Investment Operations Business Analyst (12 Month FTC)

Our mission and objectives

• British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. We invest with the aim of solving the biggest global development challenges by investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation.
• We have 75 years of experience successfully supporting the sustainable, long-term growth of businesses in Africa and Asia, and have recently expanded to invest in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean.
• We invest to achieve impact and a financial return which is then reinvested for more impact. Over the past five years, we have committed £7 billion of new investments, with our net assets growing in value to approximately £8.1 billion. We are now invested in 1,400 businesses which directly employ over 950,000 workers and support many more. Over the next five years, we plan to grow further, and aim to commit around £9 billion of new investments over the period.
• Our current five-year strategy responds to the opportunities and challenges facing developing and emerging economies. To ensure our capital is used in the best way possible to meet these opportunities and challenges, it sets out three clear strategic objectives – to invest in productive, sustainable and inclusive development. These objectives mean an increased focus on climate finance, including investing in green infrastructure; on financing digital transformation; and on driving inclusive outcomes, including through gender and diversity finance.
• We changed our name to British International Investment in 2022, to more accurately reflect our central role in the UK Government’s international financing offer.
• In the last few years, we have expanded our presence in Africa and Asia by opening new offices in Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana and Singapore; with further expansion planned.
• We take an entrepreneurial approach to investment. We think innovatively about ways to deploy our capital, attract, and mobilise other investors, and drive transformational impact.
• Deliver impact. We are a team of over 600 and place immense value on diversity within our organisation.
• Read more about us and the strategy at co.uk

Team and role overview

Purpose

The Investment Operations team is made up of three groups:

• Data Management – responsible for ensuring investment related data is appropriate, accurate and consistent. Responsible for implementation and development of the Data Governance Policy.
• Loan Administration – responsible for ensuring all loan transactions are processed in a timely manner and recorded accurately. Responsible for ensuring BII’s portfolio of debt and trade and supply chain finance investments is monitored for lifecycle events and administered effectively and efficiently.
• Portfolio Administration – responsible for ensuring all equity and fund transactions are processed in a timely manner and recorded accurately. Responsible for ensuring BII’s portfolio of equity and fund investments is monitored for lifecycle events and administered effectively and efficiently.

The Investment Operations team was established in 2022 and existing processes were transferred from BII’s Investment, Finance and Treasury teams.  We are seeking a Business Analyst on a 12 month FTC to support the Head of Investment Operations in increasing effectiveness and efficiency by reviewing existing processes and introducing standardisation and automation.  The initial focus will be on processes related to BII’s funds portfolio, as this is where volumes are highest.   This role will sit centrally within Investment Operations, reporting to the Head of Investment Operations.

Responsibilities

• Create a full inventory of processes the team is responsible for
• Review each process to identify areas for improvement
• Understand business needs and develop and refine solution ideas with stakeholders within the team and wider organisation
• Document process maps and procedures for each process
• Define internal reporting arising from each process
• Work with stakeholders to implement agreed solutions
• Lead detailed design exercises
• Identify data requirements and enhancements
• Line manage the Portfolio Data Coordinator
• Create business cases detailing cost, benefit, timeline and resource estimates

The candidate

Background, skills, aptitude

• Successful candidates will have a background delivering formal business projects within private equity, investment management, investment banking or similar financial services organisation. They will have a proven ability to see the bigger picture, able to demonstrate use of in-depth insight and foresight to challenge and promote collective thinking to support positive outcomes. They will be comfortable working in ambiguous environments, with the ability to problem solve across multiple teams.
• Essential skills:
• Experience designing and producing compelling solutions
• Strong analytic skills, ability to analyse problems, identify cause and develop potential solution options
• Ability to approach problems from a range of different angles, making connections between disparate processes and pieces of information
• Understanding of approaches to defining target operating models and business re-engineering techniques
• Experience documenting detailed process maps and procedures
• Attention to detail ensuring a high degree of accuracy for all deliverables
• Proficient with Microsoft Office tools, particularly Excel and PowerPoint
• Ability to build rapport with key internal stakeholders
• Desirable skills:
• Understanding of private equity funds and the administration processes that are required to support them
• Understanding of data, data flows and data quality processes within asset management or a similar operating environment
• Experience using Portfolio Management Systems, ideally eFront
• Awareness of various data visualisation tools and techniques, ideally Power BI
• Candidates should be strongly motivated by BII’s development mission and ideally demonstrate some commitment to development or social goals through previous executive or non-executive activity.

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous
• Tenacious in the face of challenges
• Collaborative and caring

British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background. 

Please provide a cover letter with your application

Salary: Competitive