GFI Spain – Associate

Location: Based in Madrid – hybrid working (full time)

Start date: June/July 2025

Relevant professional experience: 3+ years

Contract: 1 year fixed-term contract with opportunity to extend

Salary range: EUR 45.000-60.000, according to proven professional experience

About the Green Finance Institute (GFI)

Founded in 2019 to accelerate the deployment of finance towards a net zero and resilient economy, the GFI is an independent, commercially focused and philanthropically financed organisation.

The GFI has already established a leading and differentiated position based on a distinct strategy of identifying impactful and local-based interventions to unlock barriers to deploying capital at pace and scale towards sector specific, real-economy outcomes such as the energy efficiency of buildings, decarbonisation of road transport, nature-based financial solutions, international carbon markets and developing markets’ climate smart infrastructure.

Through both creating and managing networks of dynamic decision makers across financial services, policy, business, academia and civil society, the GFI is renowned for its practical financial expertise, efficient project execution and generous collaboration, increasingly positioning the organisation to connect political ambition and industry objectives with well-designed solutions for the financial sector both in the UK and overseas.

GFI launched its European footprint in Spain in 2023 and has already put into motion its own agenda of projects, sectors, and coalitions, becoming a trusted neutral broker in breaching the execution gap between public policies and the real economy. GFI Spain focuses on leveraging private financing towards a green and just transition by co-designing innovative financial products and market schemes, empowering market participants and forging alliances and collaborations across borders and sectors.

What’s in it for you?

• Financial Innovation for a Green and Just Transition. From day one, you will play a key role in co-designing, validating, and implementing sustainable financial products aimed at accelerating sectoral decarbonization and promoting locally driven solutions.
• Institutional Positioning and Strategic Partnerships. You will actively support GFI Spain’s institutional positioning by developing strong public-private partnerships across the financial, corporate, and public sectors. The role offers the opportunity to work closely with lenders, financial institutions, regulators, and policymakers to help shape a financial system that supports a just and sustainable transition.
• Strengthening GFI’s presence in Spain and Europe. As part of GFI’s growing European team, you will help expand the organization’s footprint in Spain and in the EU. This is a high-impact, fast-paced position that provides a platform to drive real market change. As the program develops you must be willing to work flexibly and take on additional duties, as required.

What’s the role?

• The initial focus of GFI Spain is the launch of several impactful local initiatives across the core GFI areas, with an emphasis on the built environment, transport and nature-based solutions.
• You will play a pivotal role in delivering on GFI Spain’s ambitious objectives and driving forward sectoral change. Alongside this primary function, you will have the opportunity to be actively involved in the GFI’s wider green finance programmes and international expansion.
• Additionally, GFI Spain will be contributing to a new ambitious international footprint strategy and exploring emerging areas such as fund management, property linked finance (PLF) and district heating.
• Locally, GFI Spain will be executing European LIFE projects piloting innovative financial structures, driving the conceptual design of urban regeneration projects, and catalyse private capital in our fields of expertise.
• You will also play a vital role in helping to shape the GFI’s overall strategic communications in Spain, bringing innovative and creative ideas to inform and educate our stakeholders, build alignment around our programmes and strengthen the GFI’s brand and reputation in country.
• As part of this, you will contribute to GFI Spain active participation in key alliances and policy platforms—locally (Cities2030, Madrid 2050), nationally (Consejo de Finanzas Sostenibles, ARCE 2050), and at the European level (Urban Agenda for the EU)—helping position GFI as a thought leader and trusted partner in the sustainable finance space.

Responsibilities

• Drive forward the delivery of GFI Spain’s objectives, leveraging best practice from other GFI programmatic work, identifying impactful opportunities and effectively executing on ideas.
• Contribute to the identification of innovative and relevant financial instruments and drive these to market adoption to enable the successful financing of projects across multiple sectors.
• Management of the LIFE projects in Spain, its administrative follow up and reporting, team working with European consortiums. Currently, we are managing two projects: GEAR-UP, to devise a protocol to measure and transact efficiency energy; and NEW-PACE, to develop a programme around linking capital expenditure of a retrofit to the property rather than the individual.
• Play a key role in identifying and developing proposals for various new LIFE/Horizon Europe projects in Spain.
• Support the strategic direction and execution of the projects and be responsible for their monitoring, under the guidance of the Senior Associate and the leadership team.
• Contribute to supportive policy formation to accelerate the adoption of new products and green finance services.
• Conduct market research and analysis to identify barriers, financial solutions and engage with funding options.
• Collaborate with finance and sectoral expert leaders to design, develop, pilot and scale innovative financial solutions that will support the decarbonisation in the real economy.
• Host workshops and roundtable events with stakeholders to enable information gathering and knowledge sharing.
• Represent the GFI at industry events and produce compelling written content, in collaboration with the Communications team, as required.
• Provide frequent progress updates to the project team, communicate the challenges and associated solutions to keep the project on track.
• Identify risks that could jeopardise the delivery of the projects and proactively seek to mitigate them.

Role requirements

• Desirable track record in project or infrastructure finance. Exposure to project finance, debt instruments, and financial structuring is considered advantageous, though not essential.
• Minimum of 3 years’ relevant professional experience in the finance sector, ideally in designing and developing innovative financing mechanisms, blended finance transactions (public-private partnerships), and risk sharing mechanisms.
• Experience in the origination of financial instruments and specific and relevant experience in developed markets and investment environments.
• Ability to develop business and project finance models, cash flows projections, IRR, NAVs.
• Prior experience of leading multi-stakeholder programmes or campaigns, including setting direction and working collaboratively with cross-sector partners,
• Exceptional influencing and communication skills with an ability to build relationships with a wide range of partners, anticipating and understanding their needs and perspectives.
• Strong project management skills – capable of handling multiple project streams / tasks and ability to meet deadlines, interim management reports, logically tackle problems and set priorities.
• Experience of developing creative approaches to engaging with and influencing public sector actors and market participants.
• Experience of identifying market opportunities, creating strategies to target and engage with prospective partners across the public and private sector.
• Experience of delivering a programme of events / webinars to a professional audience.
• Self-motivated and brings a strong positivity/energy to the team.
• Adaptable, must be comfortable working in a small team and part of a fast-paced, agile, start-up environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication both in Spanish and English.