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About the Role

NEF is seeking an Enterprise Financing Specialist to execute and scale a global, decentralized enterprise financing platform. This hands-on role involves translating proven models into operating platforms, strengthening their practical application, and deploying them across markets through local partner networks. The position sits at the intersection of platform execution, product and fund structuring, channel design, fundraising, investor engagement, and delivery discipline.

Responsibilities

Translate NEF strategy into an operational global Enterprise Finance Platform model, workplan, and implementation approach.
Ensure Enterprise Finance Platform delivery is aligned with NEF’s institutional priorities, country strategies, and program objectives.
Embed Enterprise Finance Platform into NEF programs and operating structures.
Ensure Enterprise Finance Platform supports and strengthens country programs.
Monitor whether the platform is delivering practical value to NEF programs and contributing to financial sustainability, impact, and scale.
Lead execution of the Enterprise Finance Platform across countries and sub-funds or vehicles.
Oversee implementation of the platform operating model, including servicing, repayments, enterprise support, reporting flows, and execution standards.
Drive practical rollout of platform processes, tools, and ways of working.
Promote consolidation, shared delivery, and economies of scale across countries and functions.
Identify and resolve operational bottlenecks, delivery risks, and implementation gaps.
Oversee operational rollout and continuous improvement of digital systems and last-mile digital payment solutions.
Lead execution of platform structuring operationalization and product adaptation.
Operationalize innovative and non-traditional financing solutions.
Ensure proposed financing solutions are operationally practical, programmatically relevant, and adapted to country, partner, and market realities.
Oversee platform financial modelling for execution and planning.
Work closely with finance, credit, risk, compliance, and HQ and country teams to ensure structuring choices can be implemented and monitored effectively.
Oversee the structuring and operationalization of localized and decentralized delivery relationships through partner networks.
Continue to optimize how Enterprise Finance Platform should work through small last-mile actors, financial institutions, and other intermediaries.
Ensure local partner channels are selected, structured, supported, monitored, and scaled.
Support country teams in shaping country-specific partnership and channel arrangements.
Ensure decentralized delivery models preserve concessionally, inclusion, fairness, and program alignment.
Work with the Business Development and Program teams to deliver a coordinated fundraising, donor and investor engagement, and strategic partnership development for Enterprise Finance Platform.
Support the development of funding proposals, concept notes, due diligence processes, and related materials for innovative finance opportunities.
Build and manage relationships with funders, investors, guarantors, insurers, financial institutions, and other strategic partners.
Help expand Enterprise Finance Platform into new countries, channels, and financing arrangements.
Ensure business development efforts are integrated with NEF programming.
Provide technical advice for Enterprise Finance programs on the integration of non-financial enterprise support and market building services.
Offer technical advice for Enterprise Finance programs in areas related to delivering support to underserved groups and markets.
Maintain designed concessionally, deep reach and inclusion, and responsible financing and fairness as operating principles.
Track delivery performance and help ensure that financing and enterprise support contribute to stronger borrower outcomes, repayment performance, and program impact.
Provide day-to-day management and coordination for the Enterprise Finance Platform function and related workstreams.
Act as the principal management interface among the CPO, HQ and country teams, support functions, and any relevant fund or SPV structures.
Coordinate effectively with colleagues responsible for credit, risk, compliance, finance, reporting, and legal matters.
Escalate material operational, structural, funding, or performance issues through the agreed governance and oversight arrangements.
Uphold NEF’s values of localization, respect, inclusion, integrity, accountability, and learning.

Requirements

Commitment to NEF’s mission and a strong interest in locally led, impactful work in complex environments.
At least 7 years of relevant professional experience supporting SME finance, private sector development, or enterprise growth, preferably in low- and middle-income or conflict-affected settings.
At least 3 years of relevant professional experience in structuring, delivering, or managing enterprise finance, innovative finance, blended finance, impact investing, or related platforms.
Strong experience executing financing solutions and partnerships, preferably in development or fragile-context settings.
Experience with one or more of the following: debt facilities, revolving funds, guarantees, first-loss structures, outcomes-based finance, insurance-linked mechanisms, or partnerships with regulated financial institutions.
Demonstrated experience in fundraising, donor or investor engagement, proposal development, and due diligence processes.
Experience working across functions and geographies to operationalize complex initiatives and partner-based delivery models.
Excellent analytical, structuring, and problem-solving skills, including strong financial modelling capability.
Strong relationship management and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with internal teams, country colleagues, and external partners.
Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
Candidates must be legally authorized to live and work in the United Kingdom without company sponsorship now or in the future.
Experience working through partner networks, last-mile delivery actors, or financial institutions to channel financing in a decentralized manner.
Experience integrating financing tools into program delivery rather than operating them as stand-alone initiatives.
Knowledge of regulatory, compliance, and risk issues relevant to enterprise financing, innovative finance and cross-border operations.
Experience using participatory or co-creation approaches in program, product, or proposal development.
Familiarity with Salesforce, Excel, Word, Teams, and other tools used for coordination, reporting, and pipeline management.

Skills

Blended finance
Outcome-based instruments
Revolving funds
Evergreen funds
Guarantees
First-loss structures
Insurance-linked mechanisms
Partnerships with regulated financial institutions
Platform execution
Product structuring
Fund structuring
Channel design
Fundraising
Investor engagement
Delivery discipline
Financial modelling
Relationship management
Communication skills
Arabic
French
Salesforce
Excel
Word
Teams

Location

London, (UK)

Work Type

Full-time

Experience Level

7+ years of relevant professional experience
3+ years of relevant professional experience in structuring, delivering, or managing enterprise finance, innovative finance, blended finance, impact investing, or related platforms.

Education Level

Bachelor’s degree in finance, development finance, economics, business, international development, or a related field.
Advanced training in blended finance, impact investing, or related areas is an advantage.

About the Company

Since 1915, Near East Foundation (NEF) has worked across the Middle East, Africa, and the Caucasus to expand economic opportunity, strengthen resilience, and support recovery in underserved and crisis-affected markets.
Working through local teams, country offices, and partners, NEF combines deep field presence with practical, broad network of long-term partners, scalable approaches that support enterprise growth, livelihoods, and locally led development.
NEF’s global Enterprise Financing Platform pioneers and champions financing that reaches the last mile in fragile, crisis-affected, displacement-impacted as well as stable emerging but underserved markets.
It shifts power and decision-making closer to entrepreneurs, communities and local institutions and enables capital to be reused, recirculated and governed over time rather than being spent once and depleted.
This builds on NEF’s proven and emerging models including blended finance for SME growth in Syria, a development impact bond in Jordan, decentralized climate finance in Mali, decentralized cooperative financing funds in Sudan and South Sudan, enterprise climate incubation and financing in Morocco, social enterprise financing in Armenia and other facilities under implementation, fundraising or adaptation in markets like Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia and others.
NEF’s global Enterprise Financing Platform is designed to support NEF’s programs rather than operate as a parallel structure.
It should deliver value for money through consolidation, shared capacity, and economies of scale, while enabling country-specific investments and localized execution through partner networks, including small last-mile actors and financial institutions of different forms and sizes.
The platform is intended to build on approaches already tested by NEF and take them to greater scale, replicability, and operational maturity across countries and partners.
The Platform supports a highly diverse enterprise base across complex markets from missing-middle women entrepreneurs in Iraq, farmers in Sudan, displaced entrepreneurs in Syria, social enterprises in Armenia, youth-led start-ups in Morocco, climate-smart agribusinesses in Mali, and refugee entrepreneurs in Jordan with ticket sizes reaching up to USD 50,000.
In Syria alone, over the past five years, NEF has supported more than 6,000 enterprises through technical and ecosystem support alongside accessible revolving finance totaling around USD 9 million.

Equal Opportunity

The Near East Foundation promotes Equal Employment Opportunities for all applicants seeking employment and NEF employees.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.