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Project Finance Analyst

Hawthorne

About Valar Atomics

At Valar Atomics, we're redefining what's possible in energy. Our mission is to make clean, high-temperature nuclear power scalable—unlocking abundant energy for industry, hydrogen, and next-generation manufacturing. We are a team of builders, engineers, and operators who believe nuclear energy should be fast to deploy, factory-made, and built for the real world. Our first pilot plant in Orangeville, Utah will demonstrate how advanced nuclear systems and fuel fabrication can power the future. Joining Valar Atomics means becoming part of a company where autonomy, ownership, and impact exist at every level.

About The Role

The Project Finance Analyst will support the financial planning, cost analysis, and project economics that guide Valar’s commercial project decisions.

This role will help build the financial foundation for Valar’s commercial projects, including capital plans, cost forecasts, earned value analysis, scenario models, and financial packages for internal reviews, board updates, investors, lenders, and customer discussions.

The Project Finance Analyst will work closely with the Commercial and Finance leadership, cost estimating, project controls, commercial development, regulatory affairs, and project leadership. The role will help connect project cost, schedule, risk, financing assumptions, and commercial outcomes into clear financial analysis that supports decision-making.

This is a hands-on role for someone who is strong in financial modeling, comfortable with complex capital projects, and able to produce clear, executive-ready financial materials under tight timelines. As Valar scales, this role is expected to grow into a broader project finance leadership position.

Key Responsibilities

  • Build and maintain structured finance models for Valar’s commercial projects.
  • Support earned value management analysis, including cost performance, schedule performance, estimate-to-complete, estimate-at-completion, and variance analysis.
  • Reconcile actual project costs against approved estimate baselines in coordination with cost estimating and finance teams.
  • Produce monthly project cost reports, including variance commentary, key drivers, risks, and recommended actions.
  • Help maintain the project cost coding structure, including work breakdown structure and cost breakdown structure inputs.
  • Develop and maintain capital plan inputs across development, construction, and commercial operation timelines.
  • Support quarterly capital forecasts and cash-flow updates that feed into the company’s broader financial plan.
  • Build long-range capital planning scenarios for future commercial project deployment.
  • Create financial models for capital cost sensitivity, financing structure, customer offtake economics, and project returns.
  • Produce levelized cost of energy and unit-cost outputs across different project and financing scenarios.
  • Support financing-readiness work, including model documentation, version control, audit trails, and lender/investor materials.
  • Prepare financial packages for internal stage-gate reviews, board updates, investor discussions, lender reviews, and other external readouts.
  • Support financial sections of regulatory filings, DOE program submittals, and other project-related submissions where capital cost, financial assurance, or funding plans are required.
  • Partner with Regulatory Affairs on financial assurance and decommissioning funding inputs.
  • Work with cost estimating, commercial development, project controls, finance, and project leadership to keep financial assumptions aligned across the company.

You Will Be Successful in This Role If

  • You can turn complex project cost, schedule, and financing information into clear financial analysis.
  • You build models that are accurate, easy to follow, and useful for decision-making.
  • You can work with incomplete information and still produce a practical first version that improves over time.
  • You are comfortable working with executives, finance leaders, project managers, cost estimators, and technical teams.
  • You can explain financial outputs clearly to both financial and non-financial audiences.
  • You understand the importance of traceability, version control, and audit-ready financial documentation.
  • You can move quickly without sacrificing accuracy or judgment.
  • You bring strong ownership and can manage recurring reporting deadlines without needing heavy oversight.
  • You are interested in helping build the financial systems that support large-scale energy infrastructure.

Basic Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience in project finance, infrastructure finance, corporate development, financial planning and analysis, or a related role with a project economics focus.
  • Strong financial modeling skills, including capital expenditures, operating costs, financing structures, sensitivities, and scenario analysis.
  • Experience supporting capital planning, project cost reporting, earned value analysis, or project economics.
  • Ability to produce executive-ready financial materials under tight deadlines.
  • Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
  • Comfort working across finance, project controls, commercial, regulatory, and technical teams.
  • Ability to operate in a fast-moving environment with incomplete information.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  • U.S. person status required.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience in infrastructure project finance, energy project finance, or large capital project finance.
  • Background at a project finance bank, infrastructure investor, sponsor, ompany, or project-finance-focused advisory or legal team.
  • Experience with energy, infrastructure, data centers, industrial projects, advanced manufacturing, or regulated industries.
  • Familiarity with earned value management, cost-loaded schedules, WBS/CBS structures, and project controls.
  • Experience preparing board-level, lender-level, investor-level, or stage-gate financial packages.
  • Experience with DOE, federal financing programs, loan programs, or public-private infrastructure funding.
  • Familiarity with customer offtake structures, power purchase agreements, behind-the-meter power, or energy project economics.
  • Ability to grow into a broader project finance leadership role as Valar scales.

What We Offer  

  • Competitive base salary 
  • Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company 
  • Comprehensive medical benefits 
  • Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite 
  • High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy 
  • Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement 
  • Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders 
  • The opportunity to help build and scale transformative energy technology from the ground up

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Valar Atomics is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and will provide reasonable accommodation as required by law.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder).

We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment and will provide reasonable accommodation as required by law.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States as a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green card holder).

Salary

$160,000 - $240,000 USD

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