Project Leader

Desired start: Flexible

Location: Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana & Zambia

Who we are

Open Capital Advisors is a management consulting and financial advisory firm that drives growth, enables investment, and builds markets across Africa. We help high-impact businesses achieve scale, support investors to deploy capital, and enable the public sector to drive market-based solutions.

Since we founded Open Capital in 2010, we have completed more than 800 engagements across 25 countries in Africa. Our clients have transformed local industries in agribusiness, off-grid energy, financial services, healthcare, and water & sanitation, among others.  We have closed over $700M in capital raises in Africa and are now leading design for a new generation of market-building mechanisms, including new investment vehicles, market accelerators, and more.

Our Africa-based team of 130+ offers experience from the world's top consultancies, private equity firms, investment banks, and development organizations including The Boston Consulting Group, Bain, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, IFC, and The World Bank. We currently have offices in Nairobi, Kampala, Lusaka, and Lagos and expect significant expansion in the coming years, both in terms of the geographies where we work as well the types of engagements we structure with our clients.

The Project Leader role

We have built a platform to drive change through African markets and are seeking exceptional team members to join us in a 2-year minimum career-track role based in Nairobi, Kampala, Accra, Lusaka or Lagos. During this time, you will work closely with senior management to lead multiple client projects while managing & mentoring our junior team.

As a Project Leader you will support multiple live projects simultaneously across a range of high-growth industries and client types. Project Leaders work closely with our clients to develop business & industry strategies, structure capital raises, and address difficult operational challenges. Our work does not end with recommendations; in most projects, Open Capital teams oversee execution and implementation, working with all levels of client staff.

You will join Open Capital at an exciting time – we are seeking to achieve broad, ambitious growth goals, and leverage our strong international brand in the impact investing and frontier market space. We are being called to solve challenges in many diverse frontier markets – from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa to Sierra Leone, Niger, and the DRC. The right candidate should be excited to take on a new level of responsibility and genuinely motivated by the challenging strategic and financial questions we answer for our clients.

Your skills and experience

We are looking for exceptional leaders and executers who share our motivation and drive. Project Leaders should feel comfortable leading multiple client projects, developing complex strategies and analyses, contributing fresh ideas, and feeling personally accountable for the impact we achieve. Our team is energetic and driven and we are quick to reward performance and initiative. We are open to a variety of backgrounds but top candidates will typically have the following:

•  5+ years of proven experience at a top global management consulting firm, investment firm, or experience as an entrepreneur or leader in a high-growth business, with significant responsibility for deliverables and client service;
• Strong communication skills and analytical abilities and insightful, structured way of presenting information;
• Ability to effectively work with clients at all levels and backgrounds;
• Interest in guiding teams and mentoring our analysts & junior team members;
• Demonstrated experience in emerging and interest working in emerging markets;
• Fluency in French language and previous Africa experience useful but not required;
• Desire to work and live in Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Accra or Lusaka for at least 2 years and a commitment to regional impact.

Compensation

We offer a competitive package among similar frontier market firms. This includes base salary, an annual performance bonus, and comprehensive health insurance coverage

How to apply

Please submit your application here.

We are recruiting for 2021 start dates on a rolling basis. Please note that due to volume of candidates, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Several recent clients

We highlight several recent client engagements below:

Strategy and finance for water utilities (Kenya, Senegal, South Africa)

Engaged in a Pan-Africa project supporting large water utilities to design strategies, increase efficiencies, and access additional commercial finance.

Goal: improve and extend water delivery to growing urban areas across Africa, contributing to solve the world’s coming drought problem; link commercial finance to sustainable expansion.

Strategy, roll-out, and financing for early-stage LPG business (Kenya)

Supported an early-stage company developing innovative cooking fuel distribution for low-income populations in Africa. Conducted analysis to define distribution hubs and fleet configuration; built detailed financial model; supported capital raise through completion.

Goal: enable company to disrupt the cooking fuels market, providing affordable option to the mass market.

Due diligence in Ethiopia for family-owned conglomerate (Ethiopia)

Conducted due diligence on potential investment in Ethiopia for large Kenyan FMCG conglomerate. Involved full commercial due diligence of assets in Ethiopia, including proposed strategies for acquisition and approaches to negotiation.

Goal: expand FMCG access to burgeoning Ethiopian population through strategic partnership between Kenya & Ethiopia.

Fund structuring & design for conflict country (East Africa)

Designed new investment fund for large European DFI, focused on a post-conflict country in East Africa. Proposed fund process, created fund financing strategy, evaluated initial pipeline, and designed PPM for launch of fundraising.

Goal: provide source of capital for high-growth businesses in challenging, post-conflict country.