Project-Finance Restructuring Leader

The mandate

A desalination project missed its debt-service coverage covenant after energy cost rose faster than tariff indexation and availability deductions reduced offtaker receipts. The debt-service reserve has been partially drawn, sponsor support is contested and lenders question the base case. The project finance director resigned after submitting a waiver model that did not reconcile plant performance, contractual claims or restricted cash.

The interim will take Doha command within ten business days and serve twenty months across stabilisation, restructuring, two annual model updates and four compliant quarters. Recruitment of a permanent concession-finance director starts after definitive restructuring documents close and reserve accounts reach the agreed path, expected in month thirteen. The successor will chair one lender model review and one distribution-test cycle during eight weeks of overlap.

At handover, the concession must have a bankable operating-to-cash model, governed waterfall, reconciled reserve accounts, covenant and waiver calendar, sponsor-support evidence, claims sensitivity, hedge and insurance linkage, and controlled lender reporting. Four quarter packs and two downside exercises must be repeatable. Residual items will identify responsible counsel, engineer, operator, sponsor, offtaker or lender rather than sitting in finance suspense.

The interim may stop distributions, enforce restricted-account controls, reject unsupported forecasts, direct project-finance resources and commit up to QAR 150 million from approved recovery funding. Debt amendment, sponsor equity, tariff settlement, technical acceptance, claims compromise, hedge restructuring and commitments outside delegation need existing approvals. The role can recommend terms but cannot bind lenders, the public offtaker or shareholders.

Plant operations, engineering certification, water-quality decisions, legal interpretation, public tariff policy and sponsor businesses outside this project remain outside scope. The mandate owns project-finance evidence, liquidity control, model governance, restructuring coordination, lender reporting and succession. It will not manufacture covenant headroom through optimistic availability, unagreed indexation or assumed claims proceeds.

Why this seat is open

The covenant breach exposed a finance model disconnected from operating reality and concession rights, followed by leadership departure. Lenders need credible downside evidence before granting time, while public water supply cannot pause for negotiation. Temporary restructuring authority can align cash, contract and performance evidence through an executed capital solution and observed compliance periods.

What you will own

• Rebuild the operating-to-cash model across availability, output, energy, indexation, deductions, claims, tax, financing and reserves.
• Reconcile every restricted account, waterfall movement, reserve draw, sponsor contribution and permitted payment to facility terms.
• Produce lender base, downside and recovery cases with transparent operating assumptions and covenant calculations.
• Coordinate waiver, standstill, maturity, amortisation, pricing, reserve and sponsor-support workstreams without giving legal advice.
• Connect engineering availability evidence and offtaker claims to receipts while keeping technical and contractual judgments separate.
• Govern weekly liquidity, debt-service forecasts, hedge cash, insurance proceeds and distribution locks throughout negotiations.
• Transfer signed models, financing calendars, account mandates, unresolved claims and decision history to the permanent successor.

Candidate qualifications

• Held executive authority through a project-finance covenant breach and completed restructuring of essential infrastructure debt.
• Rebuilt concession cash models from operational availability, indexed revenue, deductions, restricted accounts and financing terms.
• Negotiated evidence and scenarios with commercial banks, export-credit participants, sponsors, public offtakers and advisers.
• Controlled debt-service reserves, waterfalls, distributions, hedges and sponsor support during acute liquidity pressure.
• Distinguished finance assumptions from engineering certification, contractual entitlement and public-policy decisions under scrutiny.
• Handed a restructured project to permanent leadership after executed documents, covenant tests and lender-reporting cycles.

Non-negotiables

• Can assume onsite Doha authority within ten business days and travel monthly to plant and creditor meetings.
• Will accept continuous executive accountability for restricted cash, lender evidence and restructuring governance.
• Brings completed limited-recourse infrastructure restructuring; ordinary corporate refinancing experience does not qualify.
• Must disclose sponsor, lender, offtaker, engineering, operator, insurer, hedge-bank and adviser relationships.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe a project-finance breach where operating evidence materially changed the creditor base case.
2. 49 words maximum. Which control protects a debt-service waterfall while waiver negotiations remain unresolved?
3. 49 words maximum. State your Doha availability and the largest limited-recourse restructuring you directly led.