Commercial Finance Manager

Fluence is the leading global energy storage technology and services company, created and backed by Siemens and AES, two industry powerhouses and pioneers in energy storage. Fluence unites the scale, experience, breadth, and financial backing of the two most experienced icons in energy storage.

Our mission is to create a more sustainable future by transforming the way we power our world. Energy storage is critical to this transformation, yet today the market is fragmented and customers face the challenge of finding a trusted technology partner amidst conflicting technical claims, inexperienced vendors and installers, and new market entrants with limited power sector knowledge.

Fluence brings the proven technology solutions and services that overcome the commercial and regulatory barriers that stand in the way of modernizing our energy networks. We are the partner that can deliver at a global scale with the most experienced and knowledgeable team in the world.

About Fluence: Fluence Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: FLNC) is a global market leader in energy storage products and services, and optimization software for renewables and storage. With a presence in over 47 markets globally, Fluence provides an ecosystem of offerings to drive the clean energy transition, including modular, scalable energy storage products, comprehensive service offerings, and the Fluence IQ Platform, which delivers AI-enabled SaaS products for managing and optimizing renewables and storage from any provider. Fluence is transforming the way we power our world by helping customers create more resilient and sustainable electric grids.

For more information, visit our website, or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. To stay up to date on the latest industry insights, sign up for Fluence's Full Potential Blog.

 

We are guided by our passion to transform the way we power our world. Achieving our goals requires creativity, diversity of ideas and backgrounds, and building trust to effect change and move with speed.

Fluence currently has thousands of MW of energy storage projects operated or awarded worldwide in addition to the thousands of MW of projects managed by our trading platform—and we are growing every day.

Fluence is defined by its unwavering commitment to safety, quality, and integrity.

We achieve our goals and meet our customer’s needs by cultivating curiosity, adaptability, and self-reflection in our teams.

We value the diversity in thought and experience of our coworkers and customers. Through honest, forthcoming, and respectful communications we work to ensure that Fluence is an inclusive and welcoming environment for all. 

The Commercial Finance Manager, CFM, is responsible for all commercial aspects related to customer offers during the sales phase. This includes, but is not limited to, driving the process for commercial topics to ensure compliance with company guidelines for contractual, finance, project accounting, insurance, legal and tax structural aspects of the offers. The CFM ensures compliance to applicable regulations (internal and external) during the bidding process and ensures a full and accurate presentation of the risk and financial profiles of each opportunity from the firm offer phase to the contracting phase. The CFM role is crucial and active during customer contract negotiations and ensures a proper balance of the risk/reward relationship for each opportunity. This role requires a background in finance and contracts, preferably working with large turnkey projects in the energy or construction sectors.

- Lead customer negotiations for commercial, financial and contractual matters collaborating with the proposal deal team.

- Supports the sales team in managing and optimising targeted financial results with due professional care (e.g. project margin, cash flow, security and credit instruments, insurance, contractual risks, etc.).

- Proactively manage risks and opportunities in contractual negotiations in order to package acceptable outcomes and present to USA headquarters to obtain delegation of authority approvals, as needed.

- Coordinate with Tax on optimal deal structures, incoterms & revenue recognition requirements.

- Coordinate with Treasury on optimal cash flows for all parties and evaluate any currency implications, as applicable.

- Coordinate customs, logistics, and insurance topics together with subject matter experts.

- Manage securities, guarantees and bond requirement from banks, parent company and other external security providers.

- Support project financing solutions in close cooperation with banks and financial institutions.

- Key leader in forecasting, planning and tracking orders, orders booking, cash flow management, margins, and revenue for future “book to bill” projects.

- Facilitate lessons learnt from prior bids and tenders to ensure continuous improvements.

- Ensure seamless handover to the project execution team & portfolio managers for commercial topics.

· 5+ years of financial management of large projects (preferable in the energy or construction sectors) including scopes of Engineering, Procurement and Construction and Long-Term Services Agreements.

· Advanced knowledge and experience in negotiating contracts (EPCs/ Supply Agreement/ Services contracts).

· Advanced knowledge of project accounting principles.

· Advanced understanding of project risk management requirements such as insurance, securities, performance guarantees, liquidated damages, etc.

· Knowledge of international accounting principles.

· Good working knowledge of project management related activities.

· Detail oriented with strong time management and project management skills.

· Demonstrated ability to interact with executive management.

· Some ad hoc travel required domestically and potentially across APAC region.

· Ideally high energy, proactive, solutions-oriented contributor, possessing an intellectual curiosity and a hunger for knowledge.

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (finance, accounting, legal, business administration, engineering or construction management).

• Relevant work experience in a related industry including energy, engineering, or construction.