Associate, Solar Financing

Cape Town, South Africa
negotiable Expires in 3 weeks

JOB DETAIL

The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with majority of our staff based in program countries. Learn more about our exciting work: http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

CHAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to providing an environment of fairness, and mutual respect where all applicants have access to equal employment opportunities. CHAI values diversity and inclusion and recognizes that our mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people with diverse experience, backgrounds, and culture.

Team Overview

CHAI in South Africa is building out a new team that will work on blended and climate finance for health. This team will work on a new program that aims to enable health facility solar electrification at scale and energy efficiency at public health facilities, by working with governments to aggregate large numbers of health facilities into portfolios, that will allow for a different type of financing to be deployed to enable solar electrification to the usual project or pilot based grant financing approach that has traditionally been used. Blended financing structures typically used to support IPP’s and solar project developers might work better to align incentives around system performance, as long as appropriate de-risking instruments are included. Working with portfolios of facilities also allows for bundling of Operations and Maintenance service contracts, which can be negotiated to link payments to outcomes (system performance and uptime).

Responsibilities

CHAI is seeking an Associate who will work as part of a new team within CHAI’s health financing group, that will work on structuring deals in blended and climate finance for health. This role will specifically work on supporting preparatory work in South Africa to arrange financing at scale to electrify hundreds of health facilities and increase energy efficiency through innovative means.

Specific responsibilities include the following:

  • Develop and maintain financial models to estimate capital expenditures (capex) and operating expenses (opex) for solar electrification of health facilities. This includes analyzing various technology types, fleet sizes, and blended finance structures to provide insights into financial implications for governments and private partners.
  • Collaborate with industry stakeholders such as solar developers, EPCs, O&M contractors, and equipment suppliers (OEMs and distributors) to gather market data, pricing insights, and key trends that drive solar electrification projects.
  • Support data collection, analysis, and reporting to inform decisions for governments and private sector partners, ensuring that data-driven insights are incorporated into policy recommendations and project design.
  • Support the roll-out of energy efficiency projects in the public sector
  • Assist in public-private partnerships (PPP) for climate & health infrastructure projects by:
  • Conducting technical and financial analysis to guide government decisions on infrastructure design and financing.
  • Managing early-stage market engagement activities with bidders and investors.
  • Supporting government partners throughout procurement processes, from prequalification and tendering to finalizing agreements.
  • Prepare detailed presentations, reports, and financial analyses to inform key stakeholders, including governments, donors, solar companies, and investors, ensuring clarity and alignment across project objectives.
  • Present findings and insights to both internal and external audiences, showcasing the impact of solar electrification projects on health infrastructure at conferences and meetings.
  • Grant management responsibilities, including work-planning, budgeting, and reporting, ensuring donor requirements are met and timelines adhered to.

Qualifications

  • Ability to navigate complex governmental and organizational processes, and effectively influence decision-making in collaborative, multi-stakeholder environments.
  • Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Business, Economics, Finance, Engineering, or related fields, with at least 4 years of professional experience in public or private sectors, demonstrating increasing responsibility.
  • Strong analytical and financial modeling skills, with extensive experience in Excel and PowerPoint, including presenting data-driven recommendations to senior leadership.
  • Entrepreneurial and solution-oriented mindset, with the ability to tackle complex projects independently in fast-paced, high-pressure environments.
  • Strategic thinker, capable of aligning long-term program goals with actionable steps, ensuring both short- and long-term objectives are met.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, able to build relationships and interact with confidence, humility and respect with diverse partners, including government officials, private sector representatives, and NGOs
  • Preferred background in management consulting, investment banking, private equity, or renewable energy sectors, with strong exposure to financial structuring or energy projects.

Attributes:

  • Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with demonstrated experience in building financial models using Excel or similar tools.
  • Proven ability to build and maintain professional relationships with key stakeholders in diverse, multi-cultural settings. Experience engaging with government stakeholders is a plus.
  • Strategic thinker, able to align long-term objectives with actionable steps to achieve program goals effectively.
  • Comfortable navigating ambiguity, and capable of working through complexity and operational challenges with resilience and adaptability.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset, with a track record of performing under pressure and in unstructured environments, consistently delivering high-quality results.
  • Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, capable of engaging diplomatically and professionally with a wide range of stakeholders in multi-cultural contexts.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and persuasively in English.
  • Collaborative mindset, adept at navigating complex governmental and organizational processes while influencing decision-making in a professional and cooperative manner.

Willingness to travel as required, with estimated travel between 25-50%.

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Cape Town, South Africa

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