR, payback).
Models offtake and revenue structures, including PPA pricing, tolling, charter style and lease versus own arrangements, and how deal economics differ across end users (utilities, data centers, industrial off-takers, shipowners).
Develops financing scenarios and sensitivity analysis across cost of capital, contract tenor, delivery risk, refueling and refurbishment cycles, and residual value.
Benchmarks structures, pricing and returns against comparable energy and infrastructure transactions and monitors relevant project finance market activity.
Supports evaluation of capital formation and financing structures for first-of-a-kind deployment, including equity, debt, export credit agency and government-backed programs, and what each implies for project bankability.
Maintains model documentation, assumption registers and audit trails to investment-grade standards, ensuring models are review-ready for external scrutiny.
Provides support to economic analysis and cost modelling feeding delivery programs, including reactor vendor and end user collaboration projects.
Supports bottom-up cost model development (cost to deliver), lifecycle cost analysis and LCOE/TCO assessment, integrating engineering inputs and partner data.
Independently tests and challenges external cost estimates from partners and vendors.
Translates techno-economic outputs into commercial implications such as pricing floors, margin structure, breakeven and bankability.
Conducts broader economic assessment with a commercial focus, including market and competitive cost positioning, policy and incentive impacts, and business model economics.
Prepares deal economics and pricing analysis supporting commercial negotiations and business development activity.
Supports development of analysis and materials underpinning investor engagement, including cost of product, unit economics and project returns cases.
Coordinates with the Finance team to ensure project-level models align with corporate financial planning and fundraising materials.
Applies the team’s model standards, version control and review processes, and contributes to the shared knowledge base.
Supports the development of graduate analysts in project finance methods as the team grows.
Operates effectively in a first-of-a-kind/novel environment: forms defensible assumptions where no precedent exists, documents them transparently, and revises them as evidence develops.