Climate Change Associate or Executive, Impact Group

Climate Change Associate or Executive, Impact Group

About BII
British International Investment is the UK's development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. With a mission to solve the biggest global development challenges, we aim to create a virtuous circle of investment and impact. Your contribution will be essential.

It won't be easy: we do the hardest work in the most complex markets. Be prepared to test your skills, get creative and say your piece as you take on high-profile work as part of a diverse team of exceptionally smart, passionate people.

In return, you can take your career to all-new places in a culture that rewards curiosity and collaboration, and balances high performance with wellbeing.

BII at a glance
75 years supporting sustainable business growth in developing and emerging markets
£8.1 billion in net assets
1,400+ businesses invested in
950,000 workers in the businesses we support
£9 billion in new investments planned in the next 5 years
600+ people in our diverse global team
3 key development objectives: Productive | Sustainable | Inclusive

Team and role overview

Climate change is one of BII's key priorities, as articulated in our 2022-2026 corporate strategy and Climate Change Strategy. BII has also committed to implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Together, these set out an ambitious agenda for contributing towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Purpose

The Climate team is hiring an Associate or Executive to support implementation of BII's climate strategy, including in developing tools and guidance to integrate climate into investment and portfolio management processes, supporting transactions and technical assistance projects with investees to enhance climate impact, supporting internal climate governance processes as well as external engagement and thought leadership. The Climate Associate or Executive is expected to focus on one or more of BII's sector groups (Financial Services, Infrastructure & Climate, Information, Technology & Services), determination will be subject to the successful applicant's background/expertise and business needs.

Responsibilities

The Climate Change Associate or Executive will:

1. Support the development of tools and metrics to evaluate the Paris alignment of investments in different sectors and regions, including sector-specific Paris alignment guidance notes, drawing from existing guidance and literature;
2. Evaluate potential pipeline investments in climate finance across different sectors and regions, in terms of the strength of their contribution to emissions mitigation and resilience as well as potential risks to impact;
3. Evaluate non-climate finance potential pipeline investments across different sectors and regions, in terms of their exposure to physical and transition risks, and the measures they have implemented to manage these risks;
4. Support teams across the Impact and business groups to develop strategies to originate transactions that align with BII's impact and financial return objectives, in line with our "Productive, Sustainable, and Inclusive" framework for evaluating the development impact of our investments;
5. Support teams across the Impact and business groups to assess and, where feasible, reduce emissions and strengthen resilience of the investment pipeline and of portfolio companies, through market assessments, investment strategies, and financial products;
6. Support the collection and monitoring of climate-related performance metrics from our investee portfolio;
7. Support in-house climate advisory to portfolio companies, FIs and fund managers;
8. Support implementation of climate technical assistance projects to enhance climate capacity and impact;
9. Support the delivery of internal and external climate trainings;
10. Support thought leadership events and other events related to climate change;
11. Serve as a source of expertise on climate-related issues across the Impact and business groups, particularly in relation to emerging material climate-related issues.

The candidate

The successful candidate will:

Essential skills

1. Be familiar with the scientific underpinnings of climate change policy, particularly the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC);
2. Be familiar with the key investment sectors required for the net zero and climate resilient transition and the policy and investment levers required to enable this transition, particularly in emerging markets;
3. Be familiar with using quantitative and qualitative tools and frameworks to assess climate finance and the Paris alignment of various sectors;
4. Be familiar with the concepts of physical and transition risk, the tools, and frameworks available to assess exposure to these risks, and measures to manage these risks;
5. Be familiar with key climate-related reporting and target-setting standards applying to financial institutions, such as the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD); IFRS 2, Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), and the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF);
6. Be experienced in managing data in multiple sources and formats, coordinating across internal and external teams;
7. Be skilled at performing self-directed research and integrating complex qualitative and quantitative information from various sources to produce clear and concise recommendations and reports;
8. Be up to date with the latest developments related to emerging climate issues of strategic interest to BII;
9. Possess strong attention to detail; and
10. Be skilled at managing stakeholder relationships, both internal and external, in order to drive the development and successful implementation of climate-related policy.

Desirable skills

1. Be familiar with the countries and sectors where BII operates;
2. Be experienced in practically integrating climate considerations into investment decision-making;
3. Be experienced in providing climate advisory and technical assistance to portfolio companies;
4. Understand how to deploy capital and efforts to maximize development impact across different capital pools;
5. Understand the investment cycle from origination to exit.

Candidates should be strongly motivated by BII's development mission and ideally demonstrate some commitment to development or social goals through previous executive or non-executive activity.

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous;
• Tenacious in the face of challenges;
• Collaborative and caring.

British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background.

Please provide a cover letter with your application.