Head Impact Evaluation & Learning at Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund

Job Description

The ideal candidate for this role should be innovative, passionate about impact orientation and measurement with strong analytical and leadership skills, and a good grasp of social impact investment initiatives.

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities;

Strategic Leadership and Direction:

• Lead on delivering an ambitious results and impact measurement, knowledge and learning framework and strategy Specifically, but not limited to developing results frameworks and plans for data capture, analysis and dissemination of results in order to facilitate learning and evoke the desired response from stakeholders.
• Lead the development and implementation of appropriate ex ante impact evaluation frameworks that supports investment appraisal including on potential returns on investments based both on primary and secondary evidence.
• Lead the development and implementation of appropriate ex-post impact evaluation frameworks for harvesting the diversity and magnitude of the AECF’s investments.

Portfolio management:

• Support AECF’s Management Team in the development and active use of a portfolio wide results framework and monitoring dashboard to help ensure good management and delivery of AECF’s programmes and policy work. This should include ensuring the generation of evidence to demonstrate the outcomes and impacts of AECF programmes and ensuring this knowledge is well communicated and applied to support programme scale up/ down, replication of achievements, and driving innovation.
• Ensure evaluations across the AECF are well designed, managed and communicated. This will involve close working with the Portfolio Investment Team and engaging them to help them envision and embed creative methods for impact measurement into the solutions they are delivering to our partners at the concept note, design, competition, and implementation phases.

Capability Building:

• Strengthen the capacity and skills of AECF staff in results and evaluation and continue to build a culture of managing for impact across the institution. This will include providing results and evaluation training to staff, identify external training opportunities, support a selection of staff to apply for evaluation accreditation, and provide ongoing capacity building through technical assistance at programme level.

Corporate Reporting and communication:

• Lead on AECF corporate results monitoring and reporting, supporting evidence uptake, communicating monitoring and evaluation findings, translating and using the result to influence programme and policy decision.

Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations:

• Collaborate with various key partners to raise the visibility of our work, with special attention to promoting our breakthroughs in result measurement and impact evaluation;
• Understanding the processes, institutions and organizations that shape the changing international development context in which AECF operates, including the Sustainable Development Goals, legislation and government structures, and the roles of multilateral organizations and processes in development

Required Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• A Master’s degree in International Development, Economics, Mathematics, Communications or related field;
• A minimum of 10 years of full-time work experience in research, impact measurement, and evaluation preferably in international development context, working with SMEs and applying DCED standards;
• Strong technical skills across results and evaluation and ability to use and advise on different data collection and evaluation approaches and methods; ability to demonstrate thought leadership on technical monitoring and evaluation issues;
• Background in statistics to ensure technical inputs into relevant programmes and help develop the institution wide evidence base;
• Ability to independently priorities and manage a diverse workload and manage multiple concurrent workstreams;
• Excellent communication and writing skills, with a keen ability to synthesize and present complex data in a simple, compelling, meaningful way (ability to produce beautiful and top-notch data visualization is a plus);
• Confidence in working and engaging externally with the results and evaluation community, donors, the private sector and Development Finance Institutions;
• Ability to facilitate the process of turning impact data into meaningful stories;
• Experience of working in developing countries is desirable.

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Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities;

• Oversee and direct the overall strategic direction of the AECF investment portfolio across AECF operations;
• Provides technical expertise to assure alignment of the AECF’s portfolio with evolving sector development policies, government development objectives, other donor programs, and foreign policy priorities;
• Continued development of business practices and investment analysis within AECF;
• Ongoing support and oversight for the development of progress and social impact indicators for portfolio investments and for the organization itself;
• Lead and guide the development of policies and processes for investment, investee reporting, risk analysis, portfolio analysis and management, investor reporting and compliance;
• Provide technical and organizational leadership on the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of investment portfolio management activities from program design, competition, selection and contracting, portfolio management, learning and knowledge development activities;
• Develop the business case, strategy, capitalization and operating structures and systems for new financial instruments for AECF;
• Redesign AECF alternative services product (Technical Assistance, Connect and Exchange) strategy and formulation, with emphasis on significantly improving the performance of portfolio companies, enhancing investor readiness for seed and early growth stage investees and facilitating B2B knowledge sharing and learning among portfolio companies;
• Alongside the Impact team oversee the development of progress and social impact indicators for portfolio investment and ensure best-in-class financial and social impact monitoring of portfolio companies;
• Coordinate efforts and strategies with other departments, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, investors and international development organizations around social impact and the performance of our investment;
• Build a high performing and engaged investment portfolio team and ensure AECF has in place the right team skills and competencies to manage the investments portfolio.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Investment or related relevant areas required;
• 10 -15 plus years of experience working with private sector businesses in a development context, including experience with one or more of the following: grant and debt investments, provision of financial guarantees; delivery of business development services, private equity or venture capital, and development impact assessment in private sector impact investments preferably in emerging markets;
• Experience in directly engaging with early and growth stage business in the agribusiness or renewable energy sectors, including as an entrepreneur or business manager, funding and fund raising;
• Background managing portfolios and multiple programs of more than $10 million each;
• Strong financial and business analysis skills as demonstrated by prior experience;
• Demonstrated track record of strong collaborative and ethical leadership in a global environment. Having achieved remarkable outputs in effective ways, working well to develop and motivate staff to achieve superior results. They must have the ability to coach, mentor, inspire and grow the teams;
• 5+ years of senior leadership working experience in sub-Saharan Africa which includes a solid track record of leading teams of 10+ people, including leading geographically dispersed teams;
• Strong well-established networks of trusted professional colleagues to enable the due diligence process and to facilitate business development conversations for our investees;
• Able to bring creative new approaches and diverse solutions. Willing to take calculated risks to influence the adoption of fresh ideas and approaches;
• Interpersonal skills as demonstrated by an ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and partners in multi-cultural, multi-institutional and high-pressure settings;
• Commitment to and enthusiasm for AECF’s mission and business model and respect for the organization’s core values; and
• Advanced working competence in the English language essential. French and/or Portuguese will be an added advantage.