Programme Manager – Investment Platform Development

Role Overview

• Support implementation of ACF’s Sustainable Finance Strategy across its priority pillars and workstreams.
• Support governments and partners to identify bottlenecks related to investment coordination, financing readiness, institutional capability, and delivery systems.
• Provide technical support across national country platforms, sub-national investment platforms, and community investment platforms, adapting approaches to the relevant scale and institutional context.
• Help shape technical approaches related to country investment platforms, financing coordination mechanisms, project preparation ecosystems, and climate finance governance arrangements.
• Coordinate and manage technical assistance processes linked to investment platform development, including engagement with consultants, technical experts, development finance institutions, and research partners.
• Contribute to the development of practical and context-specific approaches to investment platform design, recognising differing political economy realities, institutional capacities, and financing landscapes across countries.
• Scope and initiate new country or platform engagements, providing early-stage technical groundwork and investment readiness support before dedicated country teams or programmes are established.
• Support learning and knowledge exchange across investment platform engagements to strengthen peer learning and institutional capability development.
• Lead engagement/collaboration with partners working on investment platforms.
• Support the design and operationalisation of ACF’s investment platform approach across priority countries and geographies, ensuring alignment with ACF’s Sustainable Finance Strategy and broader organisational priorities.
• Support governments and national and subnational stakeholders to establish or strengthen investment platforms that align policy priorities, financing strategies, and delivery systems.
• Guide the development of investment pipelines, including support to project preparation systems, prioritisation frameworks, and coordination mechanisms.
• Oversee the design and delivery of ACF support to investment platforms, including technical assistance, grant-making, and partner coordination.
• Work in close coordination with ACF country teams and Country Managers, ensuring this role provides additive technical support rather than duplicating or cutting across country programme leadership.
• Ensure coherence between platform-level engagements and ACF’s broader work on macro-fiscal systems, capital market development, and global financial architecture.
• Lead periodic reviews of investment platform engagements, ensuring adaptive learning and continuous improvement.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager to track outcomes related to investment mobilisation, institutional strengthening, and policy impact.
• Identify and engage strategic partners, including governments, technical institutions, and implementation partners.
• Oversee grant development, performance management, and reporting.
• Ensure that grants contribute to building durable institutional capability and credible investment pipelines, rather than one-off outputs.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior government stakeholders, and key public institutions involved in planning, financing, and delivering climate and development priorities at national and subnational levels.
• Engage and collaborate with strategic regional and global partners working at the intersection of climate, public finance, and investment coordination, including initiatives such as the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, the Country Platform Hub, and other relevant platforms.
• Support coordination across development partners, financial institutions, and technical actors to strengthen alignment around investment platform design, investment pipelines, and financing strategies.
• Conduct stakeholder mapping and engagement to identify and cultivate partnerships that enhance the effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of investment platform approaches.
• Support fundraising for investment platform work, including identifying funding opportunities, engaging with donors, and contributing to proposal development.
• Help position investment platform engagements as a core component of ACF’s value proposition to funders.
• Lead ACF’s thought leadership on investment platforms, investment mobilisation, and sustainable finance.
• Support the development of knowledge products, case studies, and policy insights based on platform engagements.
• Represent ACF in relevant national, regional, and international fora.
• Work closely with the Communications Team to ensure effective dissemination of insights and results.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Economics, Finance, Public Policy, International Development, Climate Finance, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years progressive experience working in climate and development finance, or investment-related roles in Africa.
• Strong understanding of investment platforms at national, sub-national, and community levels, climate finance coordination mechanisms, sovereign financing ecosystems, investment coordination structures, and blended finance approaches, particularly within African climate and development contexts.
• Experience supporting technical advisory processes, institutional reform initiatives, or systems-strengthening programmes involving Ministries of Finance, planning institutions, development finance institutions, or investment coordination platforms.
• Experience working on sovereign financing mechanisms, public investment systems, climate finance architecture, or investment mobilisation frameworks in African contexts.
• Strong understanding of how public finance systems, development finance institutions, capital markets, and private finance interact within country financing ecosystems.
• Experience supporting governments or institutions on investment pipeline development, financing strategies, project preparation systems, or public-private financing coordination.
• Experience engaging with development finance institutions, financial institutions, or investment platforms.
• Strong programme and partnership management experience, including management of complex portfolios, grants, consultants, and multi-partner initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in a technical support and advisory capacity, working alongside and in support of programme leads and country.
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate complex institutional and political environments.
• Excellent writing, reporting, communication, and presentation skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical and policy issues clearly to different audiences.
• High levels of integrity, professionalism, and commitment to development impact.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Proficiency in French would be a strong advantage.

Benefits

• Flexible working arrangements
• Professional development opportunities
• Remote work options