Associate Investment Officer, Public-Private Partnerships- Sydney, Australia

Job #:	122082
Title:	Associate Investment Officer, Public-Private Partnerships
Job Stream:	Investment
Location:	Sydney, Australia
Closing Date:	09/30/2012
Background / General description:
The Organization: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, pursues its mission of reducing poverty and improving people’s lives by promoting private sector development through investment and advisory services. IFC Advisory Services is structured into four business lines – Access to Finance, Investment Climate, Sustainable Business Advisory and Public-Private Partnerships (C3P). The C3P program aims to increase access to basic infrastructure services (such as electricity, water, roads, and ports), facilitate private investments, and improve government finances. The Program: In East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), a key component of the C3P program is the provision of advisory services to governments on how to effectively structure and implement public private partnerships (PPPs) while balancing investors’ interests, public policy considerations, and community needs. By structuring successful PPPs, infrastructure and public services may be expanded and improved in a cost effective manner, benefiting from private-sector expertise, management, and finance. Experts estimate that the EAP region needs around $200 billion annually to finance basic infrastructure services. IFC’s PPP transactions in the region focus on power generation and distribution, particularly in rural areas, as well as renewable energy and water supply. To help further its initiatives in the Pacific sub-region, the C3P department is now seeking to recruit an Associate Investment Officer to be based in Sydney. Reporting Lines: The position reports jointly to the C3PEA Manager in Hong Kong and the Regional Manager, Pacific, based in Sydney. Scope of Work: The Associate Investment Officer will assist the C3P department in carrying out fee-based PPP transaction advisory mandates as well as other advisory work related to PPPs primarily within the Pacific region. These will be primarily, though not exclusively, focused in the infrastructure sectors. The job will entail significant travel. The candidate should have a good understanding of the Pacific region, and will work closely with governments and private enterprises in the region, as well as the EAP C3P and regional teams, Industry departments in IFC and related departments in the World Bank Group. The work will involve advising governments in the region in the implementation of PPP transactions. As such the day-to-day tasks will be varied, covering the preparation of reports, structuring transactions, interacting with clients, financial modeling, drafting bid documents, and supervising consultants. The job holder will work primarily as a member of transaction teams.
Duties and Accountabilities:
• Assist C3P with implementation of its active projects; • Assist C3P with its marketing activities, taking a proactive approach to developing new client contacts and project leads; • Directly develop financial models in support of company valuations, or oversee junior staff in the production of financial models; • Assist in the preparation of proposals for new mandates; • Draft consultant terms of reference and requests for proposals; • Provide support to team leaders or take the lead in selection of consultants, including drafting applications for funding for consultant costs; • Assist in drafting project information memorandums, pre-qualification terms of reference, and strategic options reports, transaction documents, bidding documents, etc. • Participate in the structuring and negotiating of deals; • Develop a thorough understanding of the region, particularly the infrastructure sectors, provide market intelligence and knowledge of developments in the general business environment; • Build and maintain strong relationships with clients and government officials to facilitate advisory mandates, and maintain collaborative working relationship with other private business, banking and multilateral partners in the countries concerned; • Participate in project teams to accomplish work as required on several projects simultaneously.
Selection Criteria:
• MBA or equivalent degree in business, finance or economics; • At least 5 years experience in investment banking, business consulting, project finance and/or infrastructure economics, with good knowledge, networks and credibility within the business and governmental communities. Experience in reviewing legal documents and/or technical studies will be a plus; • Strong financial modeling skills; • Understanding of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and different structures for engaging the private participation in the delivery of infrastructure services; • Experience in dealing with government clients, investors and multiple stakeholders of infrastructure projects; • Knowledge of and experience in the Pacific business and governmental environments; • Proficiency in English. Indigenous Pacific Language – Advantage; • Excellent communication skills both written and oral, including the ability to convey ideas and positions clearly; • Demonstrated ability to conceptualize, design and implement projects and to close transactions; • Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to establish and develop relationships; • Strong sense of service to clients, openness to feedback and to new ideas; • Ability to work through teams, deliver high quality work within deadlines, and to meet team objectives; • Motivated and enthusiastic about the opportunities and challenges of working in the Pacific region to achieve sustainable development; IFC offers a challenging and rewarding work environment, attractive compensation and excellent career opportunities. All applications will be treated in strict confidence. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted. IFC’s Recruitment and Employment Policies reflect its strong values for cultural, racial and gender diversity. Women and minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.
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