About the PRI

The PRI is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. It works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. The PRI acts in the long-term interests of its signatories, of the financial markets and economies in which they operate and ultimately of the environment and society as a whole. The PRI is truly independent. It encourages investors to use responsible investment to enhance returns and better manage risks but does not operate for its own profit; it engages with global policymakers but is not associated with any government; it is supported by, but not part of, the United Nations.

About the PRI Academy

The PRI Academy (a subsidiary of the Principles for Responsible Investment) was developed to provide industry-leading training for financial services, investors and other professionals needing to understand how environmental, social and governance issues (ESG) are impacting company performance, shareholder value and investment decision making. The training is completely web-based with a global curriculum designed to upskill teams and professionals across investment and capital markets. The Academy is the global leader in responsible investment training having enrolled over 7,000 professionals from over 65 countries.

Working at the PRI Academy provides an opportunity to engage with highly motivated, culturally diverse professionals in a highly successful social enterprise. The PRI Academy has hit a milestone and is counted among the 8-10% of all social enterprises that has thrived after 5 years in operation. The Associate will have the rare opportunity to get in on the ground floor and scale up a proven small business into a globally recognized organisation.

Job description

The role will serve both account management and business development functions. In a sales capacity, the role will serve a senior role in commercial sales. In an account manager capacity, the role will manage relationships with a portfolio of clients which include some of the largest financial institutions in the world and is vital in growing sales in this segment through our custom course offerings.

Core Responsibilities:

■ Meet or exceed sales goals

■ Assume responsibility of the Academy sales pipeline

■ Independently give in-person or virtual sales presentations to a range of prospective clients which include the world’s leading financial institutions

■ Coordinate sales efforts with marketing campaigns

■ Maintain professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, establishing personal networks, and benchmarking state-of-the-art practices

■ Plan and execute solutions for the sales team to deliver to customers

■ In collaboration with the Director, develop segmentation, target identification and prioritization strategies for our high value custom products for leading global financial institutions

■ Assume ownership of existing client relationships which include some of the world’s leading financial institutions

■ Develop and manage relationships with existing and new B2B clients

■ Work to achieve client and academy goals simultaneously

■ Identify new sales opportunities by up-selling and cross-selling within existing accounts

■ Externally, liaise with client learning & development staff, human resources staff, and/or subject matter experts to establish client expectations and deliverables for a portfolio of B2B clients

■ Internally, liaise with PRI relationship managers and subject matter experts to ensure alignment of mission and to create new opportunities

Core Competencies:

PRI expects roles at a ‘Specialist level’ within the organisation to demonstrate skills across the following core competencies:

Analytical

•Proactively offers impartial specialist knowledge, insights or input

•Uses business/ specialist knowledge and analysis to identify issues, applying fact-based insight to develop and evaluate solutions or solve issues

•Maintains a professional and impartial stance in assessing all information which feeds into decision making

•Balances rigour with pragmatism in conducting analyses that are fit for purpose

•Effectively reviews and quality-checks all analyses

Business Awareness

•Focuses on maximising Signatory or operational value and driving PRI outcomes

•Actively keeps up-to-date with developments both within the organisation and within area of specialism

•Balances the internal needs of the PRI and that of Signatory Organisations to deliver outputs

•Understands how own area of specialism drives value to the PRI and meets its mission

Collaborative

•Builds consensus and trust with all that engage with

•Is responsive to feedback proactively following up to ensure any issues are resolved

•Where requested, engages with colleagues to gain a broader understanding of issues and seeks to respond to or resolve them

•Provides specialist knowledge and insights to colleagues where requested

Communicative

•Translates specialist information or provides technical expertise in a clear and understandable format

•Clarifies matters by absorbing and understanding relevant information and feeding them back in concise terms

•Uses effective listening and questioning to enhance understanding of complex issues

•Engages the recipient using their language, tailoring communication style for the audience

Developmental

•Actively seeks opportunities to enhance specialist knowledge/ experience

•Constantly reviews own work with the aim of improving outputs

•Applies knowledge or experience to question practices and suggest alternatives

•Actively seeks and shares feedback wherever possible, as a means of improvement

•Uses best practice identified through external networks or evolutions in the field of specialism

Structured

•Has a strong sense of execution and delivery, working to agreed deadlines, involving relevant colleagues and allowing enough time for review and quality assurance

•Regularly monitors and reports on progress of work, providing regular updates as appropriate

•Takes a methodical approach to how specialist or technical knowledge is acquired and, distributed (where necessary)

•Captures knowledge at the end of each project/ process/activity, to use and share

Technical Competencies & Experience:

■ Significant track record in sales; B2B preferably

■ Understanding of responsible investment / sustainable finance

■ Demonstrated ability to lead presentations to high level executives

■ Experience working in a professional and international environment; e.g. the financial services industry or similar

■ Start-up or entrepreneurship experience is desirable

■ High business acumen

■ Educated to at least degree level

■ Investment qualification(s) is desirable

■ At least intermediate knowledge of relevant IT (e.g. Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

■ Substantive knowledge of CRM systems, preferably Salesforce

■ A confident and professional manner in dealing with senior business professionals

■ Superb written communication and verbal presentation skills

■ Strong attention to detail

■ Self-starter and ability to learn quickly

■ A collaborative and consultative approach to working with others

■ Language skills, other than English, are desirable

■ Must have the right to work in the UK

■ Investment qualification(s) is desirable

■ Language skills, other than English are an advantage