Principal – East Africa at CrossBoundary

Job Description

Who You Are

Self-starter who is passionate about creating lasting change in underserved markets
Possesses tangible grit, seeks differentiation by intentionally taking self-outside of comfort zone physically, culturally, and intellectually
Strong leader, coach, and mentor
High tolerance for ambiguity; ability to operate effectively through friction and opacity
Enthusiastic about working, traveling, and living in a challenging environment
Able to close a deal, great at building relationships and the business
Demonstrated management skills; leading teams to results in challenging circumstances
Leadership skills; preferably in a fast-moving and entrepreneurial environment
Outstanding analytical ability and discipline; ability to think clearly, structure problems logically, and then design and implement solutions that focus on the core issues
Excellent quantitative skills; ability to apply analytical rigor to complex and uncertain tasks
Knowledge of corporate finance and familiarity with M&A processes, company evaluation, and valuation techniques
Ability to build strong relationships with clients and colleagues in stressful environments
Superb presentation skills; ability to communicate clearly and effectively with diverse audiences
Understands the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias — and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities.
Experience working with a range of stakeholders (including private equity firms, Development Finance Institutions, and development agencies) to support investments in high impact sectors
Humble

Primary Responsibilities

Lead a team of investment professionals, maintaining responsibility for hiring, capacity building, performance management, and general team leadership duties
Lead business development across multiple channels, including private commercial opportunities and government- / donor-sponsored opportunities
Provide continuous client coverage of private capital investors, development finance institutions (DFIs), corporates ranging from SMEs to MNCs, and other relevant organizations to proactively identify advisory opportunities
Manage relationships with key CrossBoundary clients, such as USAID; provide strategic into program design and oversee mandate execution and reporting
Provide deal and project leadership and execution oversight to a wide range of transaction-related advisory engagements:
Investment target identification and screening
Use conventional and unconventional channels to identify and rigorously assess investment opportunities
For targets that are not yet investment-ready, be able to concisely map out paths to investability and resources required to achieve investability
Be able to credibly articulate investment opportunities’ social and environmental impact narratives
Investor identification and relationship building
Understand investor mandates, criteria, preferences, and existing portfolios
Understand investor appetite to work with DFIs or other development-oriented actors
Manage investor relationships
Detailed commercial due diligence/vendor due diligence
Directly conduct or facilitate investor (‘buy-side) commercial due diligence
Compile and curate a comprehensive virtual data room
Robust, multi-faceted corporate and project finance models, including valuations, of private companies using rigorous, defensible methodologies
Draft investment memoranda and teasers, author and update sophisticated financial models
Recommendations on optimal transaction structures based upon near-, medium- and long-term company strategic objectives and capitalization parameters, available instruments, and investor preferences
Draft detailed illustrative term sheets for debt and equity deals
Market assessment and ongoing market analysis
Conduct macroeconomic and geopolitical market assessments
Provide sector analysis of priority areas for investment

Qualifications
The ideal candidate will have the following skills and qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree required
Master’s degree required. A Master’s degree in Business Administration or Finance or other relevant advanced degree preferred (extensive relevant experience may be accepted as equivalent)
15+ years of experience in investment banking, management consulting, private equity, or similar
Experience living and/or working in emerging markets required; experience in the region applied for highly preferred
Track record of successfully developing new business opportunities and strategic partnerships
Experience living and/or working in developing countries
Demonstrated management skills; leading teams to results in challenging circumstances
Leadership skills; preferably in a fast-moving and entrepreneurial environments
Strong financial services-focused quantitative skills and accounting fluency, to include corporate finance, company valuation, comprehension of debt and equity capital markets
Excellent analytical ability and discipline; ability to think clearly, structure problems logically, and then design and implement solutions that focus on the core issues
Ability to build strong relationships with partners and colleagues in challenging environments
Excellent presentation skills; ability to communicate clearly and effectively with diverse audiences
Experience working with a range of stakeholders (including private equity firms, Development Finance Institutions, and development agencies) to support investments in high impact sectors