Chief Investment Officer Department: Investment Employment Type: Contract / Temp Location: South Africa Reporting To: CEO Description
Allied Talent Partners (ATP), a Three Cairns Group initiative, is a mission-driven, not-for-profit talent marketplace focused on solving the human capital bottlenecks slowing down sustainable development efforts in emerging economies, with an initial focus on Africa. ATP connects vetted, experienced, context-relevant professionals to high-impact opportunities in energy access and sustainable development – strengthening local capacity and fuelling economic vitality. We specialize in fixed-term, deliverable-driven engagements – from interim leadership and generalist projects to niche technical expertise – handling project scoping, talent vetting and matching, contracting, payroll, and compliance so that our clients can focus on impact.
High-Level Overview Our client is looking for a Chief Investment Officer to lead deal execution, strengthen origination capacity, and guide disciplined portfolio growth within an infrastructure investment platform focused on PPP-linked assets, long-dated concessions, and annuity-style income streams across Southern Africa. The CIO will operate within a clearly defined infrastructure mandate, ensuring investment activities align with established PPP structures, concession frameworks, and strategic parameters. At the same time, the role requires a commercially creative leader who can identify and shape adjacent annuity-generating opportunities across facilities management and related infrastructure services. The ideal candidate brings strong knowledge of the regional infrastructure landscape, at least seven years of hands-on investment experience, a proven track record of originating and closing deals, and the ability to balance strategic insight with rigorous transaction execution. Role and Responsibilities
Role: Chief Investment Officer Direct Report: CEO Candidates Required: 1 Key Deliverables: Capital Allocation & Portfolio Management Translate the existing investment strategy, investment thesis, and portfolio construction guidelines into clear, actionable asset-allocation decisions. Determine capital deployment priorities, balancing risk, return, and impact objectives across sectors and geographies. Set deployment pacing and manage sequencing of investment opportunities to ensure optimal utilisation of capital. Monitor portfolio performance, including returns, risk exposures, concentration levels, and compliance with portfolio guidelines. Make rebalancing decisions when required, adjusting allocations in response to market conditions, performance trends, or strategic refinements. Provide regular portfolio analytics and insights to leadership and governance bodies (e.g., Investment Committee, Board).
Investment Origination Build and maintain a strong, high-quality pipeline of investable opportunities aligned with the client's mandate. Develop deep market and sector intelligence, tracking trends, regulatory developments, and emerging opportunities across Southern Africa. Cultivate strategic relationships with co-funders, developers, banks, advisors, and regulators to expand sourcing channels. Prioritise opportunities based on strategic fit, scalability, readiness, and expected risk-adjusted returns. Evaluation, Diligence & Deal Execution Conduct front-end evaluation of opportunities, including financial modelling, valuation, scenario analysis, and preliminary commercial assessment. Lead and coordinate full due diligence across technical, legal, ESG, regulatory, and commercial workstreams. Prepare and present investment cases, recommendations, and Investment Committee materials. Drive negotiation of commercial terms, transaction structuring, and execution through to deal close. Ensure investments are executed in alignment with asset-allocation decisions, risk management frameworks, and strategic objectives.
Governance, Processes & Capability Building Strengthen investment governance, including screening criteria, approval workflows, documentation standards, and reporting structures. Implement robust investment processes and systems that ensure consistency, quality, and compliance across the investment lifecycle. Build internal investment capability by developing the team's analytical, modelling, and execution competencies. Establish high-performance standards, workflows, and knowledge-sharing practices across the investment function. Foster a culture of disciplined investment decision-making and continuous improvement. Requirements
Experience Required:7+ years in infrastructure investing, PPPs, project finance, development finance, or private equity with an infrastructure focus. Demonstrated experience closing multiple long-duration infrastructure and PPP transactions, including origination, evaluation, due diligence, structuring, and execution. Strong origination capability with a proven ability to build, manage, and convert a pipeline. Experience managing junior team members and building investment execution capacity. Strong familiarity with the regional infrastructure landscape and its commercial, regulatory, and political drivers. Proven experience navigating government stakeholders, including National Treasury, regulators, municipalities, and SOEs. Knowledge of PPP deal structures, concession frameworks, payment mechanisms, and multi-year bid processes. Strong network across the infrastructure and PPP ecosystem, including developers, banks, DFIs, advisors, regulators, and co-funders.
Technical Requirements: Advanced academic qualification in finance, economics, business, or a related quantitative field. Strong capability in financial modelling, valuation, returns analysis, and scenario development. Familiarity with key due diligence components across legal, technical, ESG, regulatory, and commercial areas. Knowledge of PPP structures, concession frameworks, and infrastructure deal documentation. Knowledge of transaction structuring, term sheets, and core deal documentation. Understanding of risk frameworks, portfolio construction logic, and investment governance. Awareness of regulatory and compliance considerations relevant to investment transactions. High proficiency in Excel, Power Point, and financial analysis tools.
Other Skills: Strategic thinker with the ability to connect market insights, investor signals, and organisational priorities into clear engagement approaches. Strong leadership presence, able to influence decision-making and guide internal teams through complex or evolving workstreams. Confident communicator who can articulate nuanced concepts clearly to senior stakeholders, both internally and externally. Highly structured and analytical, with the ability to bring clarity, discipline, and prioritisation to ambiguous environments. Mature judgement and commercial intuition when assessing opportunities, shaping narratives, and navigating sensitive interactions. Effective relationship builder with credibility in senior investor and partner settings. Proactive and solutions-oriented, driving momentum, quality, and alignment across all workstreams.
