Senior Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation (IFC)

The Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services (MAS) Department is seeking a Senior Investment Officer for its agribusiness and forestry operations in Sub-Saharan Africa to be based in Nairobi, Kenya. She/he will report to the Manager – Agribusiness and Forestry for Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Duties and Accountabilities:

• Develop a strong pipeline of good quality investment opportunities through proactive origination/business development and developing and employing sector/country knowledge. 
• Build and maintain strong relationships with regional clients, businesses, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to further develop the sector and to develop specific investment opportunities. 
• Conduct upstream work to enhance business enabling environment of selected sector/country collaborating with World Bank, IFC Advisory and other development partners, to create medium/long-term investment opportunities for IFC (“IFC 3.0”).  
• As team leader and sector investment specialist, evaluate, structure, negotiate, and close new transactions, portfolio restructurings, rescheduling, capital increases, equity sales, as necessary.
• Develop innovative and appropriate financial structures for complex transactions;
• Lead term sheet negotiation/legal documentation process; use strong negotiation skills to develop solutions and overcome impasses in straightforward and complex transactions.
• Mentor and develop junior staff.
• Assist in the formulation, monitoring and updating of IFC’s strategy in the agribusiness in Africa region, working with IFC’s industry and regional departments and in close coordination with the extractive industry groups at the World Bank.
• Coordinate closely with social, environmental, governance, and technical assistance colleagues in order to add value to our clients' businesses, find pragmatic solutions to the specific sector challenges, and achieve sustainable development impact.

Selection Criteria

• MBA or equivalent qualification. 
• At least 10-12 years of experience in corporate and/or project finance with a proven track record of sourcing, structuring and closing investments. 
• Excellent financial, credit and equity skills; demonstrated ability to creatively structure a variety of complex debt and equity instruments.
• Expertise in the agribusiness/general manufacturing/FMCG industry.  Experience in Africa will be a plus.
• Proactiveness, strong business development and client relationship skills, and ability to focus on client needs effectively. 
• Ability to interact directly and independently with the senior management of potential clients, financial and technical partners, as well as senior government officials.
• Sound business judgment in identifying potential business partners and investment opportunities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.  French/Arabic will be a plus.
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to interact effectively with clients and colleagues.
• Team player.  Ability to work sensitively and effectively in a multicultural setting.
• Takes personal responsibility and accountability for timely response to client queries, requests or needs, working to remove obstacles that may impede execution or overall success.
• Willing to travel to various regions in Africa (as long as safety standards are met based on the World Bank Group standards).
• Strong passion in sustainable economic development.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Strong research and quantitative skills.
• Strong Computer skills to develop user-friendly/punchy analyses/presentations (word, excel, and powerpoint)