About Elemental Excelerator

Elemental Excelerator is on a mission to redesign the systems at the root of climate change. We are a leading nonprofit investor focused on scaling climate solutions and social impact for all communities. Elemental fills two fundamental gaps to tackling climate change: funding first-of-a-kind projects for climate technologies in real communities, and embedding equity and access into climate solutions.

As a nonprofit with over a decade of experience in scaling technologies, we are uniquely positioned to provide much-needed support and services to overcome the valleys of death to scale the technologies we need to tackle the climate crisis. Elemental has been innovating on the traditional investment model for over a decade. We do more than simply write a check; we offer a full suite of hands-on services, support, coaching and introductions across the value stream to support growth and deployments. The organization has stood up a half-dozen programs to break down barriers to climate tech innovation through its robust portfolio, policy, equity & access, career pathways, investors/philanthropy and strategic partnerships.

About the role

Elemental is looking for a highly organized, experienced, and mission-driven individual to join the Portfolio Team. The Senior Investment Analyst will play a crucial role in identifying, evaluating, and supporting investments in climate tech companies. The successful candidate will be responsible for conducting thorough due diligence, financial analysis, market research, and providing strategic insights to drive investment decisions that align with our mission and goals. For this position, we are looking for an individual with strong financial acumen and a demonstrated passion for working with climate companies who can support our due diligence efforts on startups working across the full stack of climate tech financing options, including venture capital, debt and equity financing, and project finance.

The portfolio team is a highly collaborative and dynamic team within the organization that is ultimately responsible for meeting our commitment to bring more funding, projects, solutions and impact into the climate sector and to deploy technologies in more communities in an equitable way. The successful applicant will bring a growth mindset to the ways we review and invest in climate tech startups. This position will report to the Senior Investment Director and work cross-functionally across the portfolio team to support investments.

Key Responsibilities Include:

Investment Due Diligence

• Lead review of inbound proposals and provide summaries of key strengths and weaknesses in order to recommend pursuing new opportunities
• Conduct rigorous due diligence on potential investments, including evaluating financials, business models, market dynamics, competitive landscapes, and technology assessments
• Assist in building and analyzing financial models under senior guidance, focusing on specific components or scenarios across different capital stack solutions (venture capital, debt financing, project finance, etc.)
• Contribute to investment memos and presentations by drafting specific sections or providing detailed research findings
• Stay informed about industry best practices and suggest potential improvements to the investment team

Startup Sourcing and Ecosystem Support

• Support scouting efforts across sectors to identify gaps and opportunities in the climate tech space (e.g. landscape analysis)
• Support recruitment strategy to expand our reach to more traditionally excluded founders and leadership teams
• Collaborate with the portfolio innovation team to track and synthesize trends across sectors to identify portfolio and pipeline opportunities
• Support the Directors of Innovation in presenting pipeline and portfolio companies to our government, corporate and other funding partners
• Stay current on industry developments, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes related to climate technology and impact investing

About You

You could be a great addition to our team if you believe deeply in a just transition to a low-carbon world - and believe that transition has to happen with utmost speed. You love getting into the nitty gritty details - financial analysis, go-to-market strategy, technical overviews, fundraising approaches - but also like to think big picture about how we accelerate the commercialization of climate tech solutions. You are skilled in task-switching, building relationships, taking independent action on deliverables and helping others. You are willing to learn, and excited to grow into the role, assuming ever-greater responsibility for strategy, transaction execution, and asset management over time.

Qualifications - even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications, we still encourage you to apply!

Desired skills:

• Passion for climate/climate tech innovations centered around social equity for frontline communities
• Professional or lived experience maintaining extraordinary attention to detail with outstanding organizational skills
• Solid understanding of financial analysis and statements, valuation techniques, and investment principles across various capital stacks
• Ability to work independently and manage project timelines effectively
• Strong interpersonal skills with the proven ability to work in a collaborative and fast paced environment
• Experience and/or interest in being adaptable and curious when working with first-of-a-kind investments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including asking for help when needed
• Creative and proactive problem solving

Standout skills:

• Experience in venture capital, investment banking, private equity, project finance, and/or management consulting
• Interest or experience in energy (particularly related to the energy transition), sustainable agriculture, critical water infrastructure, and/or mobility
• Experience working with frontline communities and/or social equity organizations
• Experience working with startups, venture capital, or accelerator programs

And if you are interested in this opportunity but don't have direct experience, here are transferable skills/experiences that we believe are applicable and will help you in this role:

• Quantitative analysis: Academic or professional experiences in the hard sciences, computer science, or engineering, or experiences budgeting for a small business, a charitable organization, or a special interest group at school.
• Project management: Prior experience managing projects/events for school, extracurricular groups, or volunteer organizations.
• Volunteer work and Entrepreneurial Spirit: Engagement in volunteer work and / or entrepreneurship – especially as relates to climate and or social justice.

Location

We will consider candidates located anywhere in the US with a strong preference for Washington, DC and New York. Elemental has a hybrid working model and if you are within a reasonable distance to one of our offices in New York, DC, Bay Area, or Honolulu, we are asking employees to come into the office at least one day a week to build community with the team. Currently, most people come in 1-2 times a week, but we encourage those who are interested to come in more often if they’d like. If you are not, you will be expected to travel infrequently to our HQs (e.g., ~quarterly). Other travel may sometimes be required for conferences or meetings.

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time "at-will" position working at least 40 hours per week. You will be asked to travel for work periodically. The salary range for this role is $67,100 - $108,300 which is based on market data and the organization's compensation philosophy. Individual salary offers will depend on and may vary with location, relevant education, knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer comprehensive employee benefits, including a professional development stipend and three weeks paid time off (more details here).

Other Details

We will accept and review applications on a rolling basis. Although all applications will be considered, we may be unable to respond to all inquiries. Please note that we do read cover letters, so we advise spending adequate time on them to share your relevant stories and experiences with us. We also ask that you refrain from using tools like Chat GPT and keep the cover letter to 1-2 pages long.

Elemental is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and has a strong commitment to diversity. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Candidates from the following groups are especially encouraged to apply: Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities; people who have disabilities; and people from low-income backgrounds.

Elemental is also committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, activities, programs, and employment opportunities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable laws.