Senior Associate

Senior Associate

CrossBoundary Group

About the Firm

CrossBoundary Group is a mission-driven investment and advisory firm that unlocks the power of capital for sustainable growth and strong returns in underserved markets. CrossBoundary Advisory provides transaction and investment advisory services, having developed a specialized expertise in unleashing investment across all sectors in these markets. CrossBoundary Advisory has advised on over US$8bn worth of transactions across 75 countries globally, serving our clients from 20 offices spread across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Our advisory clients include governments, development finance institutions, private equity firms, Fortune 100 companies, and research institutions.   

Our investment platforms, CrossBoundary Energy, CrossBoundary Energy Access, and CrossBoundary Educational Infrastructure, directly finance projects to bring cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable electricity, as well as education infrastructure, to developing countries. Anchoring the Group's work in the renewable energy sector, CrossBoundary Energy is currently active in more than 10 African countries and has a portfolio of over US$100 million of renewable energy projects for commercial and industrial clients across the continent. CrossBoundary Energy Access uses blended finance and an innovative project financing structure to unlock capital for mini-grids with a mission to bring electricity for the first time to more than 170,000 people.   

Learn more at www.crossboundary.com    

Job Description

CrossBoundary Advisory is recruiting a full-time Senior Associate to join our team. While we prefer candidates based in Washington, DC, we are also open to candidates based in Africa at one of our CrossBoundary Advisory offices. As a Senior Associate you will identify and evaluate investment opportunities, conduct market assessments, and provide investment transaction support, you will also coordinate the implementation of different clean tech-focused mandates and business development efforts. As a member of the team, you will actively contribute to a powerful intervention that has the potential for significant positive impact on investment into developing markets.

Who We Are

The CrossBoundary team is a unique group made up of people who are genuinely excited by the opportunity to make a difference in some of the most challenging yet exciting markets in the world. Team members come from diverse backgrounds but share several qualities: curiosity, humility, integrity, a drive for excellence, and a bias for action. 

Who you are

+ Self-starter who is passionate about creating lasting change in underserved markets

+ Passionate about blended finance, private-sector development, and development finance

+ Adept at managing multiple work streams and prioritizing effectively

+ Takes on new types of work, even without prior experience/direct supervision

+ Has high tolerance for ambiguity and an ability to operate effectively in a changing context

+ Builds and maintains strong relationships with clients and colleagues in stressful environments

+ Confident presenting work in meetings and conferences with high-level executives

+ Passionate about supporting other team members to realize their goals

Primary Responsibilities

The Senior Associate will primarily be supporting CrossBoundary's Clean Tech Energy Network mandate that aims at promoting U.S. exports and investments in the clean tech sector in Africa. The Senior Associate will support project leadership and execution of a wide range of activities including:

+ Market Intelligence & Opportunity Identification:

+ Conduct pragmatic market assessments for clean tech opportunities across Africa

+ Monitor industry intelligence to identify emerging trends and market opportunities

+ Identify competitive sub-sectors within Africa that present opportunities for U.S. players.

+ Transaction support

+ Screen clean tech companies to identify and rigorously assess investment and export support opportunities

+ Assist in identifying qualified investors

+ Assist, and often lead a team in supporting complex transactions with a focus on the clean tech sector. This includes identifying and mitigating financing barriers, optimizing project financing structures, advising on risk allocation, and reviewing financial models.

+ Map available support services for clean tech companies and investors

+ Survey Clean Tech companies to identify challenges and areas with greatest need

+ Partnership Building and Business Development:

+ Build and strengthen partnerships with industry associations and key stakeholders to support and advance the program's objectives. Actively engage with the network to foster collaboration and ensure alignment with project goals.

+ Represent CrossBoundary's team in conferences with the overall objective of relationship-building and business development

+ Reporting, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Documentation:

+ Report on the progress of all activities on a bi-weekly, quarterly, annual, and ad-hoc basis and preparing status updates to counterparties as needed

+ Derive actionable lessons learned from monitoring and evaluation activities. Use these insights to identify areas for improvement and make recommendations to enhance the program.

+ Communication & Knowledge Management:

+ Develop compelling external-facing materials, including PowerPoint presentations, talking points, briefing memos, case studies and other knowledge products.

Required qualifications

The ideal candidate will have the following skills and qualifications:

+ Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred (or another relevant advanced degree/professional qualification)

+ At least 3-5 years of relevant experience in in a related finance or consulting field, including impact investing, development or emerging market finance, investment or business advisory services, or management consulting

+ Experience working in underserved markets

+ Track record of sourcing, structuring, closing, and exiting investments

+ Ability to build strong relationships with senior management of potential investors, investees, and donors

+ Strong financial modelling skills; experience in fund and project finance modelling preferred

+ Strong writer with a clear, active, and direct writing style

+ Excellent PowerPoint presentation skills

+ Excellent presentation skills and ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences

+ Fluency in spoken and written English is required, fluency in French is preferred

+ Prior experience working with Development Finance Institutions preferred

+ Prior experience in clean tech and renewable energy

+ Familiarity with monitoring and evaluation methodology and gender lens investing (e.g., 2x challenge)

Locations 

Candidates will preferably join our team in Washington, DC, with the possibility to be in one of CrossBoundary Advisory's offices in Africa.

Equal Opportunity Employer

CrossBoundary is an equal opportunity employer. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to our People team at recruiting@crossboundary.com

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