Private Equity Associate – Infrastructure (US/UK)

$100–120/hrrate as listed

Build a full infrastructure PE financial model in Excel from a synthetic deal document pack with no template provided, then peer-review two anonymized models from other contractors against a fixed rubric. The engagement runs roughly 20–25 hours over 1.5–2 weeks, with no generative AI permitted in building or reviewing.

Summary, eligibility guidance and screening preparation are prepared by Sidequest from the platform's posting. Check the source listing before applying.

What the work involves

You receive a synthetic deal document pack for an infrastructure transaction — the kind of material that would land in a data room — and build a working model from scratch. There is no template, no shell, no starter tab. The deliverable is an editable Excel workbook with live formulas, explicit source references back to the document pack, and an assumptions page that states what you assumed and why. Expect the usual infrastructure machinery: contracted versus merchant revenue, capex phasing, a debt schedule with sizing and sculpting, and returns output at the fund and asset level.

The second half of the engagement is peer review. You receive two anonymized models built by other contractors on the same transaction and score them against a fixed criteria set, writing a short rationale for each judgement and completing a review scorecard. This is where a lot of contributors underperform: the review is not a thumbs-up, it is a defensible, criterion-by-criterion assessment where a wrong scoring call is as visible as a broken formula in your own build.

What the platform screens for

Mercor's screen is AI-led and follow-up heavy. It is looking for evidence you have personally built infrastructure models — not supervised them, not reviewed a banker's — and that you can talk fluently about the mechanics: DSCR-based debt sizing, sculpted amortisation, contracted cash flow treatment, terminal value conventions in a finite-life asset. Digital infrastructure exposure (data centres, fibre, towers) is probed specifically, so be ready to describe a live transaction in those subsectors at the level of the revenue model and the lease or contract structure. Expect direct questions about the no-generative-AI condition and how you would evidence compliance.

Logistics

Fully remote and asynchronous; US and UK candidates
Roughly 20–25 hours total — about 12–15 on the build, 8–10 on the two reviews
Kickoff week of September 22, all deliverables due October 5, 2026
A supplemental project NDA is required before the document pack is released
Observed pay band is $120–130/hr; rates are as reported and not guaranteed

What they look for

Infrastructure private equity modelling from source documents, without a template
2–4 years total: ~2 years investment banking (infra, power & utilities, or real estate/TMT M&A) plus 1–2 years infrastructure PE
Current or recent Associate role at an infrastructure-focused fund or the infra arm of a multi-strategy manager
Digital infrastructure exposure — data centres, fibre, or towers
Project finance debt mechanics: sizing, sculpting, DSCR and covenant testing
Structured written critique against a fixed scorecard
Fluent English

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 10 questions

Matched to what this platform's screening actually measures. Answer each out loud in 60–90 seconds: claim → concrete example → implication.

What it tests: Whether you have hands-on build experience in infrastructure or have mostly been maintaining a model someone else architected.
A strong answer: Name the asset type and geography, state which tabs you laid out yourself (revenue build, capex phasing, debt schedule, returns waterfall), and mention one structural decision you made — monthly versus quarterly periodicity, or how you handled construction-period interest.
Where people lose it: Describing the deal narrative — sponsor, bid dynamics, IC outcome — instead of the model. The screener is testing construction, and a strong deal story with no tab-level detail reads as someone who reviewed rather than built.