Job Description
CrossBoundary Energy (CBE) is recruiting a full-time Business Development Director to actively support and drive the team in identifying, developing, and signing renewable energy hybrid projects. CBE’s renewable energy financing contracts secure cheaper, cleaner power at no upfront cost to African companies. The Business Development Director will primarily be responsible for the commercial development of complex energy solutions for Africa’s leading businesses, especially in the mining sector. You will meet with target clients, develop and present bespoke proposals for local, regional, and global decision-makers, and negotiate and close energy financing contracts. In addition to project activities, you will also periodically evaluate our strategy, tools and processes, and implement improvements to them, including developing new products. This role reports to the Chief Commercial Officer.
Beyond your job description, CBE will look to you for practical insights on how to make discrete business decisions that will directly affect our overall business outcomes.
Who We Are
The CrossBoundary Energy team is a unique group of people who are genuinely excited by the opportunity to make a difference in some of the world’s most challenging and exciting renewable energy markets. The chosen candidate will play an important role in a unique team with the opportunity to make a large impact on the clean energy landscape in Africa. Team members come from diverse backgrounds but share several qualities: curiosity, humility, integrity, a drive for excellence, and a bias for action.
Who You Are
- Self-starter who is passionate about clean energy and its potential to transform underserved markets across Africa
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; crisp, clear, concise, and persuasive communicator
- Strong quantitative skills; mastery of building, manipulating, reviewing, and correcting financial and pricing models
- Empathetic and thoughtful listener who strives to learn from clients’ perspectives
- Articulate, assertive negotiator who enjoys challenging preconceived notions and welcomes debate and disagreement as learning opportunities
- Experienced at identifying champions and building coalitions within corporate bureaucracies to get things done; recognizes the unique challenges of business-to-business sales
- Sound business judgment; able to independently evaluate and prioritize commercial initiatives
- Fast learner who can effectively distill complex issues down to simple, clear, targeted messaging
- Ability to identify and connect with a broad range of audiences
- Comfort with ambiguity; thrives in a changing, challenging context
Required Qualifications
Ideal candidates will have the following skills and qualifications:
- 4+ years business experience at a top tier management consulting or investment firm
- Bachelor’s and master’s degrees with either or both degrees related to business or energy
- Work experience across multiple African countries
- Work experience in the energy sector, renewable energy is a plus
- Fluency in a relevant local or regional language, e.g., French
Required skills and qualifications:
- 4+ years business experience at a top tier firm
- Bachelor’s and master’s degrees
- Work experience in emerging markets
- Experience or deep interest in investing
- Mastery of Excel and PowerPoint
Primary Responsibilities
- Support, evaluate, and improve CBE’s overall lead generation strategy throughout all relevant geographies
- Develop and iterate bespoke pricing for various project structures such as Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), leases, and loans across multiple geographies
- Develop and present custom proposals to clients and answer questions about the commercial, financial, legal, and technical aspects of a solar PPA contract
- Identify gaps in CBE’s value proposition to clients and generate new ideas for how to better server them
- Support and problem solve with other BD team members to progress their projects to closure
- Advise and lead negotiations for a variety of renewable energy financing contracts with support from legal and other internal teams
- Assume responsibility for conducting diligence on complex large-scale projects to ensure they meet specified investment criteria
- Manage and update internal tools and systems to maximize efficiency of the BD process
