NCE Funding Expert (m/f/d)

Air Liquide is one of the world leaders in the production of industrial gasses (such as oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, etc.) and the supply of technologies and services for industry and health. We’re taking active measures to reduce the climate impact of our operations by reducing emissions, increasing energy efficiency and offering low-carbon solutions to our customers. The energy transition projects in North and Central Europe that enable this are thus accelerating in number and speed. Subsidies can play an important role in such projects as they often involve new, innovative approaches and technologies. To improve the match between subsidies that regional, national and EU governments provide with our projects, we have developed a qualified in-house subsidy team. The subsidy team has had a lot of success in enabling key projects and is now looking for reinforcements to maintain existing projects and obtain new funding to help our company reach its ambitious climate targets in the North & Central Europe regions.
Do you want to work on some of the biggest energy transition projects in Europe and help industry move to net-zero? Join our in-house subsidy team; an international, ambitious team young in age, mature in experience!
Some examples of our projects that were selected for Innovation Fund, IPCEI, CEF, and national funding schemes: ELYgator, Antwerp@C, Kairos@C with BASF, GO4ZERO with Holcim.

How will you CONTRIBUTE and GROW?

As a Funding Expert for Air Liquide North and Central Europe cluster, you will be responsible for the application and management of subsidies for energy transition projects in North and Central Europe, for Air Liquide but also for customers. The existing portfolio of managed projects is focused on the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and the Nordics.

You work closely with relevant project managers and business developers, external subsidy consultants, the public affairs team and AL management. In this position you will have a central coordinating role between a large number of teams (Energy transition, Business development, Technical, Operations, Legal, Finance, etc.) whilst also maintaining a good relationship with customers in consortium projects and subsidy granting institutes (CINEA, Ministries, etc). We work with a combination of national and European programs, for example: SDE++, Innovation Fund, CEF, IPCEI and many smaller programs.

You will report to the NCE Funding Director, and are organizationally part of the Strategic Management and External Relations-department. The funding team is currently a 7-person team with three men and four women, made up of five different nationalities. We are split between three offices: Dusseldorf (DE), Rotterdam (NL), Brussels (BE).

The NCE Funding Expert's accountabilities are split between applying for new funding, managing assigned funding projects and providing strategic country support. For new funding, the Expert is responsible for the whole process, which includes: managing application teams, gathering information internally and externally, preparation of documents and storylines, and ensuring a compliant submission. For assigned projects, responsibilities include aligning budgets, serving as the main communication point (SPOC) with funding authorities, managing customer relationships, and negotiating amendments and grant finalizations to achieve the best result for Air Liquide. Compliance is a major focus, requiring the expert to implement procedures for EU funding, follow up on reporting for deliverables and milestones, and co-create cost compliance procedures for national funding programs. Additionally, for assigned countries, the expert is responsible for screening and monitoring state aid programs, gathering local investment plans, building new project concepts based on available funding opportunities, and communicating updates on plans and programs to the local cluster and country management.

Are you a MATCH?

Required: Over time we have learned that it may be challenging for someone in our funding team to get experienced with subsidies due to the importance of each project and our focus on big projects vs. many small projects, that’s why the key requirement for any candidate is their experience with preparing and managing complex (national or EU) subsidy applications and projects. To fit within the culture of our energy transition work, we also appreciate a strong interest in energy transition and climate topics.

Minimum two years of experience in funding

Excellent writing and communication skills in English

Analytical skills

Punctuality and comfort with deadlines

Master’s degree

Strong communicator comfortable in a multicultural environment

Nice to have:Air Liquide is a technical company with a lot of engineers. For communication and understanding, it’s therefore appreciated if you have a technical background yourself. Likewise, experience in the energy market or industry are valued. With regards to language: Dutch is highly preferred, and German, French, or Scandinavian languages are helpful.

If you feel like you don’t meet all of the requirements for this role but are interested, please consider applying anyway. Research shows that women and individuals from underrepresented groups may self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We strongly encourage you to apply and look forward to meeting you.

Our Differences make our Performance

At Air Liquide, we are committed to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the diversity of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders and cultures across the world.

We welcome and consider applications from all qualified applicants, regardless of their background. We strongly believe a diverse organization opens up opportunities for people to express their talent, both individually and collectively and it helps foster our ability to innovate by living our fundamentals, acting for our success and creating an engaging environment in a changing world.