Associate, Portfolio and Investments - AVL

About Accion

Accion is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a fair and inclusive economy for the nearly two billion people who are failed by the global financial system. We develop and scale responsible digital financial solutions for small business owners, smallholder farmers, and women, so they can make informed decisions and improve their lives. Through targeted investment strategies, advisory solutions, and expert thought leadership, we work with local partners to develop and scale cheaper, more accessible, and customer-friendly financial solutions. Since 1961, Accion has helped build 267 financial service providers serving low-income clients in 75 countries, reaching 440 million people. More at https://www.accion.org.

About Accion Venture Lab

Accion Venture Lab is a leading early-stage investor in inclusive fintech, providing seed-first capital and strategic support to innovative startups that are meeting the financial needs of underserved people globally. Our global portfolio and local approach enable us to spot and respond to global trends faster, sharing learnings across geographies. Accion Venture Lab is an investment strategy of Accion and is managed by Accion Impact Management.

Position Summary

We are seeking an Associate to work across our investments team and our strategic portfolio support function (called Portfolio Engagement) and to be an active thought leader in our industry engagement efforts. The Associate's investment work will focus on supporting our global Investment Officers in evaluating and completing diligence on potential investments and supporting thesis development; additionally, they will take a leading role in shaping our investment and portfolio management activity in the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan region. This role will also involve working with the Portfolio Engagement team in providing post-investment support across our global portfolio of early stage fintechs, furthering the growth and success of our founders.

Beyond these two core areas, the Associate will support Venture Lab's thought leadership efforts and drive projects related to priority topics such as gender lens and inclusive investing, fund performance, fundraising, impact measurement, and more.

The Associate will be joining a diverse team of global investing and operational experts that have invested in over sixty-five early-stage fintech startups across five continents. The position will be based in Washington DC. S/he will report to the Operating Partner of Venture Lab and can expect to receive high-quality coaching, mentorship, and guidance as they build into a more effective and supportive professional in the impact-focused venture capital industry. Our Associate positions are intended for a pre-MBA young professional with aspirations of eventually becoming an operator in a fintech startup or senior investor.

The role is highly entrepreneurial, spanning emerging market venture investing, consulting, operations, and entrepreneurship, with a focus on cutting edge innovation in inclusive fintech. We are looking for someone available to start as soon as possible.

Position Responsibilities

Venture Investing: s upport investment activity in LATAM, Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, supporting regional investment leads' deal evaluation and diligence processes. Additionally, work alongside the Managing Partner in leading Accion Venture Lab's United States investment region, assessing new investment opportunities and development of investment theses for the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan region, including representing the fund during pitches from founders, completing prescreening analysis, conducting background research and financial modeling during diligence, managing deal transactions and managing portfolio relationships after investment.
• Strategic Portfolio Support: provide in-depth strategic and analytical support to Venture Lab portfolio companies globally. This will include engaging with the investment team and portfolio companies to identify challenges and barriers to growth faced by the businesses; developing and scoping projects to address the areas of need; and working with portfolio founders in-market globally to execute on the projects through internal and external research, analysis, development of recommendations, and co-creation with the companies. This will require travel to markets outside the US (Latin America, Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia).
• Industry Engagement: develop knowledge resources and thought leadership around other key investment topics (e.g., insurtech, embedded finance) as well as areas of operational needs for early-stage fintech companies (e.g. product development, credit policy). Identify best practices across the portfolio and methods of sharing across the inclusive fintech ecosystem. Document and share learnings across multiple mediums with key partners and ecosystem players. Support our impact focused workstream leads in knowledge gathering, grant partner engagement, and execution.
• Operational Support: assist with ongoing Venture Lab operations, including creation of Venture Lab presentations and reports, portfolio company tracking and monitoring. Support current and prospective Limited Partner engagement.

Position Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and at least 3 years of relevant experience across management consulting, venture capital, private equity, investment banking, and/or technology startups.
• Passion for entrepreneurship and market-based solutions to poverty.
• Strong research and analysis skills, including financial analytics.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, high performing team environment, and ability to work effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Outstanding relationship management skills and ability to earn the respect of Accion colleagues, investors and enterprises.
• Exceptional written and oral communication and presentation skills. Ability to communicate data and insights in a structured fashion to a wide variety of audiences.
• Advanced computer/web skills including Word/Excel/Powerpoint.
• Interested in Accion's mission and working globally.
• Alignment with and embodiment of our team values (see below).

Preferred

• Experience working in or with startups or growth-stage enterprises.
• Domain expertise in financial services and/or financial inclusion, particularly financial technology, payment systems, and/or innovative delivery models.
• Language skills beyond English; native, fluent, or conversational Arabic skills are a plus.

Travel Requirement

15% global travel.

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary Range: $75K - $85K
• The above salary range serves as a general guideline. Accion considers a number of factors when determining base salary offers such as the scope and responsibilities of the position and the candidate's experience, education, training, skills, location, current market conditions as well as internal pay alignment.
• Accion provides a total compensation package, including base salary, discretionary merit-based bonus, and a variety of benefits including health insurance (90% employer funded), life and disability insurance, retirement plans (up to 6% employer match), paid holidays and paid time-off for vacation plus personal days as well as sick days.

Accion is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace culture. Accion seeks qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, change of sex or transgender status, or any other basis protected by law. Accion is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities.