Private Equity Associate (Power)

Investment Associate – Power / Project Finance & Tax Equity

Location: California

Sector: Power & Energy Infrastructure

Level: Investment Associate

Experience: 2–5 years

About the Opportunity

A leading private equity-backed power and energy infrastructure platform is seeking an Investment Associate to join its investment team in California.

The Associate will play an active role across the evaluation, underwriting, structuring and execution of investments across the power, renewable energy and broader energy infrastructure sectors .

The role is particularly well suited to an investment professional with direct project finance and tax equity experience who is looking to transition into a more investment-focused role within a private equity-backed platform.

The successful candidate will ideally have started their career in investment banking , project finance, infrastructure finance or a related transactional environment and have developed strong financial modeling and transaction execution capabilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluate new investment opportunities across power, renewables and broader energy infrastructure.
• Build, review and maintain detailed project finance and investment models .
• Analyze project-level and sponsor-level returns, including IRR, MOIC, cash yields, leverage and downside scenarios.
• Underwrite project finance debt, tax equity, structured equity and other financing solutions .
• Support the evaluation and structuring of acquisitions, development investments, recapitalizations and other strategic transactions.
• Conduct financial, commercial and operational due diligence on prospective investments.
• Analyze project contracts, including PPAs, tolling agreements, interconnection arrangements, EPC agreements and O&M contracts.
• Prepare investment committee materials, transaction presentations and detailed underwriting memoranda.
• Work alongside senior investment professionals throughout the transaction lifecycle, from initial screening through diligence, structuring and closing.
• Coordinate with lenders, tax equity investors, developers, advisors, legal counsel and other transaction counterparties.
• Support portfolio company and asset-level analysis following investment.
• Monitor market developments across power markets, renewable generation, energy storage and energy infrastructure.
• Assist with evaluating capital structures and optimizing financing solutions at both the project and portfolio level.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have:

• 2–5 years of relevant experience within investment banking, project finance, tax equity, infrastructure investing, private equity or a related energy finance environment.
• Direct project finance and/or tax equity experience is required.
• Experience across power, renewables, energy infrastructure or a broader energy sector .
• Strong financial modeling and valuation capabilities.
• Experience analyzing complex capital structures and project-level cash flows.
• Understanding of tax equity structures, renewable energy incentives and project finance debt.
• Strong transaction execution and due diligence experience.
• Excellent analytical and quantitative skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work in a lean, entrepreneurial investment environment and manage multiple transactions simultaneously.
• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Engineering, Accounting or a related discipline.

Ideal Background

Particularly relevant candidates may come from:

Investment Banking

• Energy & Power
• Power & Utilities
• Infrastructure
• Energy Transition
• Natural Resources / Energy

Project Finance / Tax Equity

• Renewable energy project finance
• Tax equity
• Structured finance
• Infrastructure finance
• Energy finance

Investment / Private Equity

• Power & infrastructure private equity
• Renewable energy investment
• Energy transition
• Infrastructure funds
• Energy-focused investment platforms

Experience across solar, wind, battery storage, conventional power, transmission, distributed generation or other energy infrastructure would be relevant.

Key Technical Requirements

Candidates should be comfortable with:

• Project finance modeling
• Debt sizing and repayment structures
• Tax equity economics
• Partnership flip structures
• ITC/PTC analysis
• Sponsor equity returns
• Project-level IRR / MOIC analysis
• Sensitivity and downside analysis
• Financial due diligence
• Investment committee materials
• Transaction execution