Senior/Principal Industry Advisor - Solar Sector- Washington, DC

Job #:	122039
Title:	Senior/Principal Industry Advisor - Solar Sector
Job Stream:	Investment
Location:	Washington, DC
Closing Date:	09/30/2012
Background / General description:
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, pursues its mission of reducing poverty and improving people’s lives by promoting private sector development through investment and advisory services. We are a client-centered, high-impact development institution. We enable our clients to excel through our global expertise, agile local teams, and a unique combination of innovative financing and advisory solutions, thus transforming people’s lives. With climate change a strategic pillar of IFC’s business, the Corporation has established a new department, the Climate Business Department (CBG), to provide leadership on climate change and leverage IFC’s investment and advisory businesses to maximize impact. CBG is a centrally positioned product and investment group responsible for supporting, sourcing and executing investment transactions in projects that are climate-related. CBG works closely with other industry investment groups within IFC, including Infrastructure, Manufacturing and Financial Markets, as well as with IFC’s Advisory Services teams and other appropriate counterparts within the World Bank. The Solar Specialist plays a central role in this global team. The Opportunity: As the demands and opportunities for IFC continue to grow rapidly in the climate change area, we are adding to a team of specialists who are strategic thinkers, with deep market knowledge and technical expertise in climate-relevant sectors, with private sector experience and a record of delivering results. The successful candidate will provide industry and market guidance, support new business development in solar, support investment appraisals (including writing due diligence reports and making investment decisions), and develop the knowledge management tools to scale-up IFC’s global solar business.
Duties and Accountabilities:
The specialist will be called upon to: • Lead/participate in the further development and implementation of the solar sector strategy, including: - Tracking market trends / developments and changes in regulatory frameworks; - Interacting with a network of sector players including project developers, technology providers, manufacturers, experts and regulators; - Monitoring latest developments in the solar sector across the full value chain and reviewing technologies being used, in both manufacturing and installation. - Support of investment and advisory transactions: - Originate new leads, opportunities and transactions based on network of contacts in the sector as well as nurture on-going relationships; - Act as an in-house advisor to investment staff in appraising new private sector proposals for investments in the solar sector in emerging economies, with projects throughout the supply chain from emerging technologies to mainstream manufacturing opportunities,; - Liaise with clients’ technical staff, project engineers and co-investors’/lenders’ engineers; evaluate clients’ management teams; - Review major supply and customer agreements and other documentation relevant to the transaction and sector, and assess investment programs and project capital costs; - Provide investment staff with key operational and capital assumptions for incorporation in financial models; - Supervise IFC’s portfolio of solar investments, including field inspection as necessary and assist in resolving operational issues; - Provide guidance from a sector / market perspective on Advisory Services work relating to regulatory interventions, market and client capacity building work. - Write back-to-office reports after business development / client visits and prepare industry reports related to investments as well as reviews / analysis of portfolio companies. • Program and Consultant Management: - Hire and supervise specialized engineering agencies / staff as necessary; - Supervise consultants and consulting firms to conduct market studies, project related studies, etc. • Knowledge Management and Dissemination: - Support the development of content for IFC’s knowledge platforms and disseminate the same within IFC and with external clients.
Selection Criteria:
• Fifteen years or more experience in the solar industry, with an in-depth knowledge of current and innovative new technologies and applications in the solar industry (crystalline silicon, thin film, etc., solar thermal) and how these technologies are manufactured and installed, both on-grid and off-grid; • Track record in business development and driving new business growth; • Proven ability to collect and analyze market information, understand market dynamics and forecast market trends; • Demonstrated sound business judgment when identifying the strengths and weaknesses of projects. Ability to provide precise evaluation of technical, commercial, environmental and managerial issues; • Up-to-date knowledge of capital costs of the manufacturing supply chain as well as for downstream solar farms and off-grid applications; • An extensive network of contacts at a senior level covering key sector players, expert regulators, etc., in established and growing solar markets; • Experience in emerging economies is a plus; • Engineer with advanced degree preferred, other relevant professional degrees considered; • Excellent communication skills in both oral and written English; additional language skills (e.g. Mandarin, Spanish, French) are an advantage; strong writing and organization skills are important. • Significant work experience in the private sector. IFC offers a highly challenging and rewarding working environment with outstanding opportunities for professional growth, as well as attractive conditions. All applications will be treated in strictest confidence. Only applicants selected for interviews will be contacted.
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