Senior Engineer

New Energy Risk (NER) helps solve global challenges at an industrial scale. Our clients are technology and project developers seeking capital to commercialize their novel technologies. We assess both commercial and technology risk and design insurance solutions that relocate these risks from the capital markets to the insurance markets. As a result of this risk transfer, our products reduce our clients’ cost of capital and accelerate their commercialization. More, faster, and cheaper capital investment promotes the deployment of critical innovations against climate change, pollution, and other issues facing our world today. Over just the past six years, NER’s small team has helped unlock over $2.5B in capital for a range of projects, including fuel cells for Bloom Energy, RES Polyflow’s conversion of plastic waste to fuel, and the advancement of medical isotope technology by SHINE.

NER is a unique platform with partners including some of the world’s largest insurance companies and institutional investors. Founded in 2010, we have the reputation of an established company with the nimbleness of a startup. We are growing rapidly to meet market demand as more capital flows toward emerging energy and other technology markets.

NER has reached an inflection point across several high-growth sectors with enormous potential. Inbound deal flow has accelerated, and we now have the increasing need to hire a self-starting individual who can work both independently and collaboratively to lead technical diligence efforts for some of our clients. The senior engineer, reporting to the president (our technical diligence lead), will be an integral part of the technical diligence team for detailed diligence activities with engaged clients. This role is also responsible for supporting our business development team in the review of prospective clients. The senior engineer’s overall goal is to work with clients to understand their unique technologies and perform technical risk analyses, both through rapid initial screens in the client intake process and through detailed reviews as part of our in-depth diligence process.

NER is at the intersection of technical diligence, structured project financing, and sales. An ideal applicant for the principal engineer will have skills relating to these disciplines:

1. Background and experience in independent technical review. NER works with novel and innovative technology suppliers and developers to facilitate their projects. A successful candidate will be skilled at independently performing reviews of client technology (including technologies with which the candidate has limited or no prior experience), placing it within market and technical contexts, asking situationally appropriate questions, and evaluating client-supplied materials. Ideally candidates will have experience in technology development and scale-up, engineering design, project development, and construction/commissioning processes for infrastructure projects (including EPC activities, FEED or FEL engineering, FMEA analysis, RAM analyses, P&IDs, HMBs, risk registers, commissioning plans, and commissioning operations).
2. Project development literacy. NER facilitates project financing across a variety of technical sectors, countries, and capital providers. A successful candidate will have general familiarity with project structuring and the various stages of project development. For example, knowledge of the roles of an EPC, owner’s IE, and lender’s IE in a project transaction.
3. Experience on or interacting with sales or business development teams. Our project-developer clients are ‘going from zero to one’ and our business development team is eager to provide them with rapid, accurate feedback on our ability to support them. NER seeks to partner with these developers by providing a variety of support services during project development. A successful candidate will possess experience in the sales or business development process and will be skilled at identifying key questions and weaknesses in technical information quickly and independently to support our business development team.

Other day-to-day tasks for the senior engineer include but are not limited to:

• Serving as a primary point of contact for the client technical team in their interactions with NER
• Engaging in written and verbal communications with clients, both remotely and during on-site visits
• Reviewing overview commercial information from a client to support the diligence effort
• Working with clients to refine their project structures to better support or mitigate technical risks
• Auditing clients to check progress of technology development, system construction, or facility operation
• Collaborating with colleagues to successfully transition clients to policy execution and insurance policy issuance
• Engaging in written and verbal communications with insurers, particularly insurer engineers, in support of insurance approvals
• Meeting with NER ecosystem stakeholders, such as capital providers and insurance brokers
• Supporting NER thought leadership by authoring company blog posts or articles

With considerations in place for COVID-19 restrictions and CDC guidelines, eventual domestic and occasional international travel to client sites for audits and site visits is required (approximately 20%).

Qualifications

New Energy Risk is an equal opportunity employer. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are values we uphold as a team. Qualified applicants of any background are encouraged to apply. (However, at this time, we are unable to offer visas and will only hire those legally permitted to work in the US.)

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field relevant to NER’s primary lines of business in energy transition technologies (mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, materials science, or similar)
• 5+ years’ experience in the engineering field supporting project development or engineering
• Deep experience with independent technical diligence/review for projects (ideally as part of an EPC, IE, technology licensor, or other engineering support organization)
• Exposure to project development
• Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated excellent quantitative skills
• Ability to multitask and manage multiple projects/clients at once
• Highly organized and excellent attention to detail
• Proficiency in MS PowerPoint, Word, Excel
• A team player with a desire to work with close-knit and high-performing colleagues

Desired

• Master’s degree or other advanced degree in a technical field relevant to NER’s primary lines of business
• Experience at an EPC performing FEED analyses and supporting the startup of facilities
• Proficiency with Python, Matlab, Aspen
• Familiarity with macrotrends in the renewable energy industry, both commercially and technologically
• Familiarity with Salesforce or similar CRM systems

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary commensurate with experience
• Annual bonus incentive
• Stock options
• Unlimited vacation
• Group health insurance options (including dental, vision, life, disability)
• 401(k)