Investment Associate, Energy Access & Efficiency

About BII

British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. With a mission to solve the biggest global development challenges, we aim to create a virtuous circle of investment and impact. Your contribution will be essential. 

It won’t be easy: we do the hardest work in the most complex markets. Be prepared to test your skills, get creative and say your piece as you take on high-profile work as part of a diverse team of exceptionally smart, passionate people. 

In return, you can take your career to all-new places in a culture that rewards curiosity and collaboration, and balances high performance with wellbeing.

BII at a glance

75 years supporting sustainable business growth in developing and emerging markets

£8.1 billion in net assets

1,400+ businesses invested in

950,000 workers in the businesses we support

£9 billion in new investments planned in the next 5 years

600+ people in our diverse global team

3 key development objectives: Productive | Sustainable | Inclusive

About the team 

• BII actively invests to promote energy access in line with SDG 7 and climate action in line with SDG 13 through decentralised energy and resource efficiency (e.g., energy and water) solutions. BII’s Energy Access and Efficiency (EAE) team is part of BII’s broader Infrastructure and Climate Group (ICG), which also includes equity, project finance and intermediated investment teams.
• The EAE team provides debt products to businesses that deliver decentralized renewable energy (DRE) such as solar home systems, commercial and industrial (C&I) solar installations and mini-grids. The team also lends to promote innovative resource efficiency solutions that substitute fossil fuels with renewable sources of power generation, enable energy efficiency, including through electric vehicle adoption, clean cooking solutions as well as water conservation.

The EAE team is also the focal point for Kinetic transactions for the Infrastructure and Climate vertical and manages the £ 240m FCDO Climate Innovation Facility (CIF). The primary objective of the funding is to seed innovative business models and/or investment vehicles in nascent markets to support the viability of more inclusive and sustainable economies by using catalytic and blended capital. For these more innovative investments and technologies – particularly in nascent climate-related markets – concessional capital is crucial to addressing the higher risks and costs faced by first movers to crowd-in private capital and deliver

Role Overview

• transformative outcomes. The EAE team’s Kinetic responsibilities include: 1) providing strategic oversight for CIF across BII, including but not limited to setting portfolio construction objectives, pipeline prioritization and monitoring and deployment of capital in line with strategy; and 2) supporting the execution of Kinetic transactions across ICG in collaboration with investment teams.

The EAE team is currently composed of eight professionals and plans to grow to further in the near term. The Head of Energy Access and Efficiency (the “Team Head”) leads the team.

About the Role

The Investment Associate (the “Associate”) will be part of the EAE team and will play a key role in expanding BII’s capacity to deliver high-quality, impactful investments in the energy access and resource efficiency space.

The Associate will primarily support the senior members of the EAE team in the execution of the team’s mandate while also supporting the broader Infrastructure and Climate Group.

Alongside their day-to-day work, the Associate will benefit from informal mentoring and formal training designed to build both technical and soft skills. The Associate will be expected to build experience and expertise over time and progressively take on additional responsibility within the EAE team.

Responsibilities

• Evaluation and execution of new investment opportunities: Analyse financial information relating to specific companies; build and/or analyse financial models and conduct sensitivity analysis; Support the production of investment proposals for the Investment Committee and participate in the meetings; Conduct detailed debt repayment and covenant analysis on companies using various methods; Identify key company, sector, and country risks and potential mitigation strategies; Support senior team members in the structuring and negotiation of key transaction terms and legal documents. This will include attending in-person meetings and potential due diligence visits.
• Portfolio monitoring: Review company reports to monitor compliance with covenants and flag any potential credit issues; Process waivers or amendment requests; Prepare monitoring papers for internal portfolio reviews; Maintain pipeline and portfolio monitoring databases for transactions covered by the EAE team.
• Market intelligence and business development: Tracking market developments and financial news to identify trends or issues that might affect the pipeline and portfolio companies. Support the EAE team in identifying new opportunities in the energy access, C&I and resource efficiency space.

Other: Contribute to ad hoc strategy or sector research and analytical work.

About you

Background, skills, aptitude

• University degree in a relevant field (e.g., economics, finance, corporate finance, accounting).

Exposure to renewable and/or decentralised energy and resource efficiency.

• Strong work experience in a relevant investment setting (e.g., bank, fund, DFI).
• Proven experience with financial modelling and Excel as part of an investment / advisory team.
• Exposure to emerging market finance, especially in Africa and Asia, is an advantage.
• Research and analytical skills, including the ability to analyse company reports, sector data, relevant economic and political events.
• Good business communication and presentation skills.
• Strong credit skills and sound commercial judgement.
• Outstanding writing and document production skills in Word and PowerPoint.
• Ability to juggle work priorities while meeting deadlines and managing time effectively.
• Collaborative team player, able to work and build relationships effectively across teams.
• An active interest in investing in developing markets and understanding of emerging market environments, with a willingness to travel to the countries in which BII invests.
• Foreign language skills, particularly those spoken in BII’s geographies, would be an additional advantage.

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