This is a brilliant opportunity to join our growing team with a mission of transforming the provision of financial services for people in vulnerable circumstances.  At Fair4All Finance we are making direct social investments (£38m+ to date) into community finance providers and social fintechs to support their growth and future sustainability, as a key part of our strategy to scale up the provision of affordable credit.  In 2024, we expect to deploy £5-10m in grants and social investments, including through our recently-launched Community Finance Resilience Fund. 

We are looking to recruit an investment portfolio manager to manage our growing portfolio of social investments and grants.  We are looking for an experienced investment portfolio manager with good commercial acumen, strong written and verbal communication skills, excellent organisational skills and good attention to detail.  The successful candidate will be passionate about our mission and will build excellent relationships across the team including supporting junior colleagues' career development. 

This role will be a mix of portfolio management including regular social impact and financial reporting, directly managing some investments, and some due diligence on new social investments.    

We are interested in hearing from candidates whose experience is social investment, investment management, tech for good, banking sectors; or highly experienced grant managers who have direct investment experience. 

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to influence our approach and processes as our social investment portfolio matures and grows - having a profoundly positive impact on financial inclusion. 

Your responsibilities  

In this role your focus will likely be split across some key areas of work: 

Portfolio management 50%  

• Directly manage a small portfolio of existing equity, debt and grant investments in CDFIs, credit unions and social fintechs – establishing and maintaining excellent, trusting client relationships, with regular monitoring of financial and social impact performance and reforecasting. This may include holding observer roles on investee boards  

• Oversee the overall management of our social investment and grant portfolio including regular portfolio reporting, onboarding of our loan management system, working with our Finance team to manage capital drawdowns and portfolio income 

• Responsible for quarterly and annual reporting of our social impact, financial performance and other portfolio metrics - writing clear, evidence-based and compelling reports to support our conversations with other funders and government stakeholders 

Investment due diligence 30%  

• Lead due diligence on potential equity, debt and grant investments into CDFIs, credit unions, social fintechs and other investment opportunities as may arise – including establishing and maintaining excellent investee relationships 

• Making clear and evidenced recommendations to the investment committee  

• Supporting the team in best practice due diligence and portfolio management 

Other 20% 

• Lead on strategically important aspects of our wider work as needed 

• Manage a small team 

Person specification 

Essential experience and capabilities include: 

• Direct experience of managing commercial investments into SMEs and/or impact investments into social enterprises.  This experience may be from the private, social and/or public sector    

• Strong investment or grant portfolio management background 

• Good commercial acumen, strong analytical skills and excellent attention to detail 

• Evidence of strong oral and written communication skills and self-assurance working alongside senior stakeholders   

Desirable experience and capabilities include:  

• Direct experience of making new commercial investments into SMEs and/or impact investments into social enterprises.  This experience may be from the private, social and/or public sector    

• Deal execution capability including evidence of negotiating investment terms and legal documents with investees and prospective funders  

• Fund management experience  

Personal characteristics: 

• Passion for our mission to increase the financial resilience of people in vulnerable circumstances  

• Able to deal with complexity and uncertainty and work under your own initiative  

• Adopt innovative and creative approaches to problem solving with multiple stakeholders 

• Seek continued learning and development and enjoy developing others 

• Brilliant team player – takes the initiative to support colleagues and suggest solutions 

• Be great at building relationships at all levels  

• Enjoy innovative and experimental ways of team working; enjoys working in a small team 

Terms of employment 

All applicants must have an existing Right to Work in the UK, Fair4All Finance is not a sponsorship organisation. 

Fair4All Finance is committed to being a diverse organisation that is truly representative of the people and communities we serve. We are an equal opportunities employer with an inclusive environment where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop and all team members can contribute to their fullest potential.  

Applications are welcome from people of any age, sex, gender identity, disability, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, race, sexual orientation, transgender status or social economic background. We are determined to ensure that all team members and applicants receive fair and equitable treatment or are not disadvantaged by any inappropriate conditions or requirements being placed on them. 

When we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential team member may need to be successful. We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we reasonably can to accommodate flexible working.  

Applications  

• Please apply through Applied by Monday 12 February 2024 (closing: 12pm) 

• Interviews will be held  w/c 19 February and w/c 26 February  

• If you would like to have an informal chat about the role before applying, please email jobs@fair4allfinance.org.uk  

After the job advert closes, your answers will go through a sift process, randomising and anonymising answers to take out individual information that could add biases into hiring decisions. This enables application reviewers to review each answer objectively. People scoring the applications will not have seen your CV at this stage of the process so please try your best to answer questions with specific examples and without simply rephrasing your CV, which they will review later in the recruitment process.