Acumen’s Hardest to Reach Impact Debt Fund is looking for an Investment Director based in London to help lead early-stage investments in the off grid solar sector in Sub-Saharan Africa as part of our Key Strategic Initiative “Hardest to Reach.” This role will report to the Managing Director.

About Acumen
Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders and ideas. We invest patient capital in businesses whose products and services are enabling the poor to transform their lives. To date, Acumen has positively impacted 309 million lives by investing $137 million in 139 innovative, early-stage companies in Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States. But investment isn’t only about capital, we’ve been investing in innovators for years, connecting with emerging leaders around the world and engaging them in collective dialogue, moral inquiry, and skill building.

About the context
Of the approximately 789 million people in the world who currently live without electricity, many will gain access through grid extension and off-grid solar by 2030. However, estimates suggest that roughly 215 million people will be left behind because they live in risky or remote, rural areas where investors have been unable or unwilling to go. In the last decade, there has been a steady increase in financing available for clean, renewable energy, but that money is largely directed towards wealthier nations. Even when investment dollars are directed to low-income regions, they are not always directed where the need is greatest.

About the role
Acumen is seeking an Investment Director to lead the investments of H2R. This role will be directly involved in sourcing, evaluating, underwriting, and managing private credit investments for off-grid solar enterprises to expand and grow in identified H2R countries. This role will report to the Managing Director of the Hardest to Reach Impact Debt Fund.

The role is expected to foster strong collaborative working relationships with key stakeholders, including sponsors, lenders, investors, governments, and regulators, as well as to raise significant brand awareness for H2R. Accountabilities include :

Origination

• Build relationships with all H2R stakeholders within the focused countries, including, business owners, borrowers, lenders / investors and risk partners; steering deals from identification to close in line with H2R’s investment policy, risk appetite and development impact mandate.
• Develop pipeline, source and evaluate new transactions, pre-screen transactions according to eligibility and ESG criteria
• Strong networker and relationship builder

Deal Execution

• Conduct due diligence, in preparing credit approval memos, present transactions to the investment committee to obtain credit approval, negotiate and review legal documentation, and participate in deal closing.
• Retain oversight of the transaction, quality of work, approach taken, and outputs as the team undertakes due diligence, structuring, qualitative and quantitative appraisals, preparation of Credit Committee papers for the H2R Investment Committee, reviewing and executing legal documentation to reach financial close.
• Financial modeling – including review, stress-testing and carrying out of scenario analysis.
• Coordination with Sustainable Developmental Impact (SDI) and Health Safety Environmental and Social (HSES) teams on respective assessments
• Coordination with internal teams for client on-boarding, KYC checks and related tasks

Portfolio Management

• Manage portfolio performance: It’s about understanding the core issues and where to intervene. And it’s also about covenant compliance, periodic/annual reviews, examining amendments and waiver requests, providing performance updates to managers, identifying, and acting on warning signals, participating in portfolio reviews, cooperating in the validation of impact data collection and analysis and incentives to borrowers for extending first time clean energy access.

Strategy Development

• Work closely with the Managing Director, to develop and deliver the H2R strategy.
• Support fundraising and reporting with investors, including development finance institutions.
• Ensure the delivery of the business plan and wider strategic aims
• Support on strategic planning regarding our market positioning, strategic relationships, products, etc.
• Lead the investment team to help the team understand the investment strategy.

Leadership and team management

• Demonstrates accountability and actively encourages everyone to operate with the highest level of integrity.
• Promotes exemplary working behaviours with a strong focus on collaboration and ‘rolling up your sleeves’.
• Leads and manages the Investment Team to deliver high-quality results, taking full ownership of complex issues and outcomes, effectively managing high pressure situations, while ensuring H2R’s values are maintained.
• Undertake other duties as and when required.

Skills & Qualifications :

• Minimum of 10 years of transactional experience in venture debt or private credit funds in emerging markets
• Experience in conducting commercial and operational due diligence.
• Background in financing SMEs in an advisory or principal role; operational understanding of what it takes to build and run early-stage businesses across finance, marketing, sales, distribution, customer service, talent, governance.
• Strong financial accounting, financial modelling, cash flow and financial statement analysis skills.
• Strong knowledge of transaction legal documentation
• Track record of delivering a strong client focused service.
• Experience in line management.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Have strong networks across financial intermediaries, impact investors, and other stakeholders in Africa.
• A willingness to roll up your sleeves with your team and get to work. There are people that need clean energy, after all.
• Self-starter, able to collaborate with colleagues across the organisation. Proactive and solutions-orientated. Organised and able to manage competing priorities.
• Well-developed diplomatic, interpersonal and communication skills to manage internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to get up to speed quickly in a technical area of work, and to understand and navigate complex issues.
• Entrepreneurial, with a strong ethical foundation. Demonstrated commitment to good governance and ethical business practices.
• Preferred : experience working in an international environment.
• Self-reflective and aligned with Acumen values.
• Authorized to work in the UK
• Willingness to travel as needed for the role

Deadline
Candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible as applications will be screened and interviews scheduled on a rolling basis.

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