Frontier Markets Advisory Executive

Team and role overview

BII Plus at a glance 

BII Plus is BII’s technical assistance facility providing advisory to support investees and to unlock systemic barriers to impactful investment across Africa and Asia. BII Plus is aligned with the investment sectors of BII working hand in hand with investment teams to identify, design and manage technical assistance opportunities.

Over the last few years through BII Plus, BII has been pioneering initiatives that help unlock investment in frontier markets. These bring together our technical assistance/ advisory capabilities with our investment acumen supported by partnerships with other DFIs and donors. This has resulted in significant pipeline across various investment verticals in markets such as Nepal, Sierra Leone, DRC, Ethiopia and Ghana. It has also helped to build investment ecosystems in these markets. Over the next few years BII plans to expand the number of countries served through these advisory initiatives.

In this context  BII is looking to recruit an experienced professional to help manage and further develop a portfolio of advisory programmes, working closely with investment teams to drive investment and ecosystem change in the key markets of focus.

Responsibilities

The Executive will work closely with the Manager and Business Operations Lead to oversee and manage the existing portfolio of advisory programmes such as ARIA, Invest for Impact Nepal and Ghana Investment Support Programme. It will also involve designing and setting up new initiatives in frontier markets in Africa and Asia.

The role will encompass close management of programme teams ensuring close integration of the initiatives with BII’s impact and investment teams with the ultimate goal of unlocking investments and shaping the investment ecosystems. More specifically this will entail:

• Designing new initiatives in frontier markets and taking them through the BII approval process ensuring they take off
• Helping shape a strategy for each market which includes an outline of how various tools can work together to unlock investment and shape the investment ecosystem
• Working with the programme teams to identify and assess earlystage investment opportunities understanding what the barriers to investment are and how technical assistance/ advisory can help address those barriers
• Support to BII investment teams to ensure these investment opportunities enter the BII pipeline and are closed
• Designing initiatives with ecosystem actors (including industry bodies, donors and governments) to help develop investment ecosystems
• Managing service providers contracted to support the initiatives ensuring delivery of results on time and within budget
• Helping coordinate and align internal resources around the common goal of unlocking investments and helping shape investment ecosystems
• Forming strong partnerships with other players such as UK government, other DFIs, donors and not for profits
• Helping collate and communicate learnings from the initiatives and serving as an external thought leader

The Candidate

Background, skills, aptitude

• University degree (Economics, Business, Finance, International Development or other relevant discipline);
• Demonstrated experience in executing advisory mandates in frontier markets
• Strong understanding of investment and the role of development finance in frontier markets 
• Creative problem solver with the ability to apply systems thinking to bring together technical assistance/ advisory to businesses, policy advisory, investment, and partnerships with other investors and donors to deliver transformative impact in frontier markets.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to engage with and influence senior stakeholders;
• Ability to prioritise tasks and manage multiple work streams simultaneously in a complex and fast-moving environment;
• Proven capability of effective teamwork and strong stakeholder/relationship management;
• Understanding of BII’s impact priorities in relation to productive, sustainable and inclusive investments;
• Self-starter with a bias for action who is resilient, with a problem-solving approach;
• Lived work experience in frontier markets;

The role can be based in London, Accra, Lagos or Nairobi and would be open to consideration for reduced hours/flexible working.

Our 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. 

Salary: Competitive