Head of Project Finance

☀️ About Bright:

At Bright, we are building a global movement to rapidly spread clean energy across Mexico and beyond. Our mission is to REVERSE global warming, and we’re starting with Mexico.

Today, Bright is Mexico’s #1 distributed generation solar financier (think Sunrun for the developing world, starting first in Mexico). We provide a distributed solar operating system that enables thousands to offer cheaper electricity to homes at no upfront cost, and we work with our network of project financiers, local installers and local distributors to satisfy the resulting demand. Our first market is Mexico, which has more sun, higher electricity rates, and lower labor costs than the US. Bright’s investors include IFU DK (press release here), First Round Capital, Y Combinator, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Servitje, the founders of Sunrun and Tesla, and other top Silicon Valley firms.

We’re fast-moving and results-oriented; we’re passionate about spreading solar energy as fast as humanly possible while having fun doing it. We believe we have one of the highest employee net promoter scores in the industry, and we’re committed to becoming the top employers of choice in sustainability.

While Bright shares the same benefits many startups offer, we also have a few unique ones:

Directly solving one of the 21st century’s largest problems: affordable, clean energy

• A measured impact, daily – while most startups claim to “make the world a better place”, Bright actually is

• Travel – the ability to travel to Mexico and worldwide as Bright expands.

• Being part of a dynamic new industry – as solar prices continue to drop, the industry is rapidly changing. Bright is leading the charge.

• 💼 About the position:

We are looking for a mission-driven rising star to lead our project finance efforts and drive down our cost of capital. Today, we are partnered with the InterAmerican Development Bank, and we have tremendous mezzanine debt and warehouse providers as well. As we prepare to continue growing >2x each year over the next two years, expanding and furthering these key lender relationships and attracting and developing new ones will be critical. In this role, you will develop new relationships to help us expand and ensure Bright retains its market-leading position as the premier financing solution for solar products for each of our four main customer segments.

You should be highly adept at navigating ambiguous situations and balancing many stakeholders to find the best solution from a capital perspective, someone who thrives communicating with third parties, including Lenders and Trustees, someone who possesses strong communication skills (both written and verbal), and someone who excels in organizational skills and time management. You should be an experienced negotiator and comfortable with advanced financial tools and structures to propose and secure agreements that address both the lender’s and Bright’s needs and interests.

💻 Your tasks and responsibilities will be:

• Lower our cost of capital with the right balance of flexibility to still enable growth and high sales conversion
• Develop a roadmap to lower the cost of capital and increase underwriting flexibility over time, developing the industry-leading relationships to do so
• Audit and improve complex project finance models for internal and external parties to evaluate renewable energy projects during various stages of development, construction, and operation on an individual and portfolio basis
• Independently develop and run sensitivities in models and quantify the resultant impact on sponsor IRR and margin
• Ensure we always have availability of project finance capital to fuel growth
• Work with product, sales, and legal teams to ensure our products can continue to address sales team wishlists with lender requirements successfully – find the ‘win-wins.’
• Improve compliance protocols to ensure lender and internal reporting deliverables are on time, robust, and accurate, as well as efficiently prepared.

🎯 Your Key Results will be:

• Reduce spreads: Secure agreements with lenders that offer market-leading terms based on Bright’s top-tier underwriting and collections processes, which have ensured portfolio performance
• While we do not control base rates, KR will continue to contract spreads on financings
• Increase underwriting flexibility: work with sales and product to determine what additional flexibility will unlock new markets and then work to enable those needs while ensuring the lowest cost of capital
• Bandwidth to move as fast as we expect to grow: Build a team and develop specialists who are viewed by the finance community as the best in the business in the markets we serve.
• Each of our lenders to date has extended or expanded their original loan agreements with Bright. Like how we strive to deliver customer satisfaction, we wish to satisfy lenders.
• Capital availability: From warehouse lines to long-term debt, this team will work to ensure Bright has sufficient capital to fund its aggressive growth goals.
• Working to match lenders with the new products and market Bright will serve!

🥇 We’re looking for someone who:

• Required:
• 10+ years of project finance, corporate finance, or investment banking experience in renewable energy or similar industry, securing industry-leading lending partnerships
• Sector and debt advisory/structuring expertise to assist in M&A and other event situations (buy/sell-side roles, deal contingent hedging, debt capital markets)
• Has led, structured, underwritten, and executed renewable energy and energy transition financing transactions in the Americas
• Has deep familiarity with project finance and structured finance
• Demonstrated ability to bring closure to complex and high-value business transactions under tight timeframes and with many internal and external stakeholders;
• Robust financial acumen and strong modeling proficiency (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.)
• Ability to negotiate a term sheet and then take it through to final loan agreement documentation efficiently leveraging outside counsel
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English (and Spanish is a plus as well)
• Preference will be given to someone with:
• Experience leading a team of 3-7 people
• Charismatic individual, one whom lending partners will want to work and with whom they’ll have the utmost confidence in your clear expertise and domain knowledge
• Ability to ruthlessly prioritize in a fast-paced environment and navigate complicated stakeholder relationships to do so
• Strong communication skills with a proven track record in building relationships and working in cross-functional collaborative teams
• A sense of urgency; you’re great at solving problems in short periods
• Experience creating investor marketing materials, including teasers, CIMs, and managing data rooms.

✅ Benefits:

• The opportunity to learn firsthand about the distributed generation regulatory scheme in México while being a part of the fastest-growing startup in the country.
• A fun, high-caliber team that trusts you and gives you the freedom to be brilliant.
• Possibility to generate equity at Bright
• Private health insurance
• Access to cost-free mental health care
• Parental leave
• Access to mentorship programs
• Remote work

Somos una empresa de energía solar que busca combinar la más alta tecnología y capital de Silicon Valley, con el mejor talento de México. Con un equipo innovador, en Bright buscamos proporcionar una fuente de energía limpia de manera accesible y confiable. Utilizar energía solar ayuda al medio ambiente a reducir emisiones que son dañinas para la salud.
Con más de 2,700 suscriptores en toda la República Mexicana, y con aliados como Costco y Liverpool, una suscripción solar con Bright permite transformar tu casa o negocio en un lugar sustentable de manera sencilla.