Executive, Corporate Strategy

British International Investment (BII) is the UK’s leading development finance institution, wholly owned by the UK Government. Our primary mission is to address global development challenges through strategic investments that promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth. BII focuses on catalysing economic development, creating jobs, and building resilient economies in some of the world's most complex and underserved markets. We invest in businesses and projects that prioritise inclusive development, environmental sustainability, and innovation.

Our approach is characterised by rigorous investment standards, high governance principles, and a commitment to delivering measurable development impact. Our team consists of highly skilled and passionate professionals dedicated to making a tangible difference globally. We foster a collaborative and intellectually stimulating work environment that values curiosity, innovation, and professional growth. Our culture balances high performance with a strong emphasis on wellbeing, ensuring our employees can achieve their full potential while contributing to our mission.

BII at a glance:

• Over 75 years supporting sustainable business growth in developing and emerging markets
• More than £9.9 billion in net assets
• 1,600+ businesses invested in
• 950,000+ workers in the businesses we support
• 650+ people in our diverse global team

Purpose of the Corporate Strategy Team

The Corporate Strategy team works at the centre of BII, reporting to the CEO and working directly with the CEO and Board. Its principal responsibility is to develop and support the execution of our five-year strategy. Within that, it has three main responsibilities:

• Strategic direction: developing BII’s five-year forward strategy; developing major organisational growth initiatives; and engaging the Board on matters of strategic importance to the firm, including through running an annual Strategy Day.
• Corporate planning and performance: including quarterly reporting to the Board; developing and reviewing our progress against the firm’s key performance indicators; developing the annual corporate plan; and evaluating the performance of the business or parts of it.
• Business improvement: partnering with the CEO and members of Executive Committee to shape new business strategies; restructure existing plans or resources; and drive strategic internal projects.

The Corporate Strategy team also provides direct support to the Chief Executive Officer and BII’s Board, acting as a CEO’s Office. The Corporate Strategy team will sometimes lead its own work (particularly when working directly for the Board/CEO) but often works with or in support of other BII teams. It works across all the teams in BII including corporate functions (e.g. Company Secretary, Comms, HR, Legal, etc.), investment functions (ITS, FSG, I&C), or impact and transaction support functions (DI, RI, Legal etc.). Members of the Corporate Strategy team are expected to work across all of the functions of the team set out above, but tend to major in one area or another. On a project basis, they generally report to the Head of Corporate Strategy as well as the relevant ExCo member leading the project.

Purpose of this role

You will be expected to deliver a wide range of strategy projects across all three areas of the Corporate Strategy remit, and in particular, to play a major role alongside other team members as we move into the implementation of BII’s next five-year strategy. This will include, for example:

• Analysing business performance and developing business plans for organisational development;
• Carrying out analysis into new or emerging areas of business, both quantitative and qualitative;
• Producing and presenting deliverables setting out findings and recommendations;
• Modelling, including running three-statement financial models and resource analysis models;
• Research and analysis into new or emerging themes in development finance or new areas of activity;
• From time to time, facilitating workshops, structured conversations, interviews and surveys;
• Engaging stakeholders to communicate change or build consensus;
• Project management, and occasionally planning and running events;
• Occasionally managing and coaching more junior members of staff;
• Supporting the team itself, for example through contribution to team meetings, away days and development of Corporate Strategy’s own plans;
• Some international travel may be required from time to time.

The candidate

You will:

• Have excellent quantitative skills, including the ability to identify and interpret data, carry out data analysis, and present findings in a visually compelling way; and specifically, with experience of building and running three-statement financial models;
• Have relevant experience in a relevant financial services or professional services context, such as strategy or management consulting, investment banking or asset management, or policy;
• Have experience in the fields of economic development, sustainable finance (including climate, development and/or nature finance) and/or public finance policy;
• Be an excellent project manager, able to run multiple workstreams to different deadlines and operate under pressure;
• Have excellent written and presentational skills, including the ability to produce deliverables to a high quality and to present them in a compelling fashion;
• Be able to ‘see the big picture’ without getting lost in technical detail or irrelevant information; while also being able to reflect nuance, complexity and specificity in proposed solutions;
• Bring a structured approach to problem-solving and an ability to create actionable project plans;
• Have social and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders and build consensus;
• Be strongly motivated by BII’s development mission.

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous
• Tenacious in the face of challenges
• Collaborative and caring

British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background.