Investments Associate

Lightedge is seeking an Investments Associate to lead the review of site acquisitions and development projects. The Investments Associate reports to Vice President of Strategic Finance and plays a key role in Lightedge’s five-year plan to deliver 20MW of IT capacity per year across the portfolio. This role owns the financial modeling and underwriting behind new sites and expansions and prepares the investment materials for senior management and the Board of Directors.

Responsibilities

• Lead the review of site acquisitions and development projects in support of Lightedge’s five-year plan to deliver 20MW of IT capacity per year across the portfolio
• Work with internal stakeholders and third parties to qualify and disqualify potential acquisitions and development projects
• Lead financial modeling and underwriting for land and asset acquisitions, greenfield development and in-place capacity expansions
• Build and maintain project-level and consolidated return models, including IRR, NPV and yield-on-cost, with sensitivity and scenario analysis on power, cost, timing and absorption
• Review and own project budgets from initial underwriting through construction completion, tracking committed spend, actuals and forecast-to-complete against approved capital
• Create investment memos for board approval of projects, including transaction summary, market analysis, underwriting assumptions, returns, key risks and mitigants
• Build and maintain relationships with brokers in target markets to generate a steady pipeline of site acquisition and development opportunities
• Support monthly and quarterly board reporting on the development pipeline, capital deployment and project performance versus underwriting
• Coordinate due diligence with engineering, facilities, sales, legal and third-party consultants
• Evaluate power availability and utility economics, land basis, entitlements, construction cost and incentive packages as inputs to site selection
• Research and report on data center market supply, absorption and comparable transactions to expand market knowledge and support pipeline development

Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or equivalent is required
• 5+ years of experience in real estate or infrastructure investments, investment banking, private equity or corporate development
• Advanced financial modeling skills, including building project-level and consolidated models from scratch and applying IRR and ROI analysis
• Experience underwriting development or capital projects and owning capital budgets; data center, industrial or other capital-intensive real asset experience preferred
• Ability to analyze and interpret property-level information
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to prepare board- and executive-level materials that present complex analysis clearly and concisely
• Strong analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail and accuracy
• Extensive experience in working with large data sets and financial modeling
• Ability to meet deadlines, handle multiple priorities and perform job responsibilities while working in a fast-paced and vibrant environment
• Self-starter attitude with strong interpersonal skills and teamwork ability
• Extensive experience working with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint