Sr Investment & Valuation Associate
Chicago, IL, US, 60654
RWE Americas, LLC
To start as soon as possible, full time, permanent
Functional area: Finance / Controlling
Remuneration: Exempt
The Sr Investment & Valuation Associate will be a key member of the Investment & Valuation (I&V) team at RWE Americas (RWEA), independently leading valuation assignments and delivering high-quality investment recommendations that support the company's strong US growth ambitions. The Senior Associate will prepare and present investment analysis and recommendations to senior leadership, building stakeholder relationships across key functions over time. The I&V team drives value-added growth through critical analysis, strategic guidance, and rigorous governance of investment decisions across a dynamic and growing pipeline of utility-scale renewable energy investments in solar, wind, and battery storage, supporting approx. $ 20 billion in planned US investment over the next six years. This role offers rare exposure across all three technologies, ideal for a candidate looking to build differentiated market expertise while maintaining depth in project finance fundamentals and integrating technical and financial perspectives in the analysis of renewable energy investments. The I&V team evaluates performance on what is delivered and how, expecting team members to take smart risks, deliver meaningful impact, and collaborate actively across functions.
Role Responsibilities:
- Investment Analysis, Valuation & Structuring: Leads valuation assignments with increasing end-to-end ownership, applying advanced project finance and valuation techniques across solar, wind, and battery storage investments. Frames risks, assumptions, and sensitivities to deliver actionable insights that inform Executive Leadership and Board level decisions
- Decision Process & Materials: Drives the preparation and delivery of investment recommendations and high-quality decision materials to senior management. Synthesizes complex analyses into clear, structured narratives that enable confident and well-governed investment decisions
- Stakeholder Leadership & Alignment: Builds and maintains cross-functional alignment across development, commercial, and technical teams. Challenges assumptions constructively and translates technical findings into practical recommendations for diverse audiences including senior non-finance stakeholders. Scopes effort to the decision at hand and ensures outputs are fit for purpose
- Model Quality & Governance: Builds and customizes financial models for complex and non-standard investment situations. Ensures integrity through rigorous quality assurance of valuation inputs and outputs, and contributes to shaping best practices in model governance and documentation as the team scales
- Technical Leadership & Topic Ownership: Develops deep expertise across key valuation topics and all three technologies, contributing to methodology development and driving consistency in analytical approaches. Supports problem-solving on complex or non-standard transactions, building toward subject matter authority over time
- People Development & Mentoring: Actively coaches and supports junior team members and contributes to onboarding and capability building. Supports a culture of accountability and continuous development that grows with the team
Job Requirements and Experiences:
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or similar university degree required
- Minimum 3 years' experience in Finance or Investment roles required
- Deep knowledge of valuation methodologies (especially DCF and project finance) and advanced financial modeling (Excel) required
- Demonstrated track record of leading analytical workstreams and producing executive-level outputs required
- Communication and presentation skills, including ability to translate complex analysis for non-finance audiences required
- Experience in renewable energy or energy markets strongly preferred
- Renewable Energy & Market Knowledge: Intellectually curious with demonstrated expertise in renewable energy markets and project finance, consistently building and applying industry knowledge to sharpen investment decisions across solar, wind, and battery storage
- Financial Modeling: Expert proficiency in Excel financial modeling, with a proven ability to build complex, flexible models that hold up under scrutiny across a range of non-standard renewable energy investment situations
- Presentation Skills: Solid working knowledge of PowerPoint with the ability to structure and present analytical findings clearly and effectively to senior and executive audiences
- Stakeholder Management: Builds credibility and trust with cross-functional stakeholders including senior non-finance audiences, independently managing relationships across development, commercial, and technical functions and communicating complex valuation insights with clarity and confidence
- Delivery & Prioritization: Manages competing priorities across multiple live transactions without compromising quality, consistently delivering rigorous outputs under tight deadlines in a fast-moving transaction environment. Proactively flags risks to timelines or scope early, without waiting until a deadline is missed to raise an issue
- Organization & Coordination: Coordinates effectively across complex transaction processes, aligning inputs from multiple stakeholders and ensuring deliverables are completed accurately and on time
- Autonomy & Initiative: Independently drives analytical work while remaining closely aligned with team and organizational priorities, proactively surfacing and resolving issues before they reach senior stakeholders
- Attention to Detail & Judgment: Combines meticulous attention to detail with sound commercial judgment, demonstrating a deep understanding of the financial and operational drivers that determine value in renewable energy investments
- Ownership & Accountability: Takes end-to-end ownership of assigned workstreams, not just the analysis but the outcome. Anticipates what is needed, follows through on commitments, and ensures work moves decisions forward
- Collaboration & Mentoring: Collaborative by disposition, balancing autonomy with alignment and contributing positively to team culture and the development of less experienced colleagues
- Continuous Improvement: Actively seeks out challenge and feedback as opportunities for growth, constructively questioning assumptions in others' work while holding their own analysis to the same standard
- This position is a hybrid role with an expected 3 days in the Chicago office each week with some travel <10% to other RWEA offices
Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. RWE Americas is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas at this time.
Pay range: The annual base salary range for this position in Illinois is $106,000 - $150,000. The listed salary range represents our good faith estimate for this position and represents the range for new hire salaries across all U.S locations. Please note that the salary information is a general guideline only. RWE considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate’s education & work experience, training & certifications, and key skills as well as market and business considerations at the time of the offer.
Benefits offered: Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, 401(k) match, Flexible Spending Accounts, EAP, Education Assistance, Parental Leave, Paid time off, and Holidays. Eligible employees also participate in short-term incentives, in addition to salary.
Apply with just a few clicks: ad code 92247
Any questions? Contact HR: rwe_americas_recruiting@rwe.com
We look forward to meeting you. Of course, you can find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Xing, too.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected status.
RWE Americas, a subsidiary of RWE, is a US-based energy company that is helping to meet the growing demand for energy across the United States. Backed by RWE’s 125-year global legacy of managing diverse power assets, RWE Americas operates approximately 13 GW of power projects across 27 states. With a talented workforce of 2,000 employees, RWE Americas develops, constructs and operates wind, solar and battery storage projects, along with natural gas-powered generation, that safely deliver affordable, reliable electricity to our customers. Committed to responsible development, RWE Americas invests in local and rural communities, creating jobs and partnering with stakeholders to support and strengthen the places where we live and work. Learn more about how RWE Americas is generating impact at americas.rwe.com.
Nearest Major Market: Chicago
Job Segment:
Financial, Pipeline, Quality Assurance, Investment, Social Media, Finance, Energy, Technology, Marketing