Innovation Manager at IDH - Sustainable Trade Initiative

Your role.

• As Innovation Manager (Investment), you will identify and develop inclusive investment strategies for Agri-SMEs by analysing financial data and market trends, with a focus on West African capital markets and smallholder agriculture.
• Within this role, you bridge strategic advisory, research, and knowledge sharing to enhance investment readiness and drive sustainable, commercially viable agricultural value chains under the cassava Youth Agripreneur Program.
• At the same time, the role will support the refinement and implementation of the Program’s learning and innovation agenda. You will lead or contribute to the development of knowledge products ranging from insights reports and blog entries to webinars and events.

The position is based in Lagos, Nigeria with regular travels to project sites spread across Nigeria.

Key responsibilities:

Investment Strategy & Advisory

• Conduct financial and market analysis to identify investment opportunities for agri-SMEs.
• Develop an investment readiness strategy to facilitate a stronger pipeline of investment ready SMEs from technical assistance projects
• Support SMEs in improving investment readiness and connect them with appropriate financial products and institutions, supporting in initial introductions, during negotiations and the piloting of value chain finance innovations
• Advise on business model innovations that enhance SME performance and impact.
• Analyse financial data and market trends to develop research and how the financial sector could contribute to more sustainable supply chains
• Develop an investment readiness strategy to facilitate a stronger pipeline of investment ready SMEs from technical assistance projects

Programmatic Learning & Innovation

• Support the design and implementation of the program’s learning and
• innovation agenda.
• Analyze project outputs and outcomes to extract actionable insights and learnings f or continuous improvement.
• Identify and research into innovations that enhances implementation and delivery of impact emerging from the program in order to enhance learning for replicability and scaling
• Develop knowledge products ranging from insight reports and blog entries to webinars and events relating to smallholder finance and inclusive business models in the context of investment as well as strategies f or improving productivity, competitiveness and commercialization
• Stay informed on global trends in agri-finance innovation and adaptive project management and share such knowledge f or program impact delivery.

Research & Knowledge Production

• Lead or contribute to the development of knowledge products (e.g., reports,
• blogs, webinars) on catalytic finance and inclusive investment.
• Generate insights to inform program strategy and sector-wide learning.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Collaborate with internal teams, SMEs, off-takers, traders, and investment
• professionals.
• Represent the program in relevant forums and contribute to global learning exchanges

What you bring.

• A minimum of Master's degree in finance, economics, or related field.
• Minimum 5 years in investment management, financial advisory, portfolio management, or development finance, preferably in agriculture or emerging markets.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to interpret complex financial data.
• Good understanding of (agricultural) supply chain sustainability with inclusive business models and smallholder agriculture.
• Good communicator and ability explain complex issues in a fact-based and simple way
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills in English. Additional languages are a plus.
• Professional certification in investment banking or related certification programs
• Deep understanding of capital markets and investment instruments in West Africa.
• Highly analytical yet a practical thinker
• Ability to digest large of amounts of information and data in a short time to quickly get to the most relevant and strategic insights
• Good advisory skills and able to share expertise and feedback in a compelling and influential manner, both verbally and in writing