Senior Project Finance Analyst at Okra Solar

• As a Senior Project Finance Analyst, you will be working in our Commercial Team and working closely with our customers, helping them get access to lowest cost capital to finance and supercharge their mesh-grid portfolios so they can bring more power to the people! You will be part of a team that helps the best energy companies in Nigeria raise $80M of debt and $20M of equity to finance mesh-grid projects over the next 3 years in Nigeria.
• If you’re excited about using technology to create a tangible impact in rural electrification and want to help shape the future of energy access, join us.

Responsibilities

Be a custodian of the truth (understand the entire business and back your understanding)

• Understand energy projects, on the ground operations and maintenance, end-user behaviour, product and supply chain nuances and put it all together in cohesive communication through financial models, presentations and discussions.
• Align with product team, customer success team, supply chain and support teams to ensure you have a critical view of the risks, costs and revenue drivers and ultimately that the financial models being communicated with investors are indeed deliverable in reality.

Project Financial Modelling

• Develop and maintain cash flow models for mesh-grid projects alongside the customer success team.
• Integrate capex, opex, tariff structures, and performance assumptions (e.g., energy throughput, downtime, service costs).
• Run sensitivity analyses on key variables like load growth, FX risk, or component degradation.
• Simulate return metrics (IRR, payback period, NPV) for financiers, developers, and internal investment decisions.
• Work with other project finance experts in Okra to develop project finance theory and modelling.

Tariff Structuring & Affordability Analysis

• Support accounts in setting cost-reflective, energy tariffs that balance affordability with asset recovery.
• Work with the Customer Success team to understand real-world dynamics. Feed these into project finance models.
• Design or evaluate subsidy structures or blended finance models to bridge the affordability gap.

Lender & Partner Diligence Support

• Prepare data rooms and project memos for investors, donors, or DFI partners
• Respond to due diligence queries and support with material preparation.
• Work with the customer success and deployment teams to aggregate ground-truth data that supports underwriting assumptions.
• Go to Project sites with Customer and Finance teams to support during on-the-ground due diligence.
• Participate in and negotiate contract documentation with the customer to ensure financial close.

Equity Fundraising

• Support customers in preparing for and engaging with equity investors for their mesh-grid projects.
• Create investment decks, pitch materials, and financial analysis to support equity funding rounds.
• Advise on equity structuring options, valuation strategies, and investment terms in collaboration with legal and strategic partners.

Investor Relations (Financier Relationship Management)

• Stay up to date on financing landscape in Nigeria - including debt and equity offerings, grants, lowest cost of capital and de risking instruments.
• Cultivate and manage relationships with financing partner deal teams to ensure projects go through fundraising smoothly.
• Act as a bridge between project developers and financiers, helping translate on-the-ground realities into bankable opportunities that financiers can understand and support.

Required Experience

• University Graduate (Finance Preferred)
• 3+ years of experience in financing or raising funding for projects or businesses (preferably related to renewable energy and/or infrastructure).
• Advanced skills in Google Sheets, specifically in building and maintaining financial models.
• You can build presentations and materials for customers and investors.
• A high level of literacy with digital tools, ideally:
  • ‍Airtable for managing tasks, structuring data, creating automations. ‍
  • Confluence / Notion for documentation.
  • ‍Slack for chat / communications. ‍
  • Google Drive for document storage. ‍
  • Google Slides for slide design.  ‍
  • Docsend to create datarooms.‍
  • AI Tools : Claude / ChatGPT / Gemini: for research, building context folders, GPTs and tools.

Hard Skills

Financial Modeling

• Extensive experience evaluating and manipulating financial models with the ability to update and improve existing models.
• Data Analytics and Preparation skills

Strong control Google Sheets and Excel.

• It’s important to note that Okra operates on Google Sheets, and fluency would be expected from day-1.

Presentation Skills

• Proficiency in creating and delivering clear, persuasive presentations using slide decks for investors, customers, and internal teams.

Contract Negotiation Skills

• Strong ability to engage in and drive negotiations, ensuring favorable terms and securing successful financial agreements.

Understanding of Infrastructure Projects

• Deep understanding of infrastructure projects, including typical deal terms and financing structures, critical for evaluating and structuring deals.

Soft Skills

• Relentless Relationship Builder: Proactive in reaching out to stakeholders, willing to take initiative and engage in calls to gather critical information as needed.
• Deal Closer: Focused on driving deals forward and securing outcomes, prioritizing impact over merely completing tasks.
• Holistic Business Understanding: Eager to gain a comprehensive understanding of the business, including energy projects, on-the-ground operations, end-user behavior, product nuances, and supply chain dynamics. Skilled at synthesizing this information into clear, cohesive communication through models, presentations, and discussions.
• Collaborative mindset: Ability to work effectively with others, lifting teammates up, learning together, and sharing wins and failures.
• Transparency and openness: Open to sharing and receiving ideas and feedback candidly.
• Integrity and respect: Ability to make ethical decisions even during challenges, acting with honesty and respect.