Job Opportunity Information

Job Description

The Global Markets & Technologies (GM&T) World Business Unit delivers technological solutions (molecules, equipment and services) to support the new markets of energy transition, maritime logistics and scientific exploration, in order to accelerate Air Liquide sustainable growth. To support the energy transition, GM&T brings environmentally friendly solutions to the clean energy market with hydrogen energy and Bio-Natural Gas for vehicles, refrigerated transport using nitrogen, but also the treatment and injection of Biogas into the energy grid as a local power source.

Biomethane, supply energy from waste

The Business Development team is driving growth efforts, identifying new prospects, managing new business opportunities and customers, investigating new markets and geographies as well as potential strategic acquisitions in cooperation with the M&A team, building new commercial relationships and negotiating new projects.

Today, the biogas business is a key contributor for Air Liquide’s business growth in the USA.

Responsibilities

• Work with various networks (internal and external to Air Liquide) to source  new opportunities for Air Liquide to develop, invest in, build, own and operate organic-waste-to-renewable-natural-gas (RNG) anaerobic-digestion facilities in the USA, and lead the hands-on prioritization and development of these opportunities through investment decision (typically $30 million and greater per investment)
• Perform and lead technical and commercial due-diligence on new opportunities, develop project economic feasibility studies, and prioritize projects for development and investment
• Prepare and present proposals/business-cases that meet customer expectations, define our value proposition and differentiation, meet Air Liquide’s business objectives, and regularly follow-up/amend in pursuit of reaching an agreement
• Define the technical requirements for the plant (e.g., feedstock handling, anaerobic digestion facility, biogas upgrading facility, pipeline interconnect infrastructure)  in cooperation with internal/external engineering teams and stakeholders
• Develop capital and operating cost projections for financial models, leveraging internal databases/experience and collecting intelligence from partners, suppliers and the market as needed
• Develop value proposition (how we differentiate) and business cases (i.e., definition of responsibilities and scopes, execution strategy)
• Lead proposed projects through Air Liquide governance gates, presenting to senior management for approval and investment by Air Liquide
• Write contracts, with legal support, and lead negotiations through closing in a timely manner. Identify and propose mitigations for legal, technical and financial risks.
• Lead project development teams (Project Execution, HSE, Energy Management, Finance, Legal, Operations, external stakeholders and utilities) to successful conclusion
• Lead transition of a newly approved project investment to the Project Execution team and Operation team, ensuring commercial follow-up until plant start-up
• Develop network internally and externally: (i) personal relationships with key customers, especially by development of prompt and creative solutions that enable a business relationship; (ii) strategic partnerships external to Air Liquide, identifying opportunities for mergers and acquisitions at the project/corporate level, and supporting M&A team through due-diligence
• Keep abreast of the regulatory framework surrounding biogas and renewable natural gas (RNG), and adjust business models and business development strategy accordingly (i.e., federal and State programs for transportation fuel, industries, subsidies, legal and tax environment, permitting etc.)

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering (chemical, biological or mechanical)
• 5+ years experience in customer-facing business development focused around plant/project development in the renewable energy space (note: this function targets opportunities requiring at least $30M investments)
• Technical skills and leadership, including active hands-on leadership on: (i)development of basic technical specifications for plants and utility interconnects, and clarification with appropriate engineering teams; (ii) identification of screening of technology options and contractors; (iii) solution development, on Air Liquide side and with feedstock provider; (iv) critical review of engineering documents required for definition of the plant, including mass/energy balances from digester/gas-upgrading engineering teams and layout/plot plans)
• Commercial skills, including (i) demonstrated ability to define business cases built on relevant market assumptions (working with energy management team); (ii) demonstrated ability to close business deals at plant/project level and negotiate projects across various stakeholders through contract execution
• Customer relationship management skills, including the development and maintenance of strong relationships with customers and stakeholders
• Solution-focused / problem-solving mindset, demonstrated on technical and commercial levels
• Self-driven, and motivated to sustain a fast-pace work/follow-up, essential to retaining stakeholder engagement and securing opportunities under study
• Ability to function in a decentralized team environment with unknowns, to mitigate risks of unknowns in business cases, and to methodically reduce unknowns
• Strong verbal and written communication skills (including use of email, instant messaging, video conferencing, virtual drives and folders for organization, spreadsheets, slides)
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and shift priorities

Preferred

• 5+ years of customer-facing project development in in anaerobic digestion for the production of renewable natural gas (RNG)
• Knowledge of the regulatory framework and incentive structures around the production and monetization of renewable natural gas (i.e., federal RFS, state LCFS, IRA) and renewable hydrogen
• Knowledge of technologies involved in the biogas value chain, from feedstock to biomethane (e.g., (i) solid/liquid waste collection and processing, including on farms, before and after an anaerobic digestion process; (ii) anaerobic digestion facility, including digesters and ancillary equipment; (iii) biogas upgrading facility, including gas conditioning, desulfurization, and CO2 removal; (iv) injection infrastructure, including for pipeline interconnects.
• Working knowledge of Google suite of products (i.e., Gmail, G-chat, video calls, Drive, Docs, Sheets)
• Theoretical/practical business and financial knowledge generally associated with an MBA or comparable experience
• Project management skillset

How to apply

To apply click on the "Link to Opportunity" button or through the company's website.