Impact Investment Advisor Netherlands; 32 – 40 hours per week

Who we are

Advance Consulting is a business and investment advisory firm operating in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Our mission is to drive impact through private sector development in the AgriFood, Renewable Energy, and Circular Economy sectors.

In 2050, the number of people who live on this planet will have doubled. We believe that that AgriFood Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will play a key role in feeding this population, as they occupy critical positions along the value chains as producers, input suppliers, off-takers, processors, and distributors. At the same time, access to affordable energy is a pre-condition for sustainable development and renewable energy production in developing countries already surpassed the capacity generated by fossil fuels. SMEs in the renewable energy sector are pivotal in assuring that 900 million people, who currently don’t have electricity, will gain access to affordable energy by 2030.  At the same time, we need to transition to a Circular Economy as we cannot sustainably continue extracting the earth’s limited resources.

Our team of 50+ dedicated professionals contributes to these goals from our offices in the Netherlands, Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Jordan. In addition, 12 consultants from our sister company Advance Insight support high-impact SMEs with digital transformation services from a shared office in Kenya.

What we offer to our clients

We are active in this space since 1999. We work across 60 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Our clients include SMEs, Impact Investors, NGOs, Donors and Governments. Our offering includes:

• Development: We support SMEs and NGOs to develop and strengthen their value propositions, project designs and business cases. With an impact mindset and private sector approach, we co-create partnerships and project proposals that quality for funding.
• Fundraising: We assist SMEs to access impact finance: grants, debt, and equity intended to create positive change besides and beyond financial return. We connect impact investors to investible businesses, and support them to improve the performance of their portfolio by raising capital for their investees. We also assist NGOs to qualify for grants for their private sector development programmes.
• Implementation: We initiate and implement private sector development programmes at the request of Donors and NGOs to deliver on their Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on value chain development, job creation and climate resilience. We offer business coaching, financial training, matchmaking and technical advice to SMEs.
• Intelligence: We support our clients with performing actionable research, market sector studies, impact measurement and feasibility assessments. In partnership with our sister company Advance Insight we support SMEs to organise, digitalize and optimise their operations, finances, and ultimately impact.

In order to serve more SMEs and impact investors, we are looking for one or more strong candidates to join our team in the role of Impact Investment Advisor.

About the position

The job of Impact Investment Advisor at Advance Consulting is diverse, challenging, adventurous, and impactful. The assignments you will undertake include capital raising for SMEs, transaction support and investment advisory to impact investors, as well as the provision of investment readiness support and business development services to help SMEs grow and deliver more impact through strategy development, business plan development, financial planning, market assessments, technical feasibility studies, matchmaking, and management trainings.

As an Impact Investment Advisor, you will get exposure to a wide range of transactions and assignments representing businesses and investors on raises across equity, debt, and blended capital as well as fund structuring projects. We work with a wide network of impact investment funds, venture capital and private equity firms, family offices and development finance institutions. Your work will contribute to job creation, poverty alleviation, food security, climate change adaptation, renewable energy access, and other meaningful impact that can be delivered through private sector development. While your base will be at our office in Ede, The Netherlands, you will be making 4-8 short (typically one week) trips to Africa and Asia for some of the assignments. Some examples of assignments you may work on include:

• Investment Readiness of SMEs:
  • Fundraising strategy and getting the organisation ready to meet investor expectations
  • Developing fundable propositions, including investor-facing documents, such as business plan, financial model, investment memorandum, teaser, etc.
• Capital Raising and Transaction Advisory for SMEs:
  • Investor introductions, respond to investor requests
  • Guiding through financial structuring, negotiations, and due diligence until financial close
• Investment Advisory:
  • Deal origination and analysis
  • Due diligence including ESG assessment
  • Deal structuring & syndication
• Impact Fund Advisory:
  • Fund/investment vehicle design and strategy
  • Fundraising
  • Fund strategy implementation / operations
  • Performance review and benchmarking.
• Acquire new assignments and bringing in new clients.

Your profile

As we strive to deliver excellence to our clients, we are on the lookout for outstanding candidates. You may be the perfect match if you share our passion for private sector development in AgriFood, Renewable Energy, and Circular Economy, and bring the following:

• A master’s degree in finance, (international) business, economics or another relevant discipline that involves finance. CFA or equivalent professional certifications are a plus.
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience, including significant working experience in Africa or Asia. Experience with agriculture, circular economy and/or renewable energy is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in preparing, analysing, structuring, and/or executing transactions in equity, debt, or across financial products for SMEs.
• A solid understanding of accounting and financial statement analysis, accompanied by strong Excel and financial modelling skills.
• Excellent customer relation and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical, organizational and project management skills.
• Exceptional spoken and written communication skills in English. Fluency in French is a preference.
• Ability to work well under pressure, meeting occasionally conflicting deadlines;
• A sense of humour, and a positive outlook on life and teamwork.

What we offer

At Advance Consulting you will become part of a dynamic and unique international team. We offer you a competitive salary and a variety of additional benefits, such as travel allowance, retirement benefits, travel insurance and an end-of-year bonus for high-performers. We also offer opportunities to learn and develop on the job, and we pride ourselves in offering a healthy work -life balance.

Are you the top candidate that we are looking for? Please send your CV and motivation letter to Irma Verhoosel before 27 September 2024: recruitment@advanceconsulting.nl

Advance Consulting is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage candidates of all genders, races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, physical abilities, and backgrounds to apply.