Investment Officer

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2023, IFC committed a record US$43.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. 

The Manufacturing, Agribusiness & Services (MAS) Industry Group plays an important role in supporting IFC’s strategic priorities, covering investments in the global manufacturing and services, agribusiness, health and education sectors. MAS’ sectors and specially manufacturing play a critical role in GHG emissions and Climate change. Climate is a major economic opportunity that can promote growth, create jobs, and accelerate the transition to low-carbon development in a wide range of sectors. 

IFC has embarked on an ambitious new growth strategy (IFC 3.0) to stimulate more investment activity. This strategy calls for generating our own opportunities by proactively working “Upstream” to create, deepen, and expand markets and to imagine, design and implement investment projects. It requires taking a systematic approach to understanding the sector bottlenecks that prevent the flow of private capital into productive investment in our member countries, and proactively addressing these bottlenecks through programmatic interventions at the country, sector or project level. 

MAS is seeking an experienced Investment officer to be based in Manila. The candidate will support a) MAS Industry Group’s East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Industrial Decarbonization programs, and in the Philippines support b) business/client development and c) project development and advisory to address identified needs/opportunities. The successful candidate will be a key member of the MAS Asia team and will work closely with the Country Anchors for the Philippines and IFC offices in the region as well as Global Team to develop new business opportunities and execute transactions. 

The Investment officer will have at least 10+ years of business consulting/ industry experience, preferably in managing clients in the manufacturing / clean technology / decarbonization sectors. Strong business understanding, commercial acumen, and  knowledge of specific business, social, environmental, and developmental issues related to these sectors is preferred. Since the projects will have an investment / financing link, the candidate shall be conversant with basic investment analysis and financial modeling. The candidate will play an active lead role in full life cycle of the project, from business development to project management and exit. 

Duties and Accountabilities:

• Support the identification and assessment of Investment and project development opportunities, based on country and sector strategies, market creation and investment potential.
• Support and/or lead the design, development, and implementation of high-quality Project development/Advisory initiatives and interventions.
• Assist in designing and implementing scalable solutions and platforms.
• Coordinate and convene other WBG functions and teams needed to successfully unlock investment opportunity and market creation, including policy work and other interventions across the WBG.
• Coordinate efforts and develop initiatives to disseminate and exchange knowledge with internal and external parties, and review lessons learned to help improve current projects or processes.
• Work with the WBG to analyze sector and regulatory reforms that are needed to unlock opportunities for private investment.
• Draft legal agreements using available templates.
• Help spot technologies and business model trends relevant to emerging markets.
• Provide quality control research and analysis for market and opportunity creation, including market mapping, comparator analysis, barrier analysis, and sector and company financial projections and models.
• Follow various internal legal, budget and control processes for projects
• Produce regular reports on the assigned Upstream portfolio and Advisory Implementation Projects, including monitoring progress against project milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders, including government bodies and potential clients, to enable IFC activities.
• Selectively contribute to processing investment transactions and manage portfolio.

Selection Criteria:

• Master’s degree in a related field and at least 10+ years of relevant experience.
• Related fields of education include business, finance, or economics or an area of expertise specific to a sector, subject matter, or industry specialty.
• Relevant experience includes a proven track record in business consulting, and/or operational experience in the above sectors.
• Ability to apply and understanding of project development engagements, investment, and advisory offerings to concretely assess business opportunities and possible solutions to create markets.
• Capacity to identify barriers for market creation opportunities in a targeted country.
• Ability to identify and contribute to design novel and/or scalable approaches, such as leveraging of a WB instrument or de-risking tools.
• Understanding of relevant country strategies.
• Demonstrates active listening skills by paying full attention and asking questions to clarify client and stakeholder needs and gather required information.
• Capacity to build productive and mutually beneficial relationships and networks internally and externally to identify business opportunities, discuss structuring alternatives, and resolve issues.
• Excellent written, verbal communication, and presentation skills to effectively influence the perception and support of clients/stakeholders.
• Ability to tailor explanations of IFC’s value proposition to specific clients and share relevant information on industry practices.
• Understanding of market and sector drivers, business and market development cycles, regulatory environments in the Philippines, and how business performance and long-term competitiveness and viability are measured within a sector and how sector dynamics may evolve within a country or region.
• Proven analytical, financial analysis, and financial modeling skills to analyze and form conclusions on company financial information or projects and industry indicators. Able to oversee and provide quality control feedback on financial models prepared by analysts.
• Begin to build transaction experience by working on straightforward investment or advisory transactions with a diverse range of clients and across multiple sectors and subsectors and in more than one industry and subsector.

Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=27644&site=1