Vice President Corporate Development

At Aqua, we know that water is a precious resource – one that plays a critical role in sustaining life. That’s why we take seriously our mission: protecting and providing Earth’s most essential resource. At Aqua, we are guided by a set of principles that embody the character of our company and inspire our work together. They are embedded within our business practices and our behavior. We are proud to be united by integrity, respect and the pursuit of excellence to be the best we can be for the customers and communities we serve.

Together, the women and men of Aqua America serve 1 million customers across eight states. Aqua uses science, technology, capital investments, and amazing talent to provide communities with clean, safe drinking water and responsibly return wastewater to our rivers and streams. Join our team and make a difference!

Are you looking for a fantastic career at Aqua?

The Vice President, Corporate Development will report into the EVP, Strategy & Corporate Development and will be a key member of the Corporate Development (M&A) team. He/she will be responsible for supporting Aqua America’s overall strategy and corporate development function (S&CD), as well as leading the state presidents and business development managers in municipal focused M&A initiatives. He/she will lead/support all aspects of acquisition transactions and associated financings, including joint ventures, alliances and strategic investments, for the promotion of Aqua America’s growth objectives. He/she will be required to work with extensive cross-functional teams in the execution of his/her duties. He/she will provide M&A guidance and process leadership to all corporate units and states and will have frequent contact with the CEO and executive leadership team.

Responsibilities:

• Serves as the key leader responsible for the strategy, assessment, and evaluation of strategic opportunities that are in line with the organization’s long-range goals. Coordinates with internal stakeholders and business units to ensure that recommendations represent long term interests across Aqua.
• Drives municipal acquisition initiatives, interacting regularly with state presidents and business development managers to develop pipelines, financial models, provides input on municipal proposal pricing/terms, brings proposals through to executive leadership and the Board.
• Utilizes various sources of available information and analytics to direct the company’s strategic focus on appropriate corporate and municipal water and wastewater system acquisition targets that are correlated with the company objectives.
• Utilizes quantitative valuation and accretion/dilution models, and analyzes qualitative information, to articulately present to the executive leadership team.
• Proactively develops an informed point of view on overarching forces impacting Aqua’s business (i.e. interest rates; inflation; market, economic, social and cultural trends; aging infrastructure; conservation; droughts; increasingly stringent water/wastewater treatment standards; affordability concerns; regulatory/ratemaking trends; ROE trends; cyber security, etc.) and identifying the resulting impacts, threats and actionable opportunities for Aqua.
• Helps guide a team of internal and external professionals responsible for due diligence, underwriting/valuation, financing, ratings, negotiations, and transaction management, in partnership with other members of the executive team.
• Effectively manages and develops internal (engineering, operations, accounting, etc.) and external (e.g., advisors, industry players, joint venture partners, elected officials) relationships to support the goals of corporate development

Qualifications:

• Fifteen or more years of career experience with demonstrated advancement.
• Experience functioning at the executive level and presenting to senior management is required.
• Quantitative undergraduate degree (engineering, accounting/finance, or economics) and advanced degree (MBA, Ph.D. or J.D.) required (equivalent experience would also be considered).
• Management consulting, investment banking, or private equity experience is preferred.
• Experience leading transactions and coordinating a team of internal resources and external advisors is required.
• Experience with lenders and rating agencies is preferred.
• Must be willing to live/work in the Philadelphia Area and able to travel for up to 30% of their time.

Aqua America, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. Equal employment opportunity is provided to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to the following legally protected characteristics: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions, including medical conditions related to lactation), physical or mental disability, covered-veteran status, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by applicable local, state or federal law.