Associate, Corporate Development

Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company on a mission to supply the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. We’re reimagining the minerals supply chain by combining deep industry expertise with advanced software, automation, and data-driven decision-making.

Corporate Development raises the capital and closes the transactions that take Mariana's projects from development to operation. The team sits at the intersection of corporate finance, project finance, and M&A, and works directly with the CEO, CFO, and commercial leadership.

The team's work spans:

• Corporate and project financing: equity raises, project-level equity, project finance debt, export credit agency and government-backed financing, venture and corporate debt.

• Structured commercial transactions: offtake agreements, prepayments, working capital and inventory financing with strategics and commodity trading houses.

• M&A and partnerships: acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships across lithium, copper, and adjacent minerals.

• Investor relations: materials, process management, and ongoing engagement with existing and prospective investors and lenders.

We are hiring an Associate and a Manager. Both roles report to the Director of Corporate Development, are based in Houston, and will help build how the function itself runs on MarianaOS.

The Associate is the analytical engine of the team: building the models, materials, and diligence work that underpin every financing and transaction. You will have direct exposure to senior management and counterparties from day one, on live deals.

• Build and maintain financial models: project-level DCFs, life-of-mine models, financing structures, returns and sensitivity analysis, and corporate funding plans.

• Prepare investor presentations, lender materials, board materials, and internal decision memos.

• Run diligence workstreams: manage data rooms, coordinate third-party advisors (technical, legal, environmental, market), and track and respond to diligence requests.

• Analyze and benchmark transaction terms, including offtake, prepayment, and debt term sheets, and support the team in negotiations.

• Track comparable transactions and peer companies to inform valuation and strategy.

• Help build the function's tooling on MarianaOS: models, data pipelines, and workflows that make the team faster.

• 2–4+ years in investment banking, private equity, or corporate development.

• Strong financial modeling from a blank page; comfortable building and auditing complex, integrated models.

• Clear, concise written communication and polished presentation materials.

• High ownership and attention to detail; able to run multiple workstreams in parallel.

• Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, engineering, or a related field.

• Exposure to project finance, natural resources, or infrastructure transactions.

• Familiarity with mining concepts (reserves and resources, technical reports, commodity pricing).

• Comfort with Python, SQL, or other tools beyond Excel.