NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

LOCATION: Nairobi, Kenya

BACKGROUND
Global Partnerships (GP) is an impact-first fund manager dedicated to expanding opportunity for people living in poverty. Impact-first investing means investing in a way that seeks the greatest possible social impact, while seeking to preserve capital with a modest financial return for investors. GP believes that impact-first investing has an essential role to play in advancing sustainable solutions to poverty for millions of people worldwide. GP creates and manages impact-first investment funds that make loans and early-stage investments in social enterprises serving people living in poverty, primarily in Latin America and Africa. The GP team is comprised of mission-driven, dedicated, high-performing colleagues working primarily from offices in Seattle, Washington (USA), Bogotá, Colombia, and Nairobi, Kenya. To learn more about Global Partnerships, please visit our website at www.globalpartnerships.org.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Impact team is a strategic function within GP’s Capital and Impact Team (CIT) charged with the research, analysis, and partner engagement work that enables GP to develop, execute, and continuously strengthen its impact-first strategy. The Impact Officer will play a critical role in delivering on this mandate within the Global Portfolio of GP’s affiliated funds, which currently comprises investments in 25+ social enterprise partners in ~15 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, with potential future expansion into Asia.

The Impact Officer will work primarily out of GP’s regional office in Nairobi and will report to the Vice President of Impact based in Seattle. The Impact Officer will work closely with both the CIT and the Social Investment Team (SIT), which leads business development, loan origination, credit analysis, and capital recovery for GP-affiliated debt funds.

This role will be responsible for the following:

Managing GP-affiliated funds’ impact-first partner screening and selection in the Global Portfolio:
• Underwriting potential investment opportunities for impact by collecting data, understanding each social enterprise’s business model, and conducting analysis to evaluate alignment with GP’s impact-first investment criteria
• Authoring and presenting Investment Briefs to inform investment decision-making, summarizing the impact case for investment and supporting data and analysis
• Closely collaborating with the regional SIT to manage the Global Portfolio investment pipeline (process, communication, and deliverables) to ensure timely, high-quality, impact-first recommendations

Providing impact feedback and advisory support to partner social enterprises in the Global Portfolio:
• Developing and maintaining highly professional, trust-based relationships with social enterprise partners
• Providing strategic feedback to senior social enterprise leaders on impact strengths and opportunities, and serving as a thought partner as they seek to improve impact management and performance
• Managing GP-funded impact studies with partners (in collaboration with a third-party research firm), including partner onboarding, communication, and analysis and discussion of results and insights

Executing impact monitoring, targeted analysis, and strategic research:
• Researching initiative (sector), market, and thematic questions to inform continuous improvement of GP’s impact-first investment strategy
• Identifying emerging patterns in the fund portfolio, developing analytical frameworks at the product/service, enterprise, initiative, fund, and/or portfolio level, and conducting targeted, action-oriented analysis to inform continuous improvement of GP’s impact-first investment strategy for its affiliated funds
• Supporting impact management in GP’s Social Venture Fund and new Venture Loan Pool as needed
• Contributing to additional strategic projects as needed

SELECTION CRITERIA

Core Capabilities
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to cut through complex issues, design analytical frameworks, identify key takeaways, and deliver actionable insights
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate both within and across teams, serving as a key connector across functions
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; capable of highly professional engagement with colleagues and partners across cultural and socio-economic differences
• Self-motivated work ethic, with track record of proactive engagement and ability to see tasks through to completion independently
• Highly organized and adaptable; capable of discerning and managing multiple priorities in a dynamic environment, with excellent attention to detail
• Passion for GP’s mission to expand opportunity for people living in poverty
• Embodies GP’s culture: Dedicated, Strategic, Collaborative, Aspirational, Learning, and Excellence

Qualifications
• 3-6 years of relevant professional experience in impact investing, business analysis, investment or market research, management consulting, strategy development, social enterprises, or other relevant fields
• 2+ years of work experience in Africa, along with desire to continue working in the region for 3+ years; experience working in distributed global teams preferred
• Business fluency in English required; business fluency in French strongly preferred
• Proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint required
• Undergraduate degree required with strong academic track record; MBA, MPA or other relevant master’s degree preferred
• Willingness to travel within the region 1-2 times per quarter
• Ability to work legally in Nairobi, Kenya

WHAT WE OFFER
• Global Partnerships’ value proposition to our team members is anchored in the opportunity to pursue meaningful, impact-focused work with a team of collaborative, smart, dedicated colleagues.
• Global Partnerships is an equal opportunity employer. We place a high value on diversity and equity, and strive to foster an inclusive work environment where people of diverse identities, backgrounds, and skills feel they belong.
• We seek to create opportunities for continuous learning for each team member, while also creating conditions for a good work-life balance.
• GP’s offices currently operate on a hybrid work model, in which staff are co-located for active collaboration in the office three days per week and may work remotely two days per week. Staff may also work 100% remotely for up to four weeks per calendar year.
• This position is eligible for a compensation package including an expected annual salary in the range of $35,000 – $45,000, depending on experience, and additional benefits GP offers to Nairobi office employees.

HOW TO APPLY
If interested, please follow the below link to apply:

https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/Apply/1820993/Global-Partnerships/Impact-Officer-Global-Portfolio

As part of the application, candidates will provide some basic information, a résumé, and a brief cover letter. Introductory interviews with the hiring manager will be held with selected candidates. A subset of candidates will then advance to a case study assignment, and finalists will interview with several other members of the GP team. All interviews will be conducted via video call or in-person at GP’s Nairobi office. Finalists will be asked to submit references, including name, email, and phone number, of at least two former supervisors. All offers will be contingent upon reference checks as well as a background check.

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. For priority consideration, please apply by August 9, 2023. Due to the volume of applications, we will contact only those candidates selected for interviews – no follow-ups, please.