Chief Investment Advisor (Home based) at United Nations Development Programme: (Deadline 17 April 2025)

Background

The Regional Programme for Africa contributes to the UNDP Strategic Plan by focusing on three outcome areas:

• African Union and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) deliver on their mandate, especially cross-cutting issues related to resilience building (contributing to the Strategic Plan Outcome 2);
• Regional growth is inclusive, transformational, and sustainable with reduced economic inequalities, and characterized by structural transformation (contributing to the Strategic Plan Outcome 2); and
• Regional institutions sustain peace and build resilience to crises and shocks (contributing to the Strategic Plan Outcome 3).

In 2021, UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa (RBA) commenced planning of a new initiative, timbuktoo, which aims to galvanize African youth as entrepreneurs, innovators, and problem solvers. timbuktoo’s ambition is to mobilize one billion dollars with US$ 350 million invested as catalytic and more than US$ 650 million crowded in as commercial capital to transform more than 100 million livelihoods and create 10 million dignified new jobs.

In January 2024, UNDP launched the timbuktoo Initiative which includes a Catalytic Pan-African Innovation Fund designed to support African startups. Announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the Fund has already received a commitment of $3 million from the Government of Rwanda. The ambitious plan aims to mobilize and invest the targeted $1 billion to foster the growth and development of entrepreneurial ventures across the African continent. This focused approach, combined with a “blended capital” model that incorporates both commercial and catalytic funds, aims to reduce risks associated with private investment and foster a comprehensive startup ecosystem. The main target for the Execution Phase is to establish the institutional arrangements for the Fund, and crowd in additional investments on the catalytic side as well as kick off effective operationalization of the Initiative.

The timbuktoo initiative will establish 10 thematic vertical Hubs in Accra, Cairo, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dakar, Kigali, Lagos, and Nairobi – to serve as critical intervention nodes with full innovation ecosystem support. Each hub will be sector-specific and engage with startups across Africa rather than only those based in the host country. These hubs will catalyze innovation for sustainable development transforming ideas into viable businesses critical for powering Africa’s transformation including through the African Continental Free Trade Area.  The timbuktoo initiative also features University Innovation Pods (UniPods) – bridging the gap between academic research and entrepreneurial application. The 13 UniPods already established within public universities in Benin, Guinea, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Liberia, will be linked to the above – mentioned hubs and act as a pipeline for the tech and tech – enabled innovation ventures that will receive ecosystem support and early-stage risk capital investment under the Hubs. The timbuktoo initiative is multi-pronged, focused on supporting and growing innovative, scalable, and impactful entrepreneurship by African young people, while relying on a springboard of partners who together contribute meaningfully to building an African youth innovation and startup ecosystem. The timbuktoo approach will be anchored in seeking, nurturing, and building African solutions forwarded by Africa’s youth that directly address one or more of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa is seeking a highly qualified individual to serve as Hub Design Specialist  for the timbuktoo initiative.  The incumbent will report to timbuktoo Global Lead and work closely with the Unipods and hubs section leads.

Scope of Work 

The CIA role will involve leading efforts, to design the investment thesis and financial structures of the timbuktoo initiative.  It includes structuring financial instruments and mobilizing capital for the Timbuktoo Africa Innovation Foundation to enable effective kick off of the activities of timbuktoo.

The CIA will perform the following scope of work:

Capital Raising:

• Develop and implement the timbuktoo investment strategy, working with the strategic advisory firm to track portfolio progress;
• Design investment vehicles in collaboration with UNDP HQ, including fund structures and legal/tax domiciles;
• Establish selection process and criteria for fund managers and administrators; ensure performance targets are met;
• Identify and prioritize target investors, track fundraising progress, and secure capital through prospectus, investor decks, meetings, and roadshows;
• Manage investor relations, ensuring reporting requirements are met, and organize an annual investor workshop to review progress.

Foundation Establishment and Consolidation:

• Work with the advisory firm to design the Foundation’s operating model, governance framework, and investment function;
• Develop systems, policies, and processes to guide the Foundation’s investment function;
• Support the Executive Secretary in day-to-day operations.

Thought Leadership and Strategic Partnerships:

• Develop thought leadership and partnerships focused on early-stage investing in Africa, boosting the domestic capital market, and enhancing gender-lens investing for female founders;
• Focus on the creation of new financial instruments to support these goals.

Public Relations and Communications:

• Work with the communications team to develop and implement a finance-specific media strategy to highlight timbuktoo’s financial thought leadership;
• Represent timbuktoo at conferences to showcase innovations and financial expertise.

Duties and Responsibilities

To ensure effective implementation, the Advisor  will undertake several core activities, including:

1. Capital Raising

1. Development of the timbuktoo Investment Philosophy and Strategy
   1. Working with the strategic advisory firm to finalize the timbuktoo investment strategy.
   2. Ensuring the successful implementation of the timbuktoo investment strategy including tracking portfolio development.
2. Development of Investment Vehicles
   1. Working with the strategic advisory firm and the UNDP HQ to finalize the business and funding models for all elements of the timbuktoo innovation architecture.
   2. Designing VC fund structures and grant-based funding facilities in consultation with UNDP HQ and the strategic advisory firm.
   3. Determining the optimal domicile of these funds and facilities based on expert legal and tax advice.
3. Identification and Securing of Fund Managers and Administrators
   1. Development of fund manager and fund administrator selection criteria.
   2. Development of a fund manager and fund administrator selection process.
   3. Analyzing fund manager and fund administrator candidate firms.
   4. Contracting with qualifying fund managers and fund administrators.
4. Development and Implementation of a Fundraising Strategy
   1. Identification and prioritization of target investors (based on an alignment between timbutkoo objectives and investor mandates).
   2. Development and implementation of a fundraising tracker.
5. Securing Capital
   1. Development of a timbuktoo prospectus.
   2. Development of customized investor decks.
   3. Organization of investor meetings and roadshows.
   4. Attendance at critical conferences to draw investments and engage key investors.
6. Fund Manager/Administrator Management
   1. Providing fund managers and fund administrators with the support they need to meet their performance expectations.
   2. Ensuring that fund manager and fund administrator performance targets are met.
7. Investor Relations Management
   1. Working with fund managers and fund administrators to ensure that the reporting requirements and performance expectations of fund and facility investors are met.
   2. Organizing an annual timbuktoo  investor workshop with investors, fund managers, fund administrators, UNDP HQ other critical stakeholders to reflect on progress, lessons learnt and any strategic tweaks and corrective actions that may be required.

2. Foundation Establishment and Consolidation

1. Working with the strategic advisory firm:
   1. To contribute to the design of the Foundation’s operating model and governance framework;
   2. To define the structure of the investment function and team within the Foundation; and
   3. To develop and implement the systems, processes, policies and procedures to guide the execution of the investment function within the Foundation.
2. Supporting and advising the Executive Secretary in the day-to-day running of the Foundation.

3. Thought Leadership and Strategic Partnerships

1. Development of thought leadership and strategic partnerships around:
   1. Critical success factors in early-stage investing on the African continent (including the development of new financial instruments);
   2. Key interventions to boost the domestic capital market (including the development of new financial instruments); and
   3. Enhancing the effectiveness of gender-lens investing to boost the success and impact of female founders (including the development of new financial instruments).

4. Public Relations and Communications

• Working with the communications team to develop and implement a finance-specific media strategy (as part of the overall strategy) to highlight timbuktoo financial thought leadership and financial innovations.
• Speaking at key conferences to highlight timbuktoo financial thought leadership and financial innovations.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the timbuktoo Initiative overall both within UNDP and with the Foundation. 

Institutional Arrangement

The Chief Investment Advisor  will report to the Global Lead, timbuktoo and work closely with Unipods and hubs section heads.

Competencies

• Achieve Results: LEVEL 4: Prioritize team workflow, mobilize resources, drive scalable results/strategic impact.
• Think Innovatively: LEVEL 4: Easily navigate complexity, encourage/enable radical innovation, has foresight.
• Learn Continuously: LEVEL 4: Create systems and processes that enable learning and development for all.
• Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 4: Proactively initiate/lead organizational change, champion new systems/processes.
• Act with Determination: LEVEL 4: Able to make difficult decisions in challenging situations, inspire confidence.
• Engage and Partner: LEVEL 4: Construct strategic multi-partner alliances in high stake situations, foster co-creation.
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 4: Create ethical culture,  identify/address barriers to inclusion.

Functional/Technical competencies

Business Management

• Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Business Management

• Partnerships Management: Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.

Business Direction & Strategy

• Entrepreneurial Thinking: Ability to create clarity around UNDP’s value proposition to beneficiaries and partners and to develop service offers responding to client needs based on UNDP’s organizational priorities and mandate.

Business Direction & Strategy

• System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Partnership management

• Multi-stakeholder engagement and funding: Knowledge and ability to forge multi-stakeholder partnerships, and remove any obstacles to resource mobilization and multi-stakeholder funding platforms.

Partnership management

• Resource mobilization: Ability to identify funding sources, match funding needs (programmes/projects/initiatives) with funding opportunities, and establish a plan to meet funding requirements.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent degree) in Finance, Economics, Business Management, Public Administration, or other related discipline.
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in a relevant field in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years (with master’s degree) or 12 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national or international level in mobilizing capital venture capital, or running incubators or accelerators or work with startup ecosystems in developing countries, venture capital, digital entrepreneurship, or related areas.

Required skills:

• Demonstrate high-level strategic thinking skills and business analytical skills.;
• Excellent communication skills and proven leadership and team skills.

Desired skills:

• A good knowledge of the UN system, in particular UNDP is desired;
• Knowledge of Africa, would be an asset;
• Leadership experience in an investment company, fund or foundation is desired.

Languages:

• Proficiency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another UN language would be an asset.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

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