Senior Portfolio Officer

Job summary

The Senior Portfolio Officer will be responsible for supporting the management of the Investing in Women Nigeria Program, an investment designed to support women-owned and women-led enterprises, cooperatives, and women’s groups, which is funded by Global Affairs Canada. They will provide technical and grants management support to a portfolio of investments in small and medium-sized enterprises and women’s cooperatives in the agriculture sector in Kano, Nigeria.

The incumbent will be expected to work flexibly and collegially in processing grants, managing relations with investees, supervising the implementation of investment contracts, reporting to management and external donor partners, and coordinating technical assistance. The role holder is expected to have the right experience in the agriculture value chain analysis, cooperative engagement, and development.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the portfolio construction, including promoting competitions, developing scoring criteria, assessing applications, drafting and presenting investment memos to both the internal and external investment committees.
• Accompany investees throughout the implementation, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness, and adherence to AECF’s grant implementation principles.
• Maintain strong working relations with investees (and service providers) professionally and efficiently to ensure value for money and to minimize the potential for fraud, inefficiency, and waste.
• Conduct regular monitoring of grant implementation to track milestones, compliance, timelines, and deliverables, including the analysis of periodic reports and provision of feedback to investees, and regular site visits to investees.
• Analyze fund disbursement requests in a timely manner and make recommendations.
• Prepare regular reports on grantee performance, identify any significant deviations or delays to planned grant implementation, propose recommended courses of action, and in consultation with relevant colleagues, work with investees to meet their performance obligations.
• Ensure all investee site visits are conducted on a periodic basis, as per the agreed site visit schedule.
• Coordinate the identification of investees who require technical assistance.
• Ensure legal review and opinion on investments that require the legal department’s review.
• Contribute to the development of periodic management and donor reports.
• Contribute to proposal development for various potential program areas.
• Actively contribute to the portfolio learning agenda in alignment with AECF’s broader learning goals (in collaboration with the Impact, Knowledge, and Insights teams) to enhance the Fund’s reputation and capabilities, drive systemic change in relevant market systems across Africa, and support advocacy initiatives

Suitable candidates should

• Have a bachelor’s degree in finance, business administration, international development, social sciences, development finance, or a related field.
• Have a minimum of seven (7) years’ experience in portfolio or investment management, including experience with financial and operational due diligence of early or growth-stage businesses.
• Have experience in Agribusiness value chain analysis, co-operatives engagement, and development.
• Possess experience in private sector-led development, sustainable finance, value chains strengthening, or economic diversification.
• Possess extensive knowledge and understanding of program design and development, project cycle management, and financial budgeting and reporting.
• Have a professional accounting qualification e.g., ACCA, will be an added advantage.
• Have experience working with SMEs and financial intermediaries working with micro and small businesses.
• Be able to demonstrate organizational and project management skills.
• Have an understanding of the donor landscape and demands of international development.
• Be fluent in written and oral English and Hausa languages

How to apply

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered based on merit without regard to race, sex, colour, national origin, religion, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

AECF does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, processing, training, or any other fees).

If you believe you can clearly demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for the role register, you can apply at https://recruitment.aecfafrica.org. Your application must be received by 7th May 2025 to be considered.

For more information, please visit our careers page on www.aecfafrica.org