We are seeking a Senior Commercial Manager, based in either Cape Town or Johannesburg, working for a global renewable energy company.
The Senior Commercial Manager will be responsible to conclude PPAs for green electricity sold to commercial and industrial customers (C&I) from assets developed in South Africa.
The preferred candidate has professional experience in energy procurement and a comprehensive understanding of the South Africa power market, how to structure and execute power purchase agreements in that market, and a wide network of contacts and potential off takers in South Africa.
The Senior Commercial Manager will work closely with other departments in commercial negotiations, structuring and modelling of renewable energy business cases and analysis of term sheets and contracts for power offtakes, as well as on the development of the team's analytical capabilities.
Responsibilities:
- Work to position us as a supplier of choice for green electricity to utilities/traders and commercial and industrial customers (C&I) in South Africa.
- Originate offtake for long-term and short-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), as well as other agreements needed for the commercialisation of power from assets under development in South Africa.
- Manage relationships with local consultants supporting on PPA activities.
- Coordinate with project finance, project development, project management and technical teams to ensure contracts are aligned with the project development profile (schedule, cost, risk etc.)
- Prepare and coordinate tender processes/RFPs/RFIs for project pipeline with different counterparties
- Work on RfP processes from C&I customers for solar projects in selected focus countries and manage related processes
- Support internal analyses of commercial offers received as well as the development of commercial offers made to utilities/traders and industrial customers
Requirements:
- Master or Bachelor's Degree in a relevant subject area, preferable finance, legal, engineering, business
- A minimum of 5 years' experience within renewable energy or mining
- Track record of successfully closed offtake-agreements
- Proven network with key energy use sectors within South Africa
- Familiarity with the private tender processes within South Africa
- Understanding of the project and corporate structure of large-scale renewable energy projects
- Understanding of South African energy market specifically off-take possibilities
- Experience and familiarity with structured project finance and the sensitivities of equity and debt providers related to the respective terms of the PPA
- Attentive to details as well as being able to understand the broader picture
- Self-driven and able to work flexibly with stakeholders from different cultures
- Experience with complex, multi-stakeholder projects
- Strong commercial and proactive mindset with the ability to take initiative across multiple tasks
- Strong negotiating and problem solving skills
- Solid technical acumen for or existing knowledge of PV-technology, project development, construction, operation, maintenance and performance
- Intercultural competence and team-player
- Fluent in English. Additional languages would be an asset
