Associate, Research & Advisory

Associate, Research & Advisory, Full-time, Hanoi, Vietnam

Application deadline: June 12, 2023

About IIX:

Impact Investment Exchange (IIX [1]) is the pioneer in the impact investing movement and a global leader in sustainability. We have transformed the financial system so that women, the environment and underserved communities are finally given a value and a voice in the global market. Over the past decade, we have built the world’s largest crowdfunding platform for impact investing (Impact Partners [2]), operated award-winning enterprise technical assistance programs such as IIX ACTS [3], created innovative financial products such as the  [4]Women's Livelihood Bond [4] and established an  [5]Impact Institute [5] and Research & Advisory [6] to build the sustainable investing market. To date, our work has spanned 53 countries, unlocked US$288 million of private-sector capital, and positively impacted over 159 million direct and household lives, and avoided over 1.83 million tons of carbon. The foundation of IIX's work is IIX Values [7], an innovative impact verification solution for every organization, which effectively measures the social and environmental impact of an investment and gives value to the voices of the underserved. IIX recently launched the Orange Bond Initiative [8] to unlock $10 billion in the capital markets by 2030 and impact 100 million women in the last mile. IIX’s numerous awards for its work include the Oslo Business for Peace Award, the P4G State-of-the-art Partnership Award, the UN Global Climate Action Award, and most recently the Environmental Finance's Award for Innovation.

For more information about IIX, please visit www.iixglobal.com [9].

About a career with IIX:

You will join a highly effective team that will provide you with unparalleled hands-on exposure to the Impact Investing and Social Finance space. You thrive in tackling development issues and excel in creating solutions using structured strategies and innovative programs that address the world’s most pressing problems, from food security to inclusive finance to clean energy. You aim to become a global development leader and to get make a measurable difference through your work.

When you join IIX, you embark on a rewarding career in which we are heavily invested in your professional development as we will build on your strengths and help you gain new skills with training, coaching, encouragement, and guiding you in the right direction guidance. The skills you obtain and the exposure to the rapidly growing impact investing space will be invaluable as you advance in your career.

To be a successful member of the IIX team, you should exhibit PREM:

• Passionate: Commitment to social finance and impact investing as a path to unlock society’s potential to effect social change is essential for a happy and successful tenure at IIX.
• Resilient: Similar to our enterprises working in emerging markets, our IIX team members have strong mental and emotional fortitude and are able to recover quickly from difficulties or setbacks. We look for people with an adaptable and positive attitude and strong sense of self-worth, which enables them to move forward and continue to strive for their goals even in the face of adversity.
• Equitable: At IIX, we manage toward impact maximization and produce measurable and transparent returns – both social and financial. These results strengthen the ecosystem and transform existing realities by helping impact enterprises magnify their impact and scale. We are fair and impartial in our actions and ensure that we make objective and unbiased decisions based on facts and impact.
• Maverick: While IIX is a seasoned stakeholder in the impact enterprise and impact investing space in Asia, we pride ourselves on creating new opportunities. We look for people with an independent and unorthodox approach to thinking and behaving. If you are someone who is non-conformist, innovative, and independent, often going against the grain, does not like following the crowd and is not afraid to express your own opinions, we want you.

Some of our clients include foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Foundation, corporations such as Standard Chartered Bank and KKR, international non-profits such as Oxfam and World Vision, multilateral institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, UN Agencies such as UNDP, and government development agencies such as USAID and SIDA.

About the role:

IIX seeks an experienced Associate or Senior Associate for its Research and Advisory (R&A) Team to be based in Hanoi, Vietnam. We are looking for a communicator, a thinker, and a doer who naturally builds relationships that lead to results. You will be able to transition seamlessly from thinking strategically about new business relationships (with donors/clients/investors/INGOs) to managing the relationships and executing new pilot initiatives. We have a small and energetic team, and this is a roll-up-your-sleeves kind of role. We want someone who first and foremost has a positive attitude and is passionate about growing the space through IIX’s work. In addition, she/he is creative, a problem solver, who knows how to push the envelope, and is an incredibly fast learner.

Key Responsibilities:

- Conduct market ecosystem research to further gender lens investing in the Global South

• Research new and emerging thematic and impact investment trends
• Envision and suggest areas of strategic collaboration with ecosystem partners
• Develop outreach materials such as concept notes and pitch decks

- Pursuit of strategic, organization-wide business development initiatives

• Source, prepare, and submit requests for proposals (RFPs) and expressions of interest (EOIs) from global and regional tendering organizations.
• Prepare external marketing and strategic business development materials

- Collaborate to effectively execute client engagements

• Collaborate with colleagues from other teams on inter-department ongoing project management and strategic pursuits
• For associate, you’ll be expected to mentor and review the work of analysts and interns in fulfilling the agreed scope of work with clients and coordinate with other departments in ensuring project timeline compliance

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics/Development Economics, Business Management, International Relations, Finance or related disciplines; a graduate degree in the aforementioned disciplines is a big plus
• At least five (5) years of combined experience in research, consulting or management consulting work for the associate level.
• Excellent research and technical writing skills in primary research, secondary research, statistical analysis, data interpretation, data visualization using infographics, graphs and charts (applicants will be required to submit past writing outputs and may be asked to undergo additional writing tests)
• Outstanding presentation and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to present complex ideas and voluminous pieces of information before internal and external stakeholders in an insightful and structured manner; fluency in English is a must
• Extensive experience in using MS Office applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work well with a diverse group of stakeholders across national boundaries, from public bodies and policymakers to social entrepreneurs to large, international private corporations
• Highly-entrepreneurial mindset: a self-starter able to make sense of and comfortable working in a dynamic, relatively flat and non-hierarchical environment, comfortable with remote working and liaising with a Pan Asia team.
• Has experience managing and mentoring younger colleagues; demonstrates leadership in words and actions
• Desire to work in a collaborative, high-performing team environment, able to build relationships across teams; must be a team player who is self-motivated and has a positive attitude toward work
• Culturally sensitive; can work in a highly multicultural environment and good knowledge of Vietnam and the SME space.
• Has a passion for finding innovative, market-based solutions to the world’s most pressing development challenges, with a view toward maximizing social and environmental impact while ensuring financial sustainability

Desired Qualifications:

• Past experience working at/working with international and regional development/financial/aid organizations, as well as international management consulting firms, is a big plus
• Professional or academic experience with IIX sector specializations, namely, inclusive finance, renewable energy, technology access, healthcare, education, water and waste management, sustainable agriculture
• Fluency in one or more international/regional languages
• Experience of living or extensive travel in developing countries; field experience in the region working with impact enterprises, startups or international NGOs is a big plus

Submission: Please submit a cover letter and a resume to IIX along with writing samples. An assessment test will also be required if you are shortlisted. Qualified candidates will be considered and contacted by a member of the IIX team for interviews and to discuss their skills, interest, and experiences. IIX is an equal-opportunity employer.

Interested candidates should send applications to: https://iix-global.breezy.hr/p/b8a3a3216b95-associate-research-advisory-vietnam?state=published [10]