Principal Investment Officer

The Principal Investment Officer is responsible for screening, appraising, structuring, and executing complex climate and Green Fund project proposals to mobilise funding. The role also oversees post-investment project management, including rescoping projects as required to address emerging needs and ensure continued alignment with climate objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning

• Contribute to the formulation and enhancement of DBSA’s infrastructure strategy with a strong focus on climate resilience, low-carbon development, and adaptation priorities.
• Align programme initiatives with national climate commitments, sectoral decarbonisation pathways, and DBSA’s climate-investment objectives.
• Identify climate-related risks, transition risks, and green-growth opportunities to inform strategic direction and portfolio positioning.

Transaction Assessments and Structuring

• Evaluate the feasibility of investment opportunities and project transactions with a view to ensure they are commercially viable and align with the Fund's strategic objectives and mandate.
• Lead multi-dimensional due diligence (technical, commercial, environmental, financial, institutional), including credit risk analysis and climate investment diagnostics.
• Oversee and/or develop sophisticated financial models and scenario analysis to ensure investment viability and optimal structuring.
• Lead the financial climate-impact evaluation using recognised methodologies (e.g., GHG accounting, climate vulnerability criteria).
• Structure climate finance transactions, debt, equity, blended finance, and guarantees in alignment with DBSA policies and international accreditation standards.
• Develop and prepare early-stage review proposals and related documentation in the specified as and when required.
• Prepare and present detailed investment appraisal reports, risk assessments, climate rationale, GHG reduction estimates, and financial evaluations.
• Negotiate term sheets, shareholder agreements, financing agreements, and related transaction documents with clients, sponsors, and legal teams.
• Drive deal closure by ensuring optimal financial, institutional, and legal structuring of transactions.

Transaction Execution and Credit Approval

• Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to structure and negotiate detailed deal terms with Treasury, Legal, and Loan Administration teams, ensuring transaction approval.
• Secure internal approvals and lead or participate actively in closing transactions through successful negotiations.
• Manage the credit approval process from early review to final decision by the relevant committees.
• Review proposals submitted to approval committees to ensure they are well-structured and documented for informed decision-making.
• Manage the preparation of complex multi-jurisdictional documentation and ensure compliance with procedures, laws, and regulations for transaction implementation.
• Resolve potential constraints in the lending value chain in collaboration with the responsible Head
• Implement risk management procedures across continent-wide financing functions, ensuring investment risks are appropriately structured and mitigated during operations.
• Manage financial capital responsibly, ensuring efficient utilisation and stewardship of capital under management.
• Capture and apply learning opportunities post-transaction to drive continuous improvement and successful deal delivery.

Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients at global, regional, and local levels, including businesses, banking and multilateral partners and government officials, to further develop specific project preparation opportunities.
• Manage expectations from programme owners and ensure third-party programme mandates are understood by the DBSA teams.
• Support partnerships, joint platforms, and networking initiatives that advance DBSA’s climate finance positioning at national, regional, and global levels.
• Represent DBSA in high-level forums, technical working groups, and climate-finance industry engagements.
• Work closely with Transacting and other investment divisions to build a strong pipeline and ensure seamless integration of prepared projects into the deal cycle.
• Enhance DBSA’s brand and reputation as a partner of choice for end-to-end climate-responsive infrastructure development.

Reporting and Governance

• Provide accurate and timely reports to the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Green Climate Fund (GCF), and other climate finance sources in line with accreditation, fiduciary, and safeguard requirements.
• Support the management, administration, and operationalisation of DBSA-accredited climate funds, systems, and reporting frameworks.
• Maintain essential documentation, data integrity, and audit-ready records across the climate finance portfolio.
• Implement and refine reporting formats, portfolio dashboards, and decision-support tools to strengthen climate investment oversight and management.

Key Measurement of Outputs:

• Revenue performance in terms of Interest Income and Fees generated.
• Delivery on the agreed Operations Mandate; these include:
• Growth rate in assets of the loan book:
  • Annual disbursements, commitments and approvals
  • Quality of loan book
  • % of loan book in priority geographies and sectors
  • Number of new clients
  • Number of potential deals/ pipeline
• Value of funds catalysed towards projects approved and committed.
• Coaching and mentoring to transfer skills
• Clean Audit

Expertise & Technical Competencies

Qualifications

Minimum Qualification

• A postgraduate degree in Finance, Commerce, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Economics or a relevant field.

Desirable Qualification

• A postgraduate qualification, CA or CFA or MBA or similar

Experience

Minimum Experience

• A minimum of 10 years’ experience in appraising, negotiating, due diligence and closing project finance in a financial institution specifically for climate and environmental financing.
• Strong experience in renewable energy, energy efficiency, water security, sustainable transport, or related low-carbon sectors.
• Experience in securing infrastructure investment deals in relevant sectors/geographies in SA and/or Africa and doing business across Africa.
• Comprehensive knowledge of the complex financial and regulatory environments.
• Proven experience in working with senior stakeholders in highly political environments in South Africa and the rest of Africa.
• Proven expertise in climate investment metrics and GHG accounting tools.
• Understanding of GEF/GCF operations, climate definitions, eligibility criteria, and fiduciary standards.
• Demonstrated ability to structure complex financial instruments (debt, equity, blended finance, guarantees).
• Extensive knowledge of climate-related markets in Sub-Saharan Africa and international best practices.
• Experience engaging senior executives in governments, DFIs, the private sector, and financial institutions.
• Strong track record in client relationship management and transaction execution.

Desirable Experience

• Project finance, private equity and/or venture capital experience.
• Experience working with innovative financing models and public-private partnerships.
• Experience in mobilising climate finance from UN Convention-based climate and environmental finance mechanisms

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Business Acumen

• Reviews own actions against the organisation's strategic plan; includes the big picture when considering possible opportunities or projects, or thinks about long-term applications of current activities.
• Understands the projected direction of the industry and how changes might impact the organisation.
• Deep understanding of commercial drivers and can make decisions based on an assessment of alternatives concerning complex business situations.
• Deep understanding of DBSA economic priorities and how they can be implemented to meet DBSA's strategic objectives.
• Deep understanding of DBSA's core sector role in achieving DBSA's strategic objectives.
• Deep understanding of the need to coordinate efforts with many government entities, the private sector, community groups and individuals to ensure effective implementation of new policies and regulations.

Project Preparation

• Demonstrates a sound understanding of limited recourse and balance sheet funding, the process required to prepare projects, and financing documentation required to present projects for investment decisions.
• Leads an internal team of sector specialists and analysts to appraise and present transactions to internal committees.
• Appoints and leads a team of external consultants/advisors (technical, environmental, financial and legal) to prepare and present the Project Information Memorandum (PIM) to prospective financiers.
• Analyses sponsors’ financial statements, understands and reviews financial models.
• Demonstrates a sound understanding of the water, transport and energy sectors to identify potential fatal flaws generally associated with these sectors in projects presented and key risks to be mitigated.

Project Management

• Ability to plan, initiate, execute, control and close projects related to a relevant function as well as to track and manage resources, timelines, costs, deliverables and performance, and implement contingency plans, if necessary, to ensure projects are completed.
• Defines, plans and manages large and/or strategic projects, including those with a high degree of technical complexity, with impacts across the organisation and/or with national implications.
• Assembles and leads diverse and multi-disciplinary teams, ensuring maximum effective resource utilisation.
• Successfully manages substantial project budgets and reports directly to senior managers on the progress and results of projects.
• Identifies complex issues that need escalation and proposes appropriate corrective action by maintaining a respected profile with relevant external organisations and the research community in general.

Solutions Focused

• Identifies complex problems based on a broad range of factors, many of which are ambiguous or difficult to define.
• While remaining guided by organisational values, identifies optimal solutions, thinking first in terms of possible approaches and flexibilities in the system vs. blind adherence to rules or procedures.
• Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of solutions after they have been implemented and identifies needed changes.

Planning and Organising

• Coaches others on advanced planning and organising skills.
• Plays a role in transferring advanced planning and organising skills and knowledge to others.
• Identifies and acts on opportunities to partner with other units in the department to achieve desired results.
• Develops partnership agreements that ensure win-win outcomes for all parties.
• Develops integrated plans for the work unit and others that interface with the function’s budget.
• Uses advanced time management processes to deal with a high workload and tight deadlines.
• Organises, prioritises and schedules tasks so they can be performed within budget and with the efficient use of time and resources.
• Achieves goals promptly, despite obstacles encountered, by organising, reprioritising and re-planning

Detail-oriented

• Quickly identifies relevant and irrelevant information to support accurate decision making.
• Maps out all the logistics and details of a situation to ensure smooth and flawless implementation.
• Consistently identifies all relevant details that are not obvious in complex situations.
• Requires the highest standards for accuracy and quality for their work.
• Establishes processes to ensure accuracy and quality of services delivered by the team.

Reporting & Communication

• Designs, reviews and improves reporting processes and provides guidance.
• Leads production of complex environment reports, takes an editorial role, determines content and level of detail, and ensures consistent messaging and branding.
• Is relied on by others to help them write complex technical and non-technical documents and briefs.
• Can determine which aspects of this knowledge area need to be transferred to others to achieve organisational goals.
• Coaches others and transfers communication skills and knowledge to others.
• Able to communicate complex problems or concepts by making them simple and understandable for others.
• Adapts language to the level of the audience to ensure that the message has a positive impact and is interesting to the audience.
• Is articulate, demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary, and is confident when talking to large/high-level audiences.

Presentation Skills

• Knows how to deliver arguments persuasively by employing a range of advanced presentation techniques (e.g., the appropriate use of body language, how to close a presentation so that the audience continues to think about the subject matter, etc.).
• Knows various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.

Required Personal Attributes

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

Customer Service Orientation

• Tries to understand the underlying needs of customers and matches these needs to available or customised products and services.
• Adapts processes and procedures to meet ongoing customer needs.
• Utilises the feedback received by customers to develop new and/or improve existing services/ products that relate to their ongoing needs.
• Thinks of new ways to align offerings with future customer needs.

Self-Awareness and Self-Control

• Withholds the effects of strong emotions in difficult situations.
• Keeps functioning or responds constructively despite stress.
• May apply special techniques or a plan of time to manage emotions or stress.

Strategic and Innovative Thinking

• Experiments with new approaches, tests scenarios, questions assumptions and challenges conventional thinking.
• Creates new concepts that are not obvious to others, leveraging internal and external sources of information, to build incremental revenue and growth opportunities.

Driving Delivery of Results

• Sets challenging goals that will have a significant impact on the business or support the organisational strategy.
• Commits significant resources and/or time to ensure that challenging goals are achieved, while also taking action to mitigate risk.

Teamwork and Cooperation

• Acts to promote a friendly climate and good morale and resolves conflicts.
• Creates opportunities for cross-functional working.
• Encourages others to network outside of their team/department and learn from their experience.