Operations Officer Pre-investment and Advisory

IFC has embarked on an ambitious new growth strategy (IFC 3.0) to stimulate more investment activity in frontier markets. 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 regulatory and sector bottlenecks that prevent the flow of private capital into productive investment in our member countries, and addressing these bottlenecks through World Bank Group engagement on policy reforms and programmatic interventions at the country and sector level. It also requires capacity to leverage WBG programs and projects to develop our own proactive sector interventions and to imagine and design projects even in the absence of reforms.

In this context, IFC is seeking an Upstream and Advisory Officer for the Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) region with experience in management consulting and familiarity with the health, education or real estate sectors. Under the supervision of the Upstream and Advisory Services Lead and the Upstream and Advisory regional Manager, the selected candidate would focus on supporting the development of a pipeline of high-quality projects leading to investment opportunities in the health services, health products and education sectors as well as in the real estate sector. The selected candidate will be expected to support senior staff in the design, management, and implementation of existing projects and in the origination of new ones which are essential to build the pipeline of future IFC investments. The candidate is expected to autonomously lead project execution and handle interactions with internal and external stakeholders on the projects he/she manages. S/he would work across IFC business lines and support policy work and other interventions across the World Bank to prioritize various initiatives and to maximize the impact of IFC’s efforts.

Roles And Responsabilities:

• Help spot new trends and business models that further the goals of the World Bank and can address development challenges in emerging markets.
• Contribute to data analysis and stress-testing of various operating models across sectors to generate ideas for new projects, products and platforms. The selected candidate will be expected to focus on scalable models which support the significant growth ambitions of the regional business.
• Support the identification and assessment of impactful and innovative potential investment opportunities based on country and sector strategies and market creation potential.
• Support solutions and business models that can enhance the delivery of quality affordable services and products at scale, through digital transformation, vertical integration, partnerships, internationalization or other expansions models.
• Assess and be ready to design and lead the execution of early-stage opportunities, manage project implementation, and engage with clients and other stakeholders. Substantiate the rationale for pursuing select projects considering their investment thesis and potential for scalability and replicability.
• Determine and implement the appropriate IFC Upstream interventions from the Upstream toolkit spanning advisory services, project development and pilot investment capabilities.
• Contribute directly or/and jointly with others to the preparation of feasibility studies, impact assessments, technical reports, market assessments and implementation plans for new and existing investment opportunities.
• Support World Bank and IFC colleagues to analyze sector and regulatory reforms needed to unlock opportunities for private investment.
• Manage and process activities and projects, collaborating closely with investment teams and other relevant internal stakeholders to ensure alignment.
• Produce regular reports on the assigned portfolio including supervising progress against project milestones and key performance indicators.
• Coach more junior members of the team.

Selection Criteria:

• Master’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Science, Engineering, Education, Health, or another related field.
• 6 – 8 years of work experience developing solutions for private sector clients in the education and/or health verticals in which IFC invests: pharma manufacturing, distribution or retail, health services,medical technology, education, edtech. Familiarity with other services sectors (including real estate) is a plus
• Experience in management consulting strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with digital transformation processes and/or international expansion efforts in the real sectors would be a plus. 
• Experience with project and/or program management and development is required. The ideal candidate will have:
• Hands-on experience executing against implementation plans with defined business development achievements for internal or external clients.
• Strong organizational skills and proven ability to work on several assignments simultaneously.
• Experience in monitoring and reporting on a portfolio of projects, programs, and or initiatives.
• Experience in value creation projects
• Outstanding and demonstrated history of analytical, creative problem solving and critical thinking skills is required.
• Proven ability to analyze financial statements, conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis, and review financial models for companies, business models, and/or projects desirable.
• Experience with debt or equity investment is a plus.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills in English are required. Proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese strongly preferred.
• Acquaintance with some markets in Latin America and the Caribbean is a plus.
• Genuine dedication to development and to the World Bank Group and IFC’s mission, strategy, and values.
• Understanding of IFC’s strategic priorities and changing business model against the backdrop of IFC 3.0.

Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=28125&site=1