Investment Director

Location: London EC4A (hybrid office and homeworking)

Accountable to: Executive Committee (ExCo) member or Managing  Director (Investment Group) 

Contract type: Permanent, full-time (open to flexible working options) Salary: £66,500 - £78,125 (depending on experience)  

Full job pack

Overall purpose of the role: 

As we celebrate 10 years since Big Society Capital’s (BSC’s)  launch and implement our brand new 2025 strategy to scale  social impact investment and improve peoples’ lives in the  UK, we are excited to be recruiting talented Investment Directors to join us on the next stage of our journey.  

It is a unique opportunity to join a dynamic team of people  from a wide range of backgrounds, who are driven by  transforming the way mainstream financial markets help  deliver deep and lasting impact on people in the UK. Your  work will help to solve some of the UK’s most entrenched  social issues, so we are looking for someone who shares  our passion to improve people’s lives in collaboration with  the wider organisation and our external partners, and who  is enthusiastic about designing and developing creative  solutions. 

Responsibilities: 

The Investment Director will take responsibility for some of  our investment objectives, working with colleagues across  the organisation. The job holder(s) will: 

Lead the development of new investment opportunities  including: 

• Applying experience, knowledge and networks to  identify social issues or market needs where social  impact investment can help support a solution in our  market systems (social and affordable property, social lending, impact venture and social outcome contracts); 
• Identifying a strong pipeline of opportunities that  aligns with our impact goals including through building  networks, and developing creative and innovative  solutions to these identified social issues through  collaborative partnerships with diverse stakeholders  including investors, charities and government.  

Manage prospective investments through our investment  process in one or more market systems: 

• Helping to build a balanced portfolio of investments,  with potential to take increasing responsibility for  portions of investment strategy 
• Supervising and undertaking detailed investment  analysis, including of the market, the prospective  investee, and the financial, social impact and systems  change cases; 
• Structuring prospective investments; 
• Preparing and presenting investment recommendations  to our Investment Committee, and take a lead on  investment decision making; 
• Negotiating legal documents and closing transactions. 
• Demonstrating and championing excellence in  investment delivery through the investment process 

Own the management of our existing portfolio investments  in one or more market systems, including through  supervising junior team members: 

• Work with fund managers to evaluate and manage their  financial and social impact performance; 
• Implementing and supervising fund manager reporting  so BSC can assess the contribution of the investments to  our systems change, impact and financial goals across  our portfolio and in the relevant market system 
• Having accountability for performance of portions of our  investment portfolio within a market system or a whole  market system 

Systems change leadership: 

Being or becoming over time an internal and external  expert in a market system or investment process, with  potential to lead or second on a market system. This will  include:

• Developing strategies for achieving BSC’s goals in the  market systems, including identifying and leading  strategic projects within market system 
• Building and managing key strategic relationships that  can help us achieve our market system goals, including  with fund managers, investors and charities and social  enterprises 
• Influencing the behaviour of key system actors, through  thought leadership and partnerships, working with our  Engagement and Communications teams 

Team management: 

• Working with other Investment Directors to help build a  world class social impact investment team and approach  at Big Society Capital, including supervising and line  managing Investment Managers and other members of  the team. 
• Leading on discrete areas of our investment management approach or team management to help  deliver our strategic objectives.  
• Contributing to organisation-wide initiatives that help us  deliver our mission such as working groups to improve  the way we work or how we engage with certain  stakeholders.  

Person Profile

Essential Experience 

• A passion and demonstrable commitment to improving  lives in the UK 
• Experience of detailed analysis, communication and  decision making, in relation to complex issues 
• Experience developing solutions to complex problems 
• A strong background in analysis in either the private,  social or public sector (e.g. strategy consulting, venture  capital or investment banking) 
• Proven relationship building and influencing skills 
• Experience of managing people, leading teams and  forming collaborative partnerships 
• Experience in and specialist knowledge of one of the  following private asset classes: real estate (principally  housing), venture investment, social outcomes contracts  or lending 

Desirable Experience 

• Social impact investment background 
• UK social sector employment or voluntary experience 
• Strong investment experience including new deal  origination and portfolio management 
• Deal execution skills including comfort negotiating legal  documents 
• Proven project management skills 
• Experience of operating at, working alongside and  presenting recommendations to either an executive or  board within organisations 
• Experience of activities across the public, private and  social sectors 

Skills and Abilities 

• Structured thinker - able to deal with complexity and  uncertainty 
• Innovative, creative and strategic approach to problem  solving 
• Solves problems with multiple stakeholders in an open  and empathetic way 
• Collegial team player - Flexible and willing to work with  and contribute to a team 
• Self-starter - able to work under own initiative and  source new opportunities 
• Relationship management – excellent interpersonal skills  and able to build relationships at all levels 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills 
• Hunger for continued learning and development,  including developing others

Applications 

• Please apply by clicking 'apply for this job' by midday Friday 17 June 2022
• Applied is a platform designed to minimise unconscious bias in recruitment. You will be asked some work-based questions  which are reviewed anonymously by the hiring panel. Please note, while you will upload your CV, it will not be viewed by panel  members at this stage, so we ask that you give full consideration to each answer. 
• If you have any questions about the position before making an application, we invite you to a virtual Open Hour with Rebecca  MacDonald (Managing Director, Investment ) and Ruth Davidson (People and Talent Manager) at 3.30pm on Wednesday 1  June via Zoom. This is an open opportunity to meet the team and to explore the role and Big Society Capital a little further  before you apply. (For anonymity, attendees will have the option to remove their name. and switch videos off). Please contact  [email removed - click apply for more details] if you would like to attend, and include what questions you would like us to cover (although  we will aim to leave time for additional questions on the day).  
• As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for all candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum  criteria for the job. We are defining a disability in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, as a person who has a physical or  mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to-day activities. You will be asked in your Applied application whether this applies to you.  

Please note.... 

• Location: We are a UK-based business with an office in the Chancery Lane area of London, accessible to a number of public  transport links. Our current approach allows colleagues to spend 40% - 60% of their working hours in the office, and the  remainder from home. We hope that this working pattern encourages Big Society Capital employees to achieve a healthy  balance between work and personal goals, as we continue to adapt to the changing needs of our diverse workforce. 
• Right to work: for candidates who do not have the right to work in the UK, Big Society Capital may consider visa sponsorship