NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Duties:

– Handle a range of activities in the structured debt finance origination process, including reviewing business plans, off-take agreements, financial model projections, and financial model sensitivities for structured debt finance applications in the climate finance sector.
– Handle a range of activities in the political risk insurance origination process, including reviewing project information memoranda for political risk insurance for climate finance based projects, particularly debt-for-nature swaps enabling blue bonds and green bonds for conservation and climate adaptation.
– Analyze the nature of the investment, equity and loan instruments involved in climate finance projects overseas.
– Prepare portions of necessary documents and memoranda required in the Agency’s approval process.
– Negotiate terms and conditions in insurance contracts and structured debt finance agreements.
– Conduct research and analysis.
– Conduct outreach to expand the prospective insurance and structured debt finance pipeline for climate finance projects.

Conditions of Employment

– Must be a U.S. Citizen or National
– Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service
– Must submit resume and supporting documents (See How To Apply)
– Suitability for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation
– May be required to successfully complete a probationary period
– Within 30 days of your start date, you may be required to file a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 450)
– Must be able to obtain and maintain a secret clearance
– This position will require foreign travel to developing countries

Qualifications

Applicants must meet all eligibility and qualification requirements no later than the closing date of this announcement.

You may qualify at the GS-11 level, if you fulfill one of the following qualification requirements:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your experience in all of the following:
1) Experience working with a team on international projects or investments under supervision of a senior specialist, while working at a commercial bank, investment bank, international financial institution, or multilateral organization;
2) Experience conducting analyses in two of the following five areas:

– financial analysis,
– calculating credit risk exposure,
– financial modeling of financial projections,
– detailed credit analysis of international ventures, or
– market analysis of business ventures in developing countries, where work product is presented to more senior specialists; and

3) Experience assessing country risk for projects located in developing countries.

OR

B. A Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree; or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree; or possession of a LL.M. degree, if related. Graduate level education must demonstrate the competencies necessary to do the work of the position;

OR

C. A combination of education and experience as listed above.

You may qualify at the GS-12 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirements:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your experience in all of the following:
1) Experience working with a team on international projects or investments while working at a commercial bank, investment bank, international financial institution, or multilateral organization;
2) Experience reviewing financial statements for businesses located in developing countries;
3) Experience building financial models to determine ability of a company to repay its debt and sensitivity analyses to test those assumptions;
4) Experience conducting in three of the following four areas:

– financial analysis of international ventures,
– calculating credit risk exposure of international ventures,
– detailed credit analysis of international ventures, or
– market analysis of business ventures in developing countries; and

5) Experience identifying international financial or investment policy issues to identify two of the following three areas: political, economic or credit risks of projects located outside the United States.

Note: Education is not substitutional at this grade level.

You may qualify at the GS-13 level, if you fulfill the following qualification requirements:
A. One year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the Federal service that demonstrates your experience in all of the following:
1. Conducting the full origination of credit and/or political risk insurance applications for projects, including three of the following:

– macro-economic, sector/industry and political risk analysis
– financial analysis
– legal structuring
– presentation to Insurance approval committees as part of a team;

2. Conducting and reviewing project finance loan origination, including five of the following:

– financial analysis
– legal structuring
– economic or political risk analysis
– detailed credit analysis
– presentation to Finance Credit approval committees as part of a team
– loan negotiations of limited recourse finance transactions in developing countries;

3. Expert level experience in creating, analyzing, auditing, and running sensitivities on financial models for debt finance in the project finance manner for projects located in developing markets;
4. Working on the most complex international investments or international financial transactions in a commercial bank, investment bank, international financial institution, or multilateral organization; AND
5. Experience in the financial services industry with experience gained in at least three of the following areas:

– project finance
– corporate finance
– accounting
– credit analysis
– international investments
– commercial/investment banking

Note: Education is not substitutional at this grade level.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.