Senior Associate, Project Finance

Senior Associate, Project Finance

Columbia, SC or Washington, DC

The Nuclear Company is the fastest growing startup in the nuclear and energy space creating a never before seen fleet-scale approach to building nuclear reactors. Through its design-once, build-many approach and coalition building across communities, regulators, and financial stakeholders, The Nuclear Company is committed to delivering safe and reliable electricity at the lowest cost, while catalyzing the nuclear industry toward rapid development in America and globally.

About the Role

This position is ideal for a highly analytical finance professional who thrives at the intersection of infrastructure, energy, and capital markets. The Senior Associate will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams across the organization (commercial, technical and legal) to facilitate origination, structure contracts, optimize project economics, and execute complicated and multi-party capital financing transactions to support TNC's execution.

Responsibilities

• Financial Modeling & Analysis
  • Build and maintain detailed project-level and portfolio financial models incorporating capital costs, operating assumptions, and financing terms.
  • Perform scenario and sensitivity analyses to evaluate key drivers of project economics and risk-return profiles.
  • Support valuation of structured financing transactions including sponsor equity, tax equity, project debt, and public-private partnerships.
• Transaction Support
  • Support the execution of complex project finance transactions, including due diligence, documentation review, and coordination with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Prepare investment materials, term sheets, and presentation decks for internal leadership, lenders, and investors.
  • Conduct market and comparable analysis to benchmark financing terms and support negotiation strategy.
• Strategic Collaboration
  • Partner with cross-functional teams (Legal, Development, Engineering, and Government Affairs) to align financing structures with technical, regulatory, and policy objectives.
  • Closely coordinate with FP&A to assess impact of project-level economics in TNC's corporate financial plan.
  • Support the development of project pipelines and capital deployment strategies aligned with company growth plans.
  • Interface with potential lenders, investors, and advisors to build strong external relationships and represent the company in financing discussions.
• Process & Systems Development
  • Contribute to building internal project finance processes, tools, and templates to support repeatable, scalable deal execution.
  • Help establish key performance metrics and reporting standards for project-level and portfolio-wide financial performance.

Required Experience

Mission-driven, with a passion for accelerating clean energy and infrastructure development.

• Education & Experience
  • Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Engineering, or related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
  • 5+ years of experience in project finance, investment banking, private equity, or corporate finance ideally within energy, infrastructure, or industrial sectors.
• Skills & Competencies
  • Exceptional analytical and quantitative skills, with advanced proficiency in Excel and financial modeling of levered non-recourse projects.
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complicated concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced startup environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with modeling tax equity partnership economics (including full capital account build-ups)
• Familiarity with government-backed financing mechanisms, tax incentives, or DOE/loan guarantee programs is a plus.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation packages
• 401k with company match
• Medical, dental, vision plans
• Generous vacation policy, plus holidays

The estimated starting salary range for this role is $118,000 - $140,000 annually less applicable withholdings and deductions, paid on a bi-weekly basis. The actual salary offered may vary based on relevant factors as determined in the Company's discretion, which may include experience, qualifications, tenure, skill set, availability of qualified candidates, geographic location, certifications held, and other criteria deemed pertinent to the particular role.

The Nuclear Company is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an environment of inclusion in the workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We prohibit discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, compensation, and termination.

Certain positions at The Nuclear Company may involve access to information and technology subject to export controls under U.S. law. Compliance with these export controls may result in The Nuclear Company limiting its consideration of certain applicants.

Your safety is our priority. We want to ensure your job search stays secure. Please note that the team at The Nuclear Company only communicates through official @thenuclearcompany.com email addresses. We will never ask for payments or sensitive financial information at any stage of our recruitment process. For your peace of mind, please verify all openings and submit your applications directly through our official careers page: Careers