Non Executive Directorships

British International Investment – Non-Executive Director

Location: Various

Date Posted: 01/07/2023

Closing Date: 25/07/2023

£22,000 pa part time

About the role

Introduction from the Secretary of State

Dear Candidate

Thank you for your interest in joining the Board of British International Investment plc (BII). BII is one of the most exciting and ambitious organisations at the heart of the UK Government’s International Development Strategy, where you’ll make a real and lasting difference to people’s lives in Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific.

2023 marks 75 years since BII was established, making it the world’s first impact investor with over three quarters of a century of experience supporting the sustainable, long-term growth of businesses across Africa and South Asia. The successful candidate will be joining an impact-led organisation of over 600 people across 12 countries driving productive, sustainable, and inclusive growth globally.

The private sector is the engine of development globally, and BII is at the heart of this mission. We know that private investors are often reluctant to invest in some of the poorest economies, who are the most vulnerable to economic and climate shocks. That is why BII is so critical: backed by government, BII can take more risk to crowd in private investors to unlock growth and poverty reduction.

BII is a leader amongst development finance institutions globally deploying pioneering and patient capital, investing in places with the highest development needs and with the riskiest part of the capital structure. BII now supports businesses that employ almost 1 million people in developing countries, and that have paid £10 billion in taxes over the last 5 years. For example, BII’s $180 million investment in Liquid Telecom will expand broadband connectivity across Africa, connecting Cape Town to Cairo, and expanding into countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. By providing vital enabling infrastructure, this investment has the potential to be truly transformational for people right across the continent.

BII is building on its track record to focus even more on climate finance, with a commitment to make at least 30% of its investments in climate finance between 2022-26. Through this investment, BII help transform developing economies to reduce emissions, protect the environment and adapt to the changing climate.

As part of this, BII is also expanding its climate finance offer to the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean. In these markets, there are significant opportunities for BII to play a unique role in decarbonising and strengthening the power sector and supporting early-stage climate innovation.

I am determined that BII should continue to play a leadership role in the development and climate finance community. BII is an organisation with such a rich history and long commitment to supporting development around the world. None of what we do would be possible without the commitment of its employees who come to work every day striving to make a difference.

As the UK’s development finance institution, BII operates as a plc with an independent Board, in which the successful candidate will play an important part. You will join a Board of highly engaged and committed individuals who are equally ambitious for the organisation and its employees.

If you believe you have the experience and qualities we are seeking, we very much look forward to hearing from you.

Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, Minister of State (Development and Africa)

Introduction from the Chair

Dear Candidate

Thank you for your interest in joining the Board of British International Investment plc (BII). It is a huge privilege to lead one of the most exciting and ambitious organisations at the heart of the UK Government’s development agenda.

BII’s role is an important one, and a key part of the UK’s international development offer. Our work involves investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation. And we will help to alleviate poverty by building productive, sustainable, and inclusive economic outcomes for those that need fair and transparent investment the most.

The successful candidate will be joining an organisation that is recognised as being at the forefront of private sector development policy and action. BII has been investing for impact for 75 years – founded in 1948 with the mandate to “do good without losing money”. Over the years, we have formed strong partnerships with thousands of ambitious businesses to create positive social and economic outcomes for the countries in which we operate. BII’s job is to go to difficult places, take risks others would not take, and focus on achieving real development outcomes to do our part to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under our current strategy there is a tremendous opportunity for us to demonstrate how a development finance institution can consistently lead and advise on development objectives which address climate and social imperatives in the countries which we work closely.

I am proud to lead an expert, motivated and committed Board, supported by a strong management team, and a mission-driven organisation. We are delighted that you have shown an interest in joining us.

Diana Layfield, BII Chair

Role description

The FCDO is looking to appoint a new Non-Executive Director, with the seniority and calibre to enhance the experience and perspectives of the current Board. This is an appointment made by the company’s Shareholder, FCDO, and is subject to the requirements of the Governance Code on Public Appointments published by the Cabinet Office and regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

The principal activities will be to provide insightful guidance and advice to the BII Group Board with regard to:

High level oversight and challenge of BII’s investment activities associated with private equity, funds and corporate debt;
High level oversight and constructive challenge of portfolio management and value creation advancing the strategic objectives of the firm; and
Sharing experience and market knowledge as appropriate to further BII’s development and climate aims.

The appointment is a certified individual under the new SMCR and thereafter requires annual Board and Shareholder approval at each AGM.

Organisation description

A development-focused mission is at the heart of what we do.

We are the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor with a mission to help solve the biggest global development challenges by investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation.

We invest to create more productive, sustainable and inclusive economies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, enabling people in those countries to build better lives for themselves and their communities.

We invest between £1.5 and £2 billion every year in green infrastructure, technology and other sectors that need our capital the most.

We currently partner with over 1,000 businesses in emerging economies, and we have total assets of £7.7 billion. We work with our investee partners to support them to succeed and grow impactful businesses.

We are at the heart of the UK Government’s international financing offer to emerging economies. That includes building partnerships with British businesses that operate in developing and emerging economies and who share our aims.

We are a key partner to emerging economies that are most vulnerable to the climate emergency. Over the next five years, at least 30 per cent of our total new commitments will be in climate finance, making us one of the world’s largest such investors in Africa.

Further information about BII can be found here.

What Impact means to us

Impact is at the heart of what we do. We focus on three strategic objectives: to support productive, sustainable and inclusive development. We’ve developed a world-class impact management approach to help us do this.

We aim to maximise our impact through everything we do. This includes clearly setting out what we want to achieve, managing impact across the whole portfolio, and through every step of an investment. Our process starts when we’re deciding whether to make an investment, it continues as we monitor its progress, and finishes when we exit the investment responsibly. And through each investment, we are continually learning from what we do. This overall approach ensures that we meet the Operating Principles for Impact Management, the international standard for impact management, of which we are a founding signatory.

Further information can be found here.

Corporate Governance

Our only shareholder is the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). We are proud to be owned entirely by the UK Government. Our unique structure combines the best of private sector skills with a public-spirited mission.

FCDO has an arms-length governance model for its shareholding in British International Investment. This mirrors best practice in the private sector and is tailored to the needs of a public limited company wholly owned by the UK Government.

BII is proud to have a highly collegiate and collaborative Board, with a diverse range of experience and expertise. Our Chair, Diana Layfield, leads the Board which is comprised of executive and non-executive directors. The non-executive directors on our Board are people with private sector expertise, knowledge of Africa and South Asia, and development experience. They each add to the skills of our executive team. Our CEO, Nick O’Donohoe, and CFO, Carolyn Sims, are also

members of the Board. The successful candidate will join the Chair and one other Non-Executive Director, Chris Woodruff, as the FCDO appointed members of the Board.

The Board’s areas of responsibility include establishing the vision, mission, and values for the organisation; approving the strategy proposed by the Executive Committee and monitoring its implementation; and being accountable to and reporting to the shareholder and relevant stakeholders.

Find out more about our Board here

Board composition

Andrew Alli, Non-Executive Director
Carolyn Sims, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Chris Woodruff, Non-executive Director
Diana Layfield, Chair
Dolika Banda, Non-executive Director
Kathryn Matthews, Non-executive Director to the Board and Chair of the Risk Commitee
Krishnakumar Natarajan, Non-executive Director
Laurie Spengler, Non-executive Director
Nick O’Donohoe, Chief Executive Officer
Simon Rowlands, Non-executive Director

Regulation of appointment

This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner’s website

Person specification

Essential criteria

Knowledge of, and experience in climate finance in developing markets
Applied experience of structuring transactions in order to support either direct capital mobilisation and/or promote investment into some of the hardest to reach markets and sectors.
Experience of having led, as senior executive, partner or member of senior leadership team, a significant commercial organisation through change and growth.

Desirable criteria

Experience of BII’s markets and in particular SE Asia markets.
Experience of Adaptation and Resilience investing and/ or the use of disruptive technologies to promote development and climate objectives.
Applied experience of structuring complex deals, especially multi-party transactions involving different types of investors, preferably with an emerging markets exposure. Experience of deploying blended finance to de-risk deals would also be interesting.
In-depth knowledge of the regulatory environment that BII, as a public limited company, operates in; understanding of the operating model implications, including tensions, and skills required to execute in pursuit of impact within regulatory constraints.

Apply here

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Other Positions Available:

5 x NED’s for SRUC (Scotland’s Enterprise University)

Location: Scotland

Date Posted: 01/12/2023

Closing Date: 15/01/2024