Senior Lead Sustainable Infrastructures/Cities, Switzerland

South Pole is an energetic, global company offering comprehensive sustainability solutions and services. With offices spanning all continents across the globe, we strive to create a sustainable society and economy that positively impacts our climate, ecosystems and developing communities. With our solutions, we inspire and enable our customers to create value from sustainability-related activities.

Job summary:

South Pole is one of the partners in a consortium of European organizations that have been mandated to work with European cities to develop, implement, action, and finance their Net Zero Investment Plans to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. This mandate, known as NetZeroCities (NZC), is an initiative launched as part of the European Green Deal and directly linked to the European Commission’s Mission for 100 Climate-neutral and Smart Cities by 2030.

South Pole’s core role in the NZC project is to provide technical assistance to 100+ selected European cities to further advance projects in the development process and facilitate access to finance from public and private investors. Our technical assistance offering supports cities in the project preparation process of individual urban infrastructure projects, sector/geography-based bundled projects, and overall city investment plans and investment opportunities.

The main objective of this role is to take on responsibility for selected technical assistance (project preparation support, economic and financial modelling, financial structuring and investment advisory, as well as capacity building) provision to cities for their sustainable infrastructure projects to support them towards access to finance. Depending on your expertise and interests you will be working on projects in the renewable energy, energy efficiency, built environment, sustainable transportation, urban greening/NBS, circular economy, and/or carbon removal sector. Thereby, you will collaborate with a broad range of public and private partners, clients, and stakeholders from the financial, infrastructure, public administration, and private sector.

This is a mid-to-senior professional role, with the potential to grow depending on mandate scope growth and follow-on mandates. You will be part of an international team of infrastructure, climate finance, and technical assistance experts within South Pole and work with a variety of consortium partners across the EU in a European flagship program to reduce emissions and increase the quality of livelihood in Cities.

Your work location must be in Switzerland, but with the option and interest to travel within Europe.

Main responsibilities

Responsible for technical assistance/consultancy provision to municipal sustainable infrastructure projects to support them in project preparation towards access to finance (sector preferences depending on experience and interest, see sectors in text above and requirements below);

Coordinate small teams of internal and external experts to provide expertise and prepare deliverables for the technical assistance provision to municipal sustainable infrastructure projects along the sustainable infrastructure project preparation process (from project scoping and pre-feasibility studies to business model definition support, to further advancing project preparation and documentation towards transaction readiness, to financial structuring, investor engagement and transaction support) ;

Depending on interest and experience: Take on responsibility for certain workstreams that South Pole is involved in/or responsible for in the scope of the program, e.g. financial modeling, capacity-building sessions for Cities, investor roundtables, and pitches, impact framework development, risk mapping exercises and mapping against existing standards.

Participate in planning and coordination calls with South Pole’s partner organisations within the NZC program and depending on experience and preference take over certain coordination responsibilities in close alignment with the NZC team lead;

Contribute to deliverables, reports, and publications;

Contribute to and potentially lead the elaboration of additional funding proposals and business development efforts for additional mandates in the sustainable infrastructure sector.

Contribute to the capacity building of the NZC team at South Pole and in the NZC consortium through your sector-specific expertise in infrastructure project preparation and investor engagement;

Requirements:

Essential -

• University degree in civil engineering, business/industrial engineering, urban planning, sustainable finance, business, economics, or similar;
• Min. 7 years of hands-on experience in (urban) sustainable infrastructure project planning and/or financing in one or several of the following sectors (renewable energy, energy efficiency/built-environment, district heating & cooling, sustainable transportation, waste management and circular economy, nature-based solutions/urban greening, carbon removal projects or similar), preferably in a European context;
• Sustained understanding and hands-on experience with the structuring/set-up of different business and financing models across one or several of the infrastructure sectors outlined;
• Several years of consultancy or technical assistance experience ideally for public sector mandates;
• Strong project management and communication skills;
• Pro-active, independent, solution and customer-oriented working style;
• Interested in on-the-job learning, is stimulated by a challenging work environment and brings persistence to overcome setbacks;
• Working proficiency in English;

Desirable -

• Had prior exposure to (public) multi-stakeholder projects for which continuous alignment and coordination is necessary;
• Comprehensive understanding of financial markets, financial structuring, and investment instruments as they apply to sustainable infrastructure projects;
• Comprehensive understanding of the EU public and private financing landscape, as well as public procurement processes and guidelines;
• Proven experience of engagement with public and private sector financing institutions

What we offer:

At South Pole, we care about our employees as much as we care about the planet. South Pole is not just an employer, we are a Team. South Pole does not just offer people a job, we offer you a career. By joining our team, you will find strong purpose and deep meaning in everything you do. You will have the chance to make a real difference for our clients and for the planet, working alongside a passionate team of like-minded colleagues, while building your knowledge/skills and developing your career in a fun, dynamic, international and fast-growing organisation.

We’re a planet of 7.5 billion unique and different people. We all have a contribution to make and South Pole is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, marital status or disability. Our recruitment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.