Investment Associate, Octopus Energy Group
Octopus Energy Generation
$150-200k
+ Equity Options
3 days a week in office
The UK's most awarded energy supplier
Job no longer available
The UK's most awarded energy supplier
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$150-200k
+ Equity Options
3 days a week in office
1001+ employees
Company mission
To make a big green dent in the universe by building a truly sustainable energy system globally.
Role
Who you are
- Keen interest in the renewable energy sector in North America with a focus on the United States
- Prior experience, ideally in a renewable energy or infrastructure transaction role, from an investment bank, project finance lender, a fund manager, industrial or in a corporate finance team at one of the big 4 accountants
- Strong analytical and Excel financial modelling skills, including VBA
- Understanding of financial valuation theories coupled with core accounting and tax skills and an ability to read financial statements confidently
- Exceptional project management and organizational skills. Evidence of managing complex workloads in a fast-paced environment
- An ability to understand risks, reach a balanced appraisal of probability and severity, and communicate risk mitigation strategies
- Commercial mindset, able to understand and communicate the impact of commercial positions on potential investments and the potential to own increasing degrees of decision making over time
- A self starter with tenacity, initiative and a willingness to commit to deliver
- Growth mindset to continually improve the way we work and the results we achieve
- A strong team player with the confidence to exercise judgement appropriately, challenge and coordinate with colleagues at all levels of seniority
What the job involves
- The Investment Associate role presents a unique opportunity to be a key team member in an entrepreneurial, growing team and drive forward the strategy to become a specialist energy transition fund manager in North America
- In addition, you will have exposure to the other Octopus Energy Group companies in the United States including Kraken Technologies USA (tech platform) and Octopus Energy US (electricity retailer). Together, these entities have the mission to innovate and participate in the drive to net zero in North America
- Assist in origination activities and tracking of potential investment opportunities in North America
- Evaluate new opportunities, considering returns in the context of identified risks, how these can be managed, and other mitigating factors. Opportunities will be either asset-level or platform investments but we expect a strong focus on core renewable generation (e.g. wind, solar, storage)
- Analyze, own and maintain complex financial models which will include tax equity funding and back leverage facilities
- Manage due diligence processes for transactions (including managing third party financial, legal, market and technical due diligence providers)
- Prepare investment papers detailing new opportunities and strategic initiatives
- Assist in the preparation of transaction documents including reviewing and assisting negotiations of contractual terms
- Support on arranging tax equity funding and project finance as required which will include management of tax equity sponsors, lenders, and their advisors
- Support on fundraising materials (presentation and financial models) as required to bring in new sources of US capital
- Provide assistance on portfolio valuation, asset management and reporting process to investors
Our take
According to Octopus, the energy industry in the UK is ruled by a handful of complacent companies peddling fossil fuels, pricing trickery, and poor customer service. Aiming to disrupt the status quo with sustainable energy, Octopus entered the market in 2016 and now supplies energy to millions of homes in a number of countries. Octopus has made a name for itself in energy circles largely because of its “Kraken” technology platform, which it claims is able to reroute energy from renewable sources around a network far more efficiently than competitors.
Octopus further differentiates itself through its aspiration to make everything as easy as possible for consumers, from the simplicity of their bills and the fact that customers are not locked into a contract, so they can leave at any time, to offering customer service over email and social media at times that suit customers. It aims to make the eco‐friendly choice the easy choice, so all of its tariffs use 100% green electricity, while being cheaper than competitors' non-green tariffs.
Its continually creating innovative new products too. For example, Octopus Tracker, where prices change daily to guarantee you get the market rate; Agile, where the price changes every half hour to enable you to benefit from cheap electricity when the sun shines, the wind blows, and the networks are under-utilised. One of the current challenges the company faces is that its products are more complex than its competitors, given that it uses 1000x more data than traditional energy companies. Because of this, it's exploring ways to explain to customers exactly how their products work.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Dec 2023
$800m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Jul 2022
$225m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Total funding: $2.6bn
Company benefits
- Equity Option Scheme
- Pension Scheme: We'll pay 5%. You can decide what you contribute, starting from 3%
- Money Coach: You may want to think about financial planning. The company has an arrangement with Octopus Money Coach . They offer the opportunity to talk with a professional coach
- Holidays: We're all grown ups, so we don't count your holidays here. We work hard and so we know you need to play hard as well (within reason of course)
- Flexible working: We're passionate about a genuine work-life balance here and we don't pay people to watch a clock. Need to catch that school nativity or work from home? That's cool
- Free Breakfast + other stuff: ice lollies if you're lucky)! Weekly on a Friday we all get together (this happens virtually too) for company updates and drinks - we call it Family Dinner
- Tech: We want to get the best out of our people and get that everyone is slightly different. Have a certain tech requirement? We’ll do our best to get it
- Car Salary Sacrifice: Browse the wide selection of electric vehicles and get a sample quote under our workplace salary sacrifice scheme. If approved, the monthly leasing costs are taken directly from your gross salary each month meaning you're saving on paying some tax
- Cycle to Work Scheme: The Cycle to Work Scheme is a cost effective way to “buy” a bike up to a value of £2.5K, which hopefully is enough for a decent commuting bike, even an electric one. This extends to the cost of accessories and safety equipment as well as the bike
- Season Ticket Loan: Commuting to the office on the regs? If you travel more than twice a week, it’s worthwhile getting an annual ticket. With our Season Ticket Loan, you can spread out the cost over 10 months. It’s quick and easy to sort. Once approved and ordered, your season ticket will be posted to you within 5 days or so
- Maternity leave: 16 weeks full pay + 8 weeks half pay + 15 weeks statutory maternity pay
- Paternity leave: 12 weeks full pay
- Private Medical Insurance: Say goodbye to long waiting lists! For anyone who wants some additional peace of mind when it comes to their health, we offer Private Healthcare Insurance at different levels of cover. The monthly costs are taken directly from your gross salary and spread across 12 months. You even save on National Insurance
- Gym & Yoga: You can get up to 25% discount on gym memberships and we have 45 minute live yoga classes open to all Octopus staff twice a week!
- Headspace: Need some calm in your life? We have 'Octopus Headspace Licences' available
- Eye Test: Free eye test vouchers for all colleagues who use Visual Display Units (VDU). Long spells of VDU work can often be visually demanding and can lead to tired eyes, discomfort, temporary short sightedness and headaches
Company HQ
Soho, London, UK
Articles
Leadership
Greg Jackson
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously an Adviser at Ashcombe Advisers for 9 years and a Non-Executive Director at Zopa for 7 years.
James Eddison
(CTO)Previously CEO at Claripoint for 7 years and CTO at Tangent Labs also for 7 years.
Stuart Jackson
(Co-Founder & CFO)Previously a Director of "Foundation" Business Unit at Barclaycard for 2 years and Chief of Staff, Secured Lending SBU at Barclays also for 2 years.
People progressing
Joined as Marketing Assistant, being promoted to Marketing Executive after 6 months and again to Junior Product and Marketing Manager after 7 months. After 8 months they became a full Product and Marketing Manager.
Joined as Senior Talent Partner, being promoted to Talent Manager after 1 year and again to Head of Talent Acquisition after 8 months.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Octopus Energy Group
- Unconscious Bias workshops for interviewers and hiring managers
- Octopus Energy Equality Foundation
- Partnership with the Saracens High School - inspiring future generations - https://www.saracens.com/powering-futures-together-saracens-high-school-octopus-energy/
- Octopus Energy Internships - https://octopus.energy/blog/ada-lovelace-tech-internship/
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