Senior Investment Manager / Investment Director - Octopus Australia

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Octopus Australia team in our Sydney office. The successful applicant will be able to join the Octopus Australia team on their mission to accelerate Australia's transition to a future powered by renewable energy.

We are looking for a Senior Investment Manager or a Investment Director as a senior leader within the Investment team, reporting to the Co-Managing Director of our Renewables team at Octopus Australia. This role will be pivotal in shaping both the Octopus Australia portfolio as well as the energy transition in Australia.

As a senior member of the transaction team, the successful candidate will have a broad mandate to help deliver on origination, M&A, project finance and deployment ambitions across all renewable technologies.  The successful candidate will be expected play an active role on this broader strategy including originating and supporting our own development projects into construction across different technologies and jurisdictions where required.

You will be a forward-thinking person who is inquisitive in nature and is comfortable working in the detail and pivoting to a portfolio view.  Just as important as what you achieve in this role, is how you perform the role. We’ll need you to be an engaged team member, who can cross pollenate your M&A knowledge and capabilities into an investment and development world with both internal and external stakeholders. Be ready for a dynamic work environment. You’ll be encouraged and supported to be bold in your thinking and leadership, whilst being a helpful colleague to those around you.

The successful candidate will be expected to be able to demonstrate the following:

• Renewable Energy Industry; Comprehensive understanding of the industry including opportunities for growth for our renewables portfolio considering key market challenges, myriad of stakeholders and dynamic regulatory frameworks.
• Deal execution; A proven track record of originating and executing complex energy transactions end to end, including in both M&A and development.  Ability to lead negotiations, remain calm under pressure and maintain deal momentum to close. An ability to understand risks, reach a balanced appraisal of probability and severity and build workable risk mitigation strategies.
• Network; Established extensive network within the Australian renewable energy industry and associated advisers.
• Leadership; Acting as a role model across the business and to external parties for Octopus values. Ability to think strategically to support the growth of the Octopus business.
• Team management; Experience managing and mentoring a small team of high performing professionals to achieve business objectives.
• Debt Financing; Familiar with project finance processes and ability to ensure key areas of bankability concern are addressed within transaction structures.
• Investment Committee/ Board Reporting; Very strong communication skills and proven ability to effectively present ideas to senior management and at a Board level.
• Financial Modelling; Strong proficiency in building and reviewing complex financial models to support investment decisions. Solid grasp of valuation methods, sensitivity analysis, and key return metrics. Experience training and mentoring team members to ensure modelling best practices and consistency.

• Prior (10yrs+) relevant experience ideally in a utility, developer, IPP, investment bank, private equity house, or in a corporate finance team of one of the big 4 accountants.
• Professional financial qualifications (accountancy, CFA/CA) and/or MBAs desirable but not essential.
• Eligibility to work in Australia – visa sponsorship is not offered.
• Core finance related business skills required:
  • A commercial mindset, able to own investment decision making and understand the impact of these decisions on potential investments.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication.
  • Exceptional project management and organisational skills. The role will require management of complex and regularly changing workloads and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Understanding of legal concepts, particularly those relating to contracts for the acquisition, construction and management of renewable energy projects.
  • Understand valuation, risk analysis and complex financial modelling.
• Ability to communicate with and influence a broad range of individuals, ranging from team members, project developers, landowners, project finance teams, lawyers, technical advisors, policymakers, the Octopus investment committee members and potential investors. The ability to tailor the communication content and style to the needs of the recipient will be important.
• A strong team player with the confidence to exercise judgement appropriately, challenge and liaise with colleagues at all levels of seniority.
• An ability to focus on the ultimate customer (the investors who trust us with their money) in all aspects of the role is essential.
• Experience of working in a start-up environment would also be beneficial.
• A self-starter with tenacity, initiative and a willingness to commit whatever it takes to deliver the required results.

And to really stand out from the crowd, you will display the following qualities and characteristics:

• Self-motivated with the ability to work in a fast paced environment with limited oversight.
• Must be curious and seek to learn whilst also supporting the development of others.
• Communicates in a straightforward way, effective at giving feedback while open to receiving it.
• Able to find and create opportunity, believes anything is possible and has the drive and self believe to deliver it.

What we offer

• 💰 A competitive salary package including bonus and medical insurance benefits
• ✈️ Extra Annual Leave entitlement
• 🏡 Flexible working 
• Ongoing learning and career development opportunities

Octopus has built an exciting and inclusive high-performance culture where employees feel empowered. We also understand the value of diversity, and we are dedicated to creating an inclusive workplace environment. We would welcome people of all backgrounds to apply. 

Our Values 

At Octopus we don’t just focus on what we do but also how we do it. Everyone to shares our values of being straightforward, helpful, and bold. Our culture is critical to our success and is built around three principles that underpin how we pursue our goals:

• Be Bold – We like people who make decisions quickly and are OK changing their mind if it turns out there’s a better way of doing things.
• Be Helpful – We like People who behave like it always day one and who remember without our customers there is no business.
• Be Straightforward – We like people who have opinions and express them in a way that’s respectful and easy to understand.