Senior Credit Officer, Project Finance

CoBank • Greenwood Village, CO

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

At CoBank, the Project Finance group is a specialized team of experienced energy finance experts with a proven record of structuring and efficiently executing custom finance solutions for owners of utility scale power generation assets in the United States. The team provides construction and term debt, revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit for projects in the solar, wind, natural gas-fired, energy storage, hydroelectric, and transmission sectors, to name a few. The Senior Credit Officer will provide analytical and marketing support to senior bankers by analyzing and sensitizing financial models, complex credit analyses, term sheets, presentation materials, and industry research, as well as through ongoing monitoring and review of the group's lending portfolio. The Senior Credit Officer will be actively involved in working with Portfolio Managers and Relationship Managers as part of deal teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in business, finance, or relevant discipline required
• 5 years of relevant experience, preferably in banking, financial services industry, or energy and power industry. required
• 3 years of Project Finance banking preferred
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, ability to synthesize large amounts of information, analyze risk and identify mitigating factors.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of financial analysis, including cash flow analysis, balance sheet analysis, profitability, liquidity, and solvency analysis.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), taxation, legal forms of organizations, and business law.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of financial modeling techniques and preparation of pro forma financial statements.
• Able to develop loan structuring alternatives to mitigate risk and maintain customer satisfaction.
• Able to perform discounted cash flow analysis, capital budgeting (internal rate of return, net present value, etc.), and equity valuation calculations.
• Able to quickly learn and adapt to new processes and systems.
• Proven ability to work independently and work well in a team-oriented environment.
• Demonstrates intellectual curiosity and an interest in continuous learning.
• Advanced ability to use spreadsheet, word processing, and database applications.
• Self-driven and motivated; takes personal ownership of specific assignments.
• Committed to developing high-end financial modeling skills and competency in the review and negotiation of project financing documentation.
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, presentation, oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrates leadership ability and can provide mentorship, guidance, and training to junior colleagues on the team.
• Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Nice To Haves

• Master's Degree in Finance or related discipline preferred

Responsibilities

• Provides leadership on negotiation strategies, due diligence and credit evaluation while being responsible for complete credit package and managing appropriate resources to meet internal and external guidelines.
• Provides appropriate technical, industry and functional knowledge to credit, relationship management, portfolio management, capital markets and leadership staff, including leading communications/meetings, direct interface with clients and leading overall credit process across all PF verticals and most complex debt arrangements.
• Helps relationship management lead negotiations concerning the presentation and development of complex credit arrangements.
• Takes a leadership role in managing credit administration, account servicing, approval, loan closing, documentation, and monitoring.
• Leads an extensive due diligence process including review of independent engineer reports, power market/environmental/insurance/transmission consultant reports, and resource studies
• Reviews audits, interim statements, projections, and other pertinent financial information to provide expert analysis of financial and operational trends.
• Acquires information from published industry reports, trade groups, customer meetings, journals, and other external sources to supplement and enhance the analysis of information provided by the borrower, agent bank and/or sponsor.
• Identifies strengths and weaknesses of the borrower, lending structure and evaluates specific risks to the bank.
• Independently analyzes and determines validity of project’s pro forma based on an assessment of the quality of cash flows, industry outlook, competition, technology, management, and financial structure.
• Determines appropriateness and approach to sensitivity analysis to provide alternative views on key risks associated with the proposed transaction.
• Provides estimates of collateral value with discounted cash flow analysis.
• Actively and independently monitors credit quality of high profile and complex accounts across the portfolio.
• Takes pro-active approach with customer interaction, compliance reporting, research and evaluation to identify emerging trends/concerns and communicates trends and credit view with Relationship Management, Portfolio Management, Capital Markets and credit leadership.
• Ability to establish, lead and maintain direct communication with borrower and sponsors to execute deal process, portfolio management requirements and meet compressed internal and external deadlines.
• Leads interaction with Credit Approvals, Asset Review and other 3rd parties to support, defend and gain consensus on underwriting and portfolio management approaches on high-profile transactions.
• Assists with internal research and portfolio analysis and prepares and delivers presentations on topics as assigned.
• Provides first level advice/assistance on procedures and work methods for others.
• Provides mentoring to credit and relationship management staff.
• Maintains expertise in project finance type transactions.
• Keeps abreast of industry trends and competitive environment.
• Identifies areas for improvement in templates, spreadsheets, programs, systems, and procedures used in credit origination process.
• Proposes possible solutions to problems.
• Volunteers and serves on cross-functional teams related to improvement and efficiency initiatives and other bank wide goals and projects.

Benefits

• 15 days of vacation
• 10 paid sick days
• 11 paid holidays
• Competitive Compensation & Incentive
• Hybrid work model: flexible arrangements for most positions
• Medical, Dental and Vision coverage
• Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance
• Robust associate training and development with CoBank University
• Tuition reimbursement for higher education
• Outstanding 401k: up to 6% matching and additional 3% non-elective contribution & Student Loan Match
• Community Impact: United Way Angel Day, Volunteer Day and Associate Directed Contribution
• Associate Resource Groups: creating a culture of respect and inclusion
• Recognize a fellow associate through our GEM awards

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior