DAI, a global development company based in the United States, is seeking a Investment Specialist for its USAID Economic Resilience Activity project. The project hopes to improve the overall economic resilience of eastern Ukraine.

Submission Instructions: Please submit CVs in English. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV to [email protected] with their technical area of expertise listed in the subject line by October 30, 2019. No telephone inquiries, please. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Project Background:

The purpose of the USAID Economic Resilience Activity is to improve the overall economic resilience of eastern Ukraine in response to Russian aggression, which has disrupted critical market linkages, catalyzed the economic decline of previously dominant industries, and caused massive population disruption. Resilience is “the ability of people, households, communities, countries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth.” This activity aims to improve the economic resilience of eastern Ukraine through accomplishing the following objectives:

• INCLUSION: building the capabilities of vulnerable population to capitalize on entrepreneurial and MSME economic opportunities;
• GROWTH: helping micro, small, and medium business innovate, invest, and expand markets; and
• TRANSFORMATION: working with coalitions and leaders to articulate the vision for the future and put in place a modern, diverse, and SME-friendly economy.

By accomplishing these objectives, the economy of eastern Ukraine will be more diversified, more integrated with the rest of Ukraine, less dependent on Russia, and the region’s residents will be better equipped to compete for the jobs of the future, thereby improving the economic resilience of the region.  The activity will work primarily in the oblasts most affected by Russia’s aggression, Donetsk and Luhansk—together known as the “Donbas” region—but will also be active in the surrounding oblasts and throughout Ukraine as required to achieve the objectives.

Roles Purpose:

The Investment Specialist will support the design and implementation of partnerships with firms and investors that mobilize investment in growth sectors. The project seeks an investment specialist who can work with partner firms to understand constraints to investment and develop a package of investment support (grants and technical assistance) that blends USAID and private sources of capital to achieve investment goals. Target growth sector include agriculture, biofuel, IT, innovative manufacturing and tourism. The Investment Specialist will engage applicants and potential partners to assess their business model in terms of potential for growth, financial performance, inclusion and impact on vulnerable populations, women and youth in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and the Azov region of Zaporizhia Oblast. This work will include the provision of technical assistance to expand lending, co-financing or co-investment opportunities, de-risking and blended finance.

The investment specialist will be responsible for developing a pipeline of potential investments and tracking progress toward mobilizing inclusive investment in ERA growth sectors and geographies. The Specialist is supposed to develop a strong understanding of innovative approaches to investment acceleration and mobilization and manage strategies that help firms make investments toward strategic new markets that align with ERA goals.

Objectives and Duties:  

• Provide technical support and direction to USAID ERA to advance its objectives with a focus on increasing investment in growth sectors.
• Develop innovative strategies for engaging with investors, fund managers, MSMEs and consultants to provide pre-investment support in target growth sectors.
• Collaborate with high small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with high potential for growth and impact to evaluate and co-design private partnerships that use a blended approach to mobilize investment.
• Design partnerships that leverage investment through a combination of performance-based grants, technical assistance, de-risking mechanism (e.g. guarantees, first loss facilities) and innovative finance approaches.
• Design scopes of work and performance-based partnership agreements for technical assistance delivered through business advisory firms (transaction advisory support, market research, operational and management capacity building, human resource management).
• Collaborate with banks, investors, fund managers, development finance institutions (DFIs) and complementary donor projects to increase available investment opportunities for eastern Ukraine SMEs.
• Support increased leadership opportunities for women in business, women’s access to capital, workplace equity and women’s employment and participation in value chains.
• Support investments that contribute to youth employment opportunities and skills development.
• Travel as needed to conduct interviews and collaboration with stakeholders in Ukraine and abroad.

QUALIFICATIONS:

•          Minimum of seven years of experience and a master’s degree in business management, economics, or similar; may consider bachelor’s degree with nine years of directly applicable experience.

•          Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of transaction advisory and other business development services needed by SMEs to raise investment and target new markets.

•          Experience supporting SMES with business strategies, pre-investment support and financial models. Preference for experience working as a transaction advisor or business management consultant or in the financial sector.

•          Experience in at least one of the target growth sectors (preference for more than one): agriculture, IT, tourism, biofuels and modern or innovative manufacturing.

•          Preference for experience working for or in collaboration with donor funded or development finance initiatives that use blended financial approaches.

•          Strong Microsoft Excel skills

•          Ukrainian language fluency required; strong preference for English fluency.

INTERESTED?

Please send your resume and motivation letter to [email protected]  specifying Investment Finance Specialist in the subject not later than Wednesday, October 30, 2019.