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Career opportunities

Thank you for your interest in a role at Castalia. We recruit and onboard new team members quarterly, and the next round of career opportunities will be posted by 13 January 2025 (for a 24 March 2025 start date).

In the meantime, please feel free to submit your materials to our talent pool using the link below. We will notify you if we have an opportunity that may be a good match.

Submit your interests here.

Regulation for Small-Scale Water Service Providers, Jamaica

Castalia proposed a new regulatory framework for small private and community-based water and sewerage service providers in Jamaica. After Jamaica’s water sector was liberalized, small water and sewerage service providers developed in communities that previously lacked access to piped water supply and sewerage and sprang up to serve new housing developments and resorts. However, the water regulator did not know how best to regulate these newly created entities.
June 19, 2019/by sophie

Abu Dhabi Power and Water Sector Optimization

Castalia designed a new market mechanism for Abu Dhabi’s power and water sector that would reduce the sector’s fiscal costs through improved efficiency. High costs of the power and water sector were stressing Abu Dhabi’s economy, which needed fiscal consolidation to manage falling oil revenues.
June 21, 2019/by sophie

Advice to Open Country Dairy on the Regulated Price of Milk

Castalia helped Open Country Dairy prepare submissions to the New Zealand Commerce Commission during annual reviews of the Milk Price Manual (the price setting methodology) and the calculations applying that methodology. Small independent milk processors, such as Open Country Dairy, were unhappy that Fonterra, the largest buyer of raw milk, could raise the price of raw milk by using discretion over certain factors within the price calculation.
July 18, 2019/by Site Admin

Advice to Spark on Fiber Regulation, New Zealand

Castalia helped Spark present a submission to New Zealand’s Parliamentary Select Committee in response to proposed changes in the regulation of fixed line telecommunications networks. New Zealand’s largest retail telecommunications provider was worried about losing market share because of draft regulation that increased access charges. The company could lose a portion of its customers to competitors because higher access charges would mean that many customers would no longer be able to afford premium services.
June 21, 2019/by sophie

The African Water Companies Serving the Poorest and Staying Afloat

The African water companies serving the poorest and staying afloat—The Guardian reports on a major new study Castalia wrote with the World Bank…
October 5, 2016/by rebecca

Alinta Energy Debt Valuation, Australia

Castalia assessed the value of a distressed Australian energy company’s debt. Castalia’s client, a private US investment fund, needed to determine the fair value of the debt and its risk before deciding whether to purchase it.
July 17, 2019/by Site Admin

Alleged Anti-Competitive Conduct in Electricity Transmission and Distribution

Castalia gave expert testimony before the High Court to show that the operator of New Zealand’s national transmission grid was not behaving in an anti-competitive manner. A generation company alleged that Transpower, operator of the national transmission grid, was being anti-competitive by refusing their request to set charges for a small distributed power plant as though it was connected directly to the transmission grid.
June 24, 2019/by rebecca

Alternative Insurance Policies for Medicines Australia

Castalia proposed ways to increase affordable and fast access to non-publicly listed medicines while alleviating pharmaceutical costs on the Australian public health system. Affordable access to medicines is a government responsibility. Alternative funding could relieve fiscal pressure and provide Australians with access to much-needed specialized medicines.
June 21, 2019/by sophie

Analysis of Disruptive Technologies in Energy Distribution, New Zealand

Castalia advised Vector on how disruptive technologies, including battery storage, distributed generation, and smart-grids, would change the optimal configuration of electricity distribution grids in the future, assisting Vector’s investment planning. Vector was worried that disruptive technologies could strand the investments it planned to make in the distribution grid.
July 17, 2019/by Site Admin

Analysis of Pharmaceutical Public Plan Policies, New Zealand

Castalia analyzed outcomes under the New Zealand pharmaceutical public funding scheme so that we could advise if the model should be followed by Canada. Canadian national and provincial governments were considering whether to adopt New Zealand’s model for driving down pharmaceutical prices and wanted to know if health outcomes would suffer if they did.
June 19, 2019/by sophie

Optimal lockdown restrictions in the Antipodes

As New Zealand implements further relaxation of lockdown restrictions…
May 14, 2020/by Site Admin

Appraisal of Lower Level Tertiary Programs and Courses, New Zealand

Castalia evaluated the value of lower level courses at Open Polytechnic, New Zealand, and showed that they had a benefit-cost ratio of 3.5 to 4. Government funding for Open Polytechnic’s lower level courses was under threat because of low student retention rates.
June 26, 2019/by rebecca

We look for candidates who are:

competent

Competent

We are experts in finance, economics, law, and policy applied to infrastructure, natural resources and social service provision. You’re a great fit for us if you can demonstrate excellent technical and analytical abilities, and if you’re willing to learn new skills.

creative

Creative

We’re passionate about solving the infrastructure and resource problems of the world in creative and innovative ways. We’re building a team that is insightful, resourceful and visionary. You’re a great fit for us if you’re a creative problem solver.

consistent

Consistent

Castalia is respected for the quality of our work. We’ve achieved this by being reliable, organized and efficient. You’re a great fit for us if you’re conscientious, reliable and keep your promises.

concientious

Conscientious

We’ve nurtured a culture of excellence, but we’re able to maintain it because our team is made up of disciplined self-starters. You’re a great fit for us if your passion and creativity is matched with discipline, commitment and follow-through.

committed

Committed

It takes focus and hard work to be successful. Solving the world’s most difficult problems is never easy! You’re a great fit for us if you want to put achievement of team goals above personal interests, know how to work in a team, and can persevere through set-backs.

collaborative

Collaborative

Consulting demands a lot from the individual and the team. We are looking for team members who are patient, approachable, good-natured and willing to work with others to solve big problems. You’re a great fit for us if you bring empathy, humility and excellent communication skills and would like to help the team achieve our mission.

Collectively, these are known as our ‘6 C’s’ and they encompass the qualities that lead to success at Castalia.

We look for candidates who are:

competent

Competent

We are experts in finance, economics, law, and policy applied to infrastructure, natural resources and social service provision. You’re a great fit for us if you can demonstrate excellent technical and analytical abilities, and if you’re willing to learn new skills.

creative

Creative

We’re passionate about solving the infrastructure and resource problems of the world in creative and innovative ways. We’re building a team that is insightful, resourceful and visionary. You’re a great fit for us if you’re a creative problem solver.

consistent

Consistent

Castalia is respected for the quality of our work. We’ve achieved this by being reliable, organized and efficient. You’re a great fit for us if you’re conscientious, reliable and keep your promises.

concientious

Conscientious

We’ve nurtured a culture of excellence, but we’re able to maintain it because our team is made up of disciplined self-starters. You’re a great fit for us if your passion and creativity is matched with discipline, commitment and follow-through.

committed

Committed

It takes focus and hard work to be successful. Solving the world’s most difficult problems is never easy! You’re a great fit for us if you want to put achievement of team goals above personal interests, know how to work in a team, and can persevere through set-backs and pain.

collaborative

Collaborative

Consulting demands a lot from the individual and the team. We are looking for team members who are patient, approachable, good-natured and willing to work with others to solve big problems. You’re a great fit for us if you bring empathy, humility and excellent communication skills and would like to help the team achieve our mission.

Collectively, these are known as our ‘6 C’s’ and they encompass the qualities that lead to success at Castalia.

Recruitment FAQs

  • Intern
  • Research Associate
  • Economics and Financial Analyst
  • Senior Analyst
  • Manager
  • Senior Management (Directors, Practice Leaders, CEO/COO/ED)
  • Corporate Services

We’re glad you’re interested in working with us. Please click on the job posting above and start your application.

Once we have screened for candidates, had the informational interview and we’re ready to start with interviews, we aim to have each candidate’s recruitment process completed in 2 weeks.

Informational interview:

This is an introductory interview with someone from the team you’re likely to work with. You have an opportunity to ask questions about Castalia, the work environment and the kind of work you can expect to do. You will also be asked general questions about yourself and your professional education and experience. After this you decide if this is the job for you and if you want to go through our formal assessment process. At this point we also give you feedback on whether we think you’d likely be a good fit for the role.

Team interviews:

These interviews are designed to test your knowledge, based on the position you are applying for. Your understanding and application of finance and microeconomics will be tested if you are applying to be part of our team of analysts. All candidates will have an interview to discuss Castalia’s 6Cs, which is a discussion about our values and the types of candidates we’re looking to hire.

Final interview

The final interview will be with a member from our Senior Management. It will cover all elements mentioned above. Managers and above will have an additional interview with the CEO.

We suggest that you read the following materials in preparation for the interviews. This is what we expect our team to know. If you’re unfamiliar with these concepts and the material, your application is unlikely to be successful.

Interview on microeconomics:

  • Basic Microeconomics, you’d want to brush up by reviewing an introductory microeconomic text book. The interview will typically cover the following areas:
    • Supply and Demand, price formation, market equilibrium
    • Utility maximization, profit maximization, equalization at the margin as a concept
    • Perfect competition model and monopoly models
  • A good Public Finance/Public Economics textbook should cover: these, e.g. Rosen’s textbook:
    • Part 1: Getting Started
      Chapter 1: Introduction
      Chapter 2: Tools of Positive Analysis
      Chapter 3: Tools of Normative Analysis
    • Part 2: Public Expenditure: Public Goods and Externalities
      Chapter 4: Public Goods
      Chapter 5: Externalities
      Chapter 6: Political Economy
      Chapter 7: Education
      Chapter 8: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Interview on finance:

The interview will cover:

  • Financial statement analysis
    • Reading and understanding financial statements (balance sheet, cash flow statements, income statements). You should know the differences, what information can be found on what statement, correct way to record transactions and interpret information from these statements, etc.
    • Calculating and comparing relevant financial ratios
  • Corporate finance – we suggest reviewing:
    • How to value companies including DCFs and calculating present value, WACC and the CAPM model
    • Capital structure and managing risk, financing versus valuation and key differences between debt and equity
  • The Corporate Finance textbook we recommend is written by Myers and Brealey. 

Myers, Brealey. Principles of Corporate Finance (11th Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill, 2014.

  • Part 1: Value
    Chapter 1: Introduction to Corporate Finance
    Chapter 2: How to Calculate Present Values
    Chapter 3: Valuing Bonds
    Chapter 5: Net Present Value and Other Investment Criteria
    Chapter 6: Making Investment Decisions with the Net Present Value Rule
  • Part 2: Risk
    Chapter 7: Introduction to Risk and Return
    Chapter 8: Capital Asset Pricing Model
    Chapter 9: Risk and the Cost of Capital
  • Part 3: Best Practices in Capital Budgeting
    Chapter 10: Project Analysis
  • Part 4: Financing Decisions and Market Efficiency
    Chapter 13: Efficient Markets and Behavioral Finance
  • Part 5: Payout Policy and Capital Structure
    Chapter 17: Does Debt Policy Matter
    Chapter 19: Financing and Valuation

Why choose Castalia?

Interested in learning more?

Interested in learning more?

Five lessons from Cape Town’s Day Zero Crisis for Better Urban Water Resilience

If you’re working on urban water resilience, you must read…
November 13, 2024/by admin

Water Utility Transformation, Bermuda

Castalia developed a business case to transfer the responsibility for water, wastewater, and solid waste service provision to a single utility. Castalia developed a climate resilience strategy, including infrastructure rehabilitation and extension and non-revenue water measures. The Government is implementing
September 4, 2024/by admin

The American Chemical Society Published Findings From “Decarbonizing Water: The Potential to Apply the Voluntary Carbon Market toward Global Water Security” Report

July 30, 2024/by admin

Assessing Bus Fleet Decarbonization Options with the Zero-Emissions Bus Cost Model

Castalia worked alongside the New Zealand Transportation Agency Waka Kotahi to help the Agency assess bus fleet decarbonization options. The result is a model that calculates emissions and total cost of ownership based on technology type, route type and bus fleet size.
June 13, 2024/by admin

PPP Gender Toolkit is Now Available

March 21, 2024/by admin

New report “Decarbonizing Water: Applying the Voluntary Carbon Market toward Global Water Security”

March 20, 2024/by admin

Implementing Local Water Done Well Policy in New Zealand

Climate funds have great potential to improve the efficiency of underperforming water utilities. Castalia developed a concept for a Climate Fund for Water and Energy Efficiency Performance-based Contracts (PBCs).  
March 5, 2024/by admin

Leading the Discussion on Innovative Water Loss Reduction Strategies at the Global Water Summit

February 13, 2024/by admin

Castalia is an approved training organization for the Preparation Module of the APMG PPP Certification Program Foundation Level

January 17, 2024/by admin

The Untapped Potential for Voluntary Carbon Markets in the Water Sector

Climate funds have great potential to improve the efficiency of underperforming water utilities. Castalia developed a concept for a Climate Fund for Water and Energy Efficiency Performance-based Contracts (PBCs).  
December 21, 2023/by admin

Decoding New Zealand’s Water Reform: A Castalia Perspective

Climate funds have great potential to improve the efficiency of underperforming water utilities. Castalia developed a concept for a Climate Fund for Water and Energy Efficiency Performance-based Contracts (PBCs).  
December 6, 2023/by admin

Tapping into the Next Geothermal Frontier

Climate funds have great potential to improve the efficiency of underperforming water utilities. Castalia developed a concept for a Climate Fund for Water and Energy Efficiency Performance-based Contracts (PBCs).  
December 1, 2023/by admin