TRECC
RECRUITS
IMPACT FINANCE FELLOW
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Position: Impact Finance Fellow
Reports to: TRECC Country Director
Based in: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Contract: Full time, starting on August 1st, 2017
Duration: One year renewable – opportunity for consulting position
Deadline: June 21st, 2017
1. Background and Context: Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities
In 2015, the Jacobs Foundation (http://jacobsfoundation.org ) committed CHF 50 million to a comprehensive strategy to improve the quality of education in cocoa-growing communities of Ivory Coast, and nationwide. This initiative called Transforming Education in Cocoa Communities (TRECC) builds on CocoaAction, an unprecedented commitment of the private sector to sustain the cocoa industry and improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers with a strong emphasis on increasing farmer productivity and income. Other foundations, including the Bernard Van Leer Foundation (https://bernardvanleer.org) have joined the initiative with further financial and intellectual capital commitments. As a mid-term outcome, TRECC aims to reach over 201,000 children and youth directly by 2022 with better quality education. The intended long-term impact of this strategy is the creation of an ecosystem to transform education in cocoa-growing communities in Ivory Coast.
2. The position
The role of Impact Finance Fellow will provide support to TRECC’s impact finance activities.The stipend (all-inclusive and gross) will be CHF 60k per year. The position will have the potential to evolve into a consultant position with TRECC starting in January 2018.
The position will be based out of the TRECC office in Abidjan, with occasional field visits to rural areas of intervention across the country and occasional international travel to Europe (mainly Switzerland).
3. Key responsibilities
The over-arching responsibilities of the role are to support the Impact Finance team in the management of the CHF 6 million Impact Finance portfolio of TRECC, including:
- Provide investee management support to portfolio companies, including participating in Board meetings as observer, providing strategic guidance, facilitating business development and growth in Ivory Coast, and facilitating connections with other partners of the TRECC program;
- Manage financial and impact reporting of portfolio companies;
- Manage interest, dividend, and capital gains payments, including appropriate payment of taxes in multiple legal jurisdictions;
- Actively search for investment opportunities that are aligned with the strategy of the TRECC program;
- Perform due diligence and financial analysis (including Excel modeling) of different investment opportunities;
- Negotiate deal terms and investment structures (amounts, instruments, etc.) with potential investees;
- Present diligence documents (preliminary reviews and investment memorandums) to investment committees;
- Manage legal, tax, and audit diligences of approved investees;
- Assist with other impact finance tasks as required.
4. Qualifications, Experience and Skills
Qualifications
Degree in business, finance, economics or a related field.
Experience
- Minimum of seven to ten years of professional experience in investment, finance, or start-up management / strategy / support;
- Proven experience of managing an investment portfolio of companies of different sizes and maturities, as well as different investment instruments (equity, debt, convertibles, etc.);
- Proven experience across every step of the investment cycle (pipeline building, due diligence, structuring and negotiation, execution, investee management, and exits);
- Investment experience or strong knowledge of business models in the education sector is a plus;
- Experience in company management a plus;
- Native speaker equivalent fluency in spoken and written English and French;
- Relevant work experience in francophone Africa, especially Ivory Coast, is ideal;
- Passionate about social change and international development, and driven to make a difference in the lives of the youngest citizens.
Specific technical/professional skills & experience
- Ability to form long-term, productive working relationships with portfolio companies and partners;
- Competencies in due diligence, financial analysis, enterprise strategy, and growth management;
- Strong skills in analysis and synthesis of complex and dense information in written and verbal forms;
- Strong skills in Excel, Word, PowerPoint and a range of digital tools.
Special managerial skills
- Entrepreneurial spirit and an interest in impact and development;
- Ability to work within tight deadlines and cope well under pressure;
- Strong attention to detail and organization;
- Team player but able to work independently in carrying out assigned tasks;
- Comfortable in dealing with stakeholders of all levels.
5. Recruitment Process
- Send an application package including a cover letter, a resume, and three referees with their contact details to the following Email address: info@trecc.ci by June 21st, 2017, no later than 6 pm (GMT);
- Specify « Impact Finance Fellow » as the subject of the email;
- Only successfully pre-selected candidates will be contacted;
- Pre-selected candidates will be interviewed in French and English by the TRECC team;
- References will be contacted prior to confirmation with candidates on second round of interviews;
- Applications that are incomplete or received after the deadline above, will not be considered.
