Sr. Financial Analyst - Corporate Development

The Corporate Development Sr. Financial Analyst will be a member of the Corporate Development Team located in Denver, CO. This role will participate in the evaluation of non-routine transactions, project and process improvement efforts, research and analysis, and other duties as assigned. A successful individual in this position will demonstrate initiative, is able to communicate to various stakeholders, and is willing to develop others within their area of responsibility and is able to work both independently and collaboratively.

Essential Roles and Responsibilities:

A&D Project Management

• Manage a multi-functional group to build an operational, economic, and financial model and present recommendations to management.
• Translate engineering type curves, cost assumptions, and development schedules into financial outputs.
• Coordinate with Land on lease obligations and acreage adjustments that impact valuation.
• Work with Reservoir/Geoscience to incorporate uncertainty, risk profiles, and low/mid/high cases into economic models.
• Ensure financial assumptions align across BD, FP&A, and corporate planning groups.

Financial Modeling & Valuation Support

• Work with FP&A to build a high-level corporate model to support initial screenings.
• Build and maintain valuation models for acquisitions, divestitures, farm-ins/farm-outs, and joint ventures.
• Develop discounted cash flow (DCF), NAV, payout, and accretion/dilution models using engineering input and commercial assumptions.
• Run sensitivity analyses on pricing, cost structures, capital timing, LOE, synergies, and midstream fees.
• Reconcile deal valuation with corporate metrics (NPV, FCF, leverage, per-share impact, inventory life).
• Evaluate synergies

Corporate Impact & Strategic Fit Analysis

• Evaluate how deals affect:
• Leverage ratio and liquidity
• FCF profile and capital intensity
• Inventory runway and capital allocation
• Margin changes (EBITDAX, cash margins, netbacks)
• Build comparisons vs. public-market expectations and peer trading multiples.

4. Deal Screening & Competitive Intelligence

• Assist in rapid-cycle screening of BD opportunities using public operator data, production metrics, and cost structures.
• Benchmark target assets against peer operators, recent basin transactions, and historical deal multiples.
• Maintain a database of market intelligence, including:
• A&D transactions
• Public company performance
• Commodity price outlooks
• Peer capital allocation trends

5. Support for Negotiation & Deal Structuring

• Analyze financial implications of alternative deal structures, including:
• Earn-outs
• Contingent payments
• Asset swaps
• Carry agreements
• PDP-heavy vs. undeveloped-weighted deal mixes
• Evaluate working capital adjustments, purchase price mechanisms, and indemnity structures.
• Provide decision-ready financial materials for BD leads and executives during negotiations.

6. Due Diligence Support

• Participate in financial due diligence, including:
• Validating production forecasts & cost assumptions
• Analyzing LOE trends, Opex variability, capital efficiency
• Reviewing historical financial statements for asset-level accuracy
• Verifying midstream contracts, marketing agreements, and price realizations
• Document financial risks and support adjustments to the purchase agreement.

7. Communication & Presentation

• Prepare board- and CEO-level materials summarizing deal economics, risks, strategic fit, and financial impact.
• Build clear, concise exhibits (dashboards, waterfall charts, sensitivities) to support decision-making.
• Present findings to senior management, shaping the BD narrative with data-driven analysis.

8. Systems, Data & Process Excellence

• Maintain accurate economic modeling templates and deal databases.
• Support data exchanges with counter parties
• Ensure data integrity across valuation tools, financial systems, and engineering databases.

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in finance or related field of study master’s degree in finance or related field of study a plus.

Typical Experience:

Minimum 6+ years relevant work experience required (10+ years in lieu of education)
Oil and gas finance experience preferred.

Schedule: Hybrid

SM Energy offers competitive compensation and benefits programs which include, but are not limited to, variable pay, health care coverage, retirement plan, protection coverage, time off and leave programs, training and development opportunities and a range of allowances connected to specific work situations. Details are available at Careers :: SM Energy Company (SM) (sm-energy.com).

Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.