Director of Underwriting | DG Solar & Storage IPP | NYC
The Company:
We have partnered with a leading distributed generation solar & storage developer, owner, and operator, in their search for a Director of Underwriting. Founded over a decade ago, with private-equity backing, they manage a 450+ MW portfolio across the U.S., with a focus on commercial, industrial, and community solar projects. The company is dedicated to advancing the clean energy transition through responsible investment and long-term partnerships.
The Role:
The Director of Underwriting will serve as the champion of their financial modeling and underwriting processes, ensuring models are accurate, disciplined, and aligned with company return targets. Reporting to the Senior Director of Origination, this role oversees the underwriting of solar DG projects across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest markets. The Director of Underwriting will drive consistency and rigor across the underwriting function, partnering closely with development, finance, and legal teams to ensure all projects meet the company’s investment criteria before advancing.
Key Responsibilities:
Underwriting:
- Own and champion the end-to-end underwriting process for solar DG projects, setting standards for model structure, assumption inputs, and investment return thresholds aligned with company targets across the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest markets,
- Build, maintain, and continuously improve detailed financial models for solar projects, incorporating energy pricing, offtake structures, incentive programs (ITC, SREC, net metering), cash flow projections, and sensitivity analyses,
- Conduct rigorous due diligence on project underwriting inputs, reviewing offtake agreements, interconnection terms, site control documentation, and regulatory approvals to identify, quantify, and mitigate risks prior to investment committee approval,
- Maintain deep fluency in market-specific dynamics across the Northeast (NY, CT, MA), Mid-Atlantic (NJ, PA, MD), and Midwest (IL, MN, OH) solar markets, including state, incentive programs, utility rate structures, interconnection queues, and regulatory developments.
Financial Modeling & Process Oversight:
- Establish and enforce standardized underwriting assumptions, templates, and approval workflows to ensure consistency and accuracy across the project portfolio,
- Partner with the development team to underwrite projects at each stage of the pipeline, providing go/no-go recommendations and clearly communicating the financial rationale to senior leadership,
- Review and stress-test project financial models against a range of scenarios including energy price volatility, construction cost overruns, interconnection delays, and incentive policy changes,
- Track and analyze actual project performance versus underwritten projections, using variance analysis to continuously refine modeling assumptions and improve forecasting accuracy,
- Serve as the internal subject matter expert on project finance structures, tax equity, and debt financing applicable to distributed generation solar assets,
- Support lender and investor diligence processes by preparing and presenting underwriting materials, model outputs, and market analyses to external financial partners.
Requirements:
- MBA or bachelor’s degree in finance, engineering, or a related field,
- 5-8+ years of experience in solar project finance or underwriting, with direct exposure to distributed generation markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and/or Midwest,
- Exceptional financial modeling skills with demonstrated expertise in DG solar project underwriting, including sensitivity analysis, IRR/NPV analysis, and project finance structures (tax equity, debt),
- Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to clearly convey complex financial analysis and underwriting conclusions to senior leadership and investment committees,
- Proven track record of building or improving underwriting processes and financial modeling standards within a solar developer or project finance environment,
- Prior buyside experience at a fund, infrastructure investor, or institutional acquirer of renewable energy assets, with a strong understanding of how capital partners evaluate and underwrite solar investments,
- Demonstrated ability to model across the full asset lifecycle, including greenfield development-stage projects, operating assets, and battery energy storage systems (BESS), with fluency in the distinct risk profiles, revenue streams, and financing considerations applicable to each.
Director of Underwriting | DG Solar & Storage IPP | NYC