View Vacancy - International Export Finance Executive & Senior Project Finance Officer (31/19 NR)

About the Department: 

Home to five of the world’s fastest growing economies, Africa’s GDP could double between 2015 and 2030. Yet for too many Africans, this prosperity – and the improvements to education, health and security that come with it – still feel distant. In a global world, this is a global challenge: by 2050 a quarter of the world’s population will live in Africa.

We want to support the development of strong, prosperous and peaceful African nations, and we are listening when African leaders tell us they want modern partnerships that deliver mutual benefit. This is why the UK is making a new and distinctive offer to work alongside, invest in, and partner with African nations. By supporting African-led ambitions with British expertise, we can deliver more opportunities, more jobs and greater stability – both at home and for our African partners – from the Sahel to South Africa.

The UK government has committed to radically expand its presence in Africa. These roles are part of this uplift – the most significant and long-term increase in HMG staff across the continent in a generation – and offer applicants the opportunity to help shape this new, long-term UK partnership for prosperity and stability with Africa.

You will join the Department for International Trade’s Africa network. This role will provide crucial leadership and expertise to enable this expansion.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is the Trade Promotion and Negotiation Organisation for the UK. We promote UK businesses overseas and attract foreign investment to our shores. We have 3,000 staff across the globe in over 100 countries. Our aspiration is to address some of the challenges facing the UK, by helping British businesses to internationalise and grow overseas.

About UK Export Finance

UK Export Finance (UKEF) is the UK’s export credit agency (ECA) and operates in partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT).

UKEF’s mission is to ensure that no viable UK export fails for lack of finance or insurance, while operating at no net cost to the taxpayer. In 2017/18, UKEF provided £2.5 billion of support to help 191 exporters sell to 75 countries. In the last five years, UKEF has provided a total of £14 billion worth of support for exports.

UKEF helps UK companies:

• win export contracts by providing attractive financing terms to their buyers
• fulfil contracts by supporting working capital loans and guaranteeing performance bonds
• get paid by insuring against buyer default

Main Purpose of Role

We envisage your role to be evenly split between focusing on UKEF pure activities and working on broader project finance projects in order to drive forward economic growth in the respective country through increased private sector investment in different sectors:

• As one of UK Export Finance’s first team members to be based in Africa, you will lead  UKEF’s work in Kenya and East Africa more broadly ensuring UK financing instruments enable previously undeliverable projects.
• The UK Government provides directly (via UKEF) and indirectly (via organisations which receive UK development funds, for example the Private Infrastructure Development Group) a range of finance products that make African infrastructure projects bankable. However, the offering is diverse with different eligibility criteria and stakeholders responsible for each. The sum effect is a system that can present challenges to firms and is, in some instances, under-utilised. UK Government has decided to address this by creating a ‘One Stop Shop’ for organisations seeking project finance by recruiting experts who will help link projects to finance instruments, including the full UKEF suite of services. Your role will be to lead the design and implementation of the  one stop shop service for Africa. .
• As your role will be partially funded from UK Official Development Assistance (ODA), a primary objective will be poverty reduction in Africa, as enabled by increased private sector investment in infrastructure, energy, healthcare and education projects.

You will be part of the International Export Finance Network, with UKEF functional and task leadership from UKEF Business Development Group in London. The International Export Finance Executives will lead the engagement with local buyers, project sponsors and associated stakeholder networks to develop export growth through the provision of trade finance and credit insurance available from UK Export Finance. The International Export Finance Executive will guide and support UK Export Finance teams in the UK, DIT colleagues and other third parties to provide this specialist market advice.

As a member of the DIT in-country team, the International Export Finance Executive will also be required to mentor and inspire the DIT trade advisors to develop UKEF engagement, ensuring they remain alert to the potential for export finance support within all relevant trade opportunities that arise.

Within Nairobi you will be part of the Department for International Trade’s Commercial Team. This includes: The Deputy Trade Commissioner for Africa, Head of Trade for Kenya, and four further team members. The team works alongside DFID and UK Foreign Office colleagues as part of the Prosperity cluster of the Nairobi High Commission. In total the cluster has 25 staff.

Roles and responsibilities 

UKEF

• Build and share market knowledge. You will be UKEF’s  Lead in Kenya. You will need to assess the viability of projects, regularly deal with novel situations and balancing competing priorities in order to build market share. The organisation will look to you when assessing country and project risk, including writing reports and updates on this to underwriters.  
• Build awareness of UKEF support capabilities. Across the region you will set the framework for what UKEF can deliver and embed the vision, skills and understanding within junior staff in order to deliver through them. Raise the profile of UKEF through engagement with the business community, represent the UK Government at project finance events in Kenya, and give clear, instructive guidance on UK tools, generate new leads and ensure maximum visibility of the UK finance offer. Confident public speaking and networking will be important.
• Achieve commercial outcomes. You will be primarily client facing, meeting project teams, discussing their eligibility and suitability for UK backed financing instruments, and working on behalf of UKEF and other institutions to take projects through process of internal review before funds are deployed. You will have a target, to be set with your line manager on the number of projects and value of financing you can secure. You will need to plan and monitor in order to ensure targets are met.

Broader Project Finance Support

• Manage relationships with key institutions.  You will lead network of financial institutions in Kenya, including banks, export credit agencies and donor backed organisations like GuarantCo and InfraCo and multilateral development banks. This will involve delivering through and with others both within HMG and DIT more broadly.   
• Promote UK standards and industry best practice. You will help projects in an array of sectors be procured in a manner that meets UK standards, for example advising them to go through competitive tendering, and be defensible according to the OECD’s Sustainable Lending Criteria.
• Be a one stop shop – guide and support stakeholders through the UK and non-UK finance offer in order to drive forward economic growth in the respective country e.g. multilateral development banks.   You will need to balance competing priorities and apply creative thinking in order to achieve the best outcomes.
• Support financing for the sustainable development goals -  You will lead on supporting SDGs for DIT Africa to ensure that inclusive growth and sustainable development goals are supported, which hinge on countries’ ability to scale up spending in important areas like health, education and infrastructure

• Given this is a new function, you will be breaking new ground. You will need to be a self-starter who can seize the initiative and lay out a strategy for achieving the objectives laid out in the job description.
• Proven experience of leading structured finance / trade finance operations
• Current and relevant commercial management skills, well versed in contracting and finance oversight.
• A proven track record in modern international trade practice. Immersive cross-cultural expertise and business knowledge of the relevant market
• Proven competence in leading strategy development and business planning
• Proven experience within the local business community and knowledge of associated trends
• Knowledge of, and a keen interest in, sustainable development (additional training will be given)
• Competent in Microsoft Office applications
• Proven advisory and negotiation skills at senior levels –able to express ideas and messages clearly and concisely, both orally and in written communication.
• Excellent drafting skills in English, and absolute fluency of written and spoken English is a prerequisite.
• Postgraduate degree and/or undergraduate degree and other professional qualification.
• At least eight years professional experience.
• Management experience of autonomous operations in a sector servicing exporters in financial and credit risk products; or in a relevant role in an exporting business.