Financial Modelling Lead

Why Imperative

Imperative is building one of the world’s most ambitious and scientifically rigorous portfolios of nature-based carbon removal projects. Operating across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, we develop large-scale reforestation, mangrove restoration and other ecosystem-restoration project assets under a build–own–operate model—ensuring scientific integrity, operational excellence, and long-term accountability.

We aim to set the global benchmark for quality, transparency, and durability in the markets for nature-based removal credits. Our projects integrate applied field ecology, major-projects project execution capabilities, advanced remote sensing, and state-of-the-art carbon measurement and modelling to deliver true, infrastructure-grade removal outcomes.

As our portfolio expands to hundreds of thousands of hectares, we are investing heavily in scientific leadership, data infrastructure, and innovation. This role will be at the centre of that ambition.

Our Values 

• Integrity: We act honourably and are guided by a strong moral compass. If things go wrong, we put our hand up, admit it, and adapt.
• Momentum: Speed matters. We have a bias to action. We think quickly, plan tirelessly, mitigate risks, and above all, take action.
• Purpose: We are driven by our desire to make the world better with every interaction, process, and project.
• Accountability: We do what we say and deliver. We seek to be the best at what we do.
• Collaboration: We celebrate diversity of thought, values, and backgrounds, harnessing the strength of our people and partners to achieve more together through teamwork and creativity.
• Tenacity: We are highly ambitious, driven, and hardworking. We persist until we deliver impact.

Position Purpose

Imperative is seeking a high-calibre Financial Modelling Lead to own and continuously improve the financial models that underpin our commercial strategy, capital raising, investment decisions, and project execution.

Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, this role will be the single point of accountability for financial modelling across the business. You will design, build, maintain, and govern a suite of corporate, project-level, and transaction-specific financial models that support origination, development, financing, offtake contracting, and portfolio management.

This is a capacity-unlocking role. The right candidate will materially reduce modelling dependency across the executive team, commercial function, and project teams—freeing up senior time while significantly increasing speed, consistency, and analytical depth.

We are explicitly targeting a top-tier investment banking analyst or equivalent (infrastructure, energy, project finance, private equity, or structured finance) who wants to apply rigorous financial thinking to real-world climate infrastructure at global scale.

Key Responsibilities 

1. Financial Modelling Ownership & Architecture

• Own Imperative’s end-to-end financial modelling stack, including corporate models, project-level models, portfolio roll-ups, and transaction-specific models.
• Design modular, scalable, and auditable financial models that can be consistently applied across multiple geographies, project types, and capital structures.
• Establish modelling standards, conventions, documentation, and version control to ensure consistency, reliability, and institutional-grade quality.
• Act as the internal authority on financial model structure, assumptions, sensitivities, and outputs

2. Project & Investment Modelling

• Build and maintain detailed project-level models covering development, construction, and long-term operations, including carbon issuance profiles, operating costs, capex, financing structures, and risk scenarios.
• Support investment committee decisions through clear, well-structured analyses of returns, downside protection, sensitivities, and capital allocation trade-offs.
• Translate complex technical and commercial inputs (carbon modelling outputs, ecological assumptions, offtake terms, land agreements) into robust financial logic.
• Stress-test projects under different carbon price, delivery, and policy scenarios.

3. Commercial & Capital-Raising Support

• Partner closely with the commercial team to support offtake negotiations, pricing strategy, and contract structuring with corporate buyers and intermediaries.
• Support equity and debt capital raising processes, including preparation of models for investors, lenders, and strategic partners.
• Respond to investor, lender, and counterparty diligence questions with speed, clarity, and analytical credibility.
• Develop scenario analyses to support strategic discussions with the executive team and Board.

4. Cross-Functional Enablement

• Serve as a financial modelling resource across origination, project development, carbon, and executive functions—without becoming a bottleneck.
• Reduce reliance on ad-hoc modelling by executives and other team members by providing clear, high-quality, centrally owned models.
• Collaborate across finance, carbon, operations, and commercial teams to receive input and disseminate results across the business.
• Train and upskill other team members in model usage, interpretation, and limitations (without diluting ownership).

5. Risk, Governance & Decision Support

• Identify key financial risks at project and portfolio level and ensure they are explicitly represented in models.
• Support downside-case thinking and capital-protection strategies through disciplined financial analysis.
• Prepare clear, decision-oriented outputs for senior leadership, investors, and partners—focusing on insight, not complexity for its own sake.

Essential Skills & Attributes 

• Exceptional financial modelling capability, with advanced Excel skills and a disciplined, structured approach to model design.
• Strong grounding in project finance, infrastructure, energy, or natural-resources investing.
• Ability to think critically at both the detailed cell-level analysis and strategic level .
• High intellectual horsepower with sound commercial judgement.
• Clear, concise communicator who can explain complex financial outputs to non-finance stakeholders.
• Highly self-directed, with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.

Desirable Skills 

• Experience with long-dated infrastructure or asset-backed cash-flow models.
• Exposure to commodity pricing, long-term offtake contracts, or structured finance instruments.
• Familiarity with carbon markets, renewable energy, or nature-based solutions (not essential).
• Experience supporting capital raises or transactions involving institutional investors.
• Exposure to Python for data processing, automation, or advanced analytics (nice to have, but not essential).

Qualifications & Experience 

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 3–7+ years of experience in investment banking, project finance, infrastructure investing, private equity, or a comparable analytical role.
• Demonstrated track record of building and owning complex financial models used in real investment or transaction decisions.

Location

Global. Remote-first. Preference for Europe, Africa, or Middle East time zones, but flexible for exceptional candidates.

What We Offer

• A genuinely high-impact role at the centre of Imperative’s commercial and capital strategy.
• Exposure to complex, real-world infrastructure-grade projects with global relevance.
• Direct access to senior leadership and involvement in major strategic decisions.
• The opportunity to apply elite financial skills to climate, nature, and long-term value creation.
• Competitive compensation aligned with experience and performance, with long-term upside through company success.
• A mission-driven, high-calibre team operating with ambition, urgency, and intellectual honesty.