Associate – Gender & Diversity Finance (12 month FTC)

About BII
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
3 key development objectives: Productive | Sustainable | Inclusive
Team and role overview
As a development finance institution, BII has a dual mandate to create both investment and development impact. In the context of BIIs new 2026-31 five-year strategy, BII has prioritised promoting gender equality and increased representation of women in our portfolio at all levels as well as Black ownership and leadership in our investments in sub-Saharan Africa. We approach our Gender & Diversity lens investing by focusing on three pathways:
Mainstreaming consideration of diversity elements as a core factor in investment decision-making and portfolio management
Originating with a gender and diversity lens to intentionally target our capital to enterprising, financial institutions and funds that meaningfully support women and black African business leaders.
Value creation across our portfolio by partnering with our investees to make changes to improve gender balance and diverse representation across the business.
Purpose
This job description relates to the duties, tasks and responsibilities of the Gender & Diversity Finance Associate position – the weighting of which may change over time. These will vary to some extent depending on activities and evolving priorities across the Gender & Diversity Finance team and will, of necessity, remain flexible as workplans evolve. The ideal candidate will be a self-starter who is highly collaborative and a good communicator, with strong analytical skills and high attention to detail. The candidate will have a demonstrated interested in gender and diversity finance, and how the private sector can drive impact across these themes in BII’s markets and portfolio. The candidate will ideally come from a commercial or development background with expertise across gender, finance/business and sustainability more broadly.
Responsibilities
Supporting the implementation of BII’s Gender & Diversity strategy and executing cross-cutting projects will involve working closely with both investment and impact teams. This role will focus on working with the Financial Services team, working across debt, equity, trade finance, and fund products.
Due diligence and analysis:
Conduct assessments of pipeline investments for gender and diversity finance gaps and opportunities using the 2X criteria and BOLD framework
Engaging with investees to understand and influence their approach to gender and diversity
Coordinating assessment across the relevant investment and impact teams
Contributing findings into investment proposals and presenting the G&D case in investment committees
Ensuring proper data and documentation is saved and stored and the required pre-investment steps are taken
Keeping up-to-date with deal flow and deal management databases for transactions covered by FSG
Portfolio management and value creation:
Leading on reporting and analytics for G&D investments in pipeline and portfolio
Working across the Impact Group teams (Development Impact, Responsible Investing, Climate, and BII Plus) to deliver on value creation projects
Working with FSG Plus team to support identification and implementation of G&D focused technical assistance projects
Supporting design and implementation of G&D-related technical assistance projects with investees
Supporting monitoring and management of G&D impact data of investees
Market-shaping:
Contributing to G&D-focused research, case studies and development of tools and resources
Attending and participating in key industry and knowledge-sharing events
Engaging with key stakeholders and G&D strategic partnerships including 2X Global, FCDO, peer group DFIs, gender advisors
Supporting internal and external communications related to G&D
The candidate
Background, skills, aptitude
The ideal candidate will have all or a good selection of the following:
Demonstrated interest in gender-smart investing and gender equality and women’s economic empowerment through a private sector lens
Strong business, investment and sustainability acumen with the ability to quickly grasp varying investment and business models
Previous experience working in international development or emerging markets or demonstrable knowledge working within local contexts and having cultural sensitivity
Excellent research and analytical skills and comfort with basic financial modelling and data analysis using Excel
Strong communicator with ability to structure and report findings in a coherent and practical way
Ability to deliver high quality work, with close attention to detail, within tight timelines
Technical competencies
The ideal candidate will have all or a good selection of the following:
Experience in delivering G&D impact in developing countries and emerging markets
Experience in impact investing and working with development finance institutions
Familiarity with different investment products, including Funds, Debt, Equity and alternative asset classes; as well as BII’s priority sectors
Experience in providing direct transaction support, including pre-investment inputs (e.g. screening deals for gender impact, undertaking gender due-diligence, etc) and post-investment capacity building (e.g. value creation work with investees)
Advanced degree or comparable experience in the domain of development impact/gender studies/social science or business (e.g. MBA, CFA, ACA or similar)
Advanced MS office: Excel, PowerPoint, Word, SharePoint
Understanding of the 2X Criteria / 2X Challenge / 2X Global
Proficiency in French is a plus
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. Please provide a cover letter with your application