Senior Vice President, Energy & Infrastructure Finance, Investment Banking

This senior leadership role within Investment Banking calls for a seasoned professional to steer the Energy & Infrastructure Finance Debt Solutions division. The opportunity sits within a prominent financial services group, a leader in its field with a significant African footprint and global presence. The company champions growth and value creation, fostering a purpose-driven environment for its employees. This position is based in Johannesburg and offers a chance to work with a diverse client base, from individuals to large multinational corporations, and to contribute to the continent's development.

The Opportunity in Energy & Infrastructure Finance

The core of this role revolves around leading and managing the delivery of debt solutions specifically for the Energy and Infrastructure sectors. You will be at the helm of a high-performing team, responsible for the entire lifecycle of client-centric debt solutions – from initial design and structuring through to successful implementation. A key objective is to ensure clients consistently receive an exceptional experience that aligns with the promises made during the origination phase.

Success in this position hinges on robust leadership, strategic foresight, and effective execution. The aim is to drive revenue growth in lending, foster deeper client relationships, and make a substantial contribution to the overall performance and strategic objectives of the business unit. This is a critical role for an individual who thrives on commercial drive and possesses a deep understanding of the complexities of energy and infrastructure finance.

Key Responsibilities and Strategic Focus

As the Senior Vice President, you will be instrumental in shaping and executing the lending business strategy within your domain. This involves:

• **Portfolio Growth and Strategic Execution:** Driving the expansion of the lending portfolio by implementing the defined business strategy, identifying data requirements, closely monitoring market trends, and pinpointing opportunities to enhance the Investment Banking pipeline. The ultimate goal is to increase revenue and solidify the bank’s position as the preferred lending partner.
• **Client Advisory and Engagement:** Acting as a trusted advisor to clients, collaborating closely with Coverage teams. You will provide expert insights, bespoke client advice, and innovative debt solutions tailored for the Energy and Infrastructure sectors. This includes leading client engagements and post-pitch activities to secure mandates and successfully close transactions.
• **Transaction Origination and Execution:** Spearheading the origination, negotiation, and execution of transactions. This involves managing deal teams, coordinating a wide array of internal and external stakeholders, negotiating commercial terms, and ensuring the successful end-to-end delivery of multiple transactions within your portfolio.
• **Financial Performance Management:** Owning the financial performance of the portfolio by managing deal revenue targets, monitoring financial outcomes against budgets, tracking overall portfolio performance, and proactively identifying potential risks, provisioning needs, and optimisation opportunities to maximise shareholder returns.
• **Risk and Balance Sheet Optimisation:** Actively managing portfolio risk and optimising the balance sheet. This entails monitoring pipeline activity, key risk metrics, and client exposures. You will collaborate with Coverage, Risk, and Distribution teams to ensure efficient capital allocation and sufficient balance sheet capacity to support business growth.
• **Solution Structuring and Quality Assurance:** Providing oversight for the structuring of solutions and ensuring deal quality. This includes reviewing and approving financial models, deal structures, term sheets, and solution recommendations, ensuring they align with client requirements and the bank's commercial, risk, and regulatory frameworks.
• **Governance and Compliance:** Overseeing internal approval processes, conducting thorough due diligence and integrity assessments, and ensuring strict adherence to all applicable risk, regulatory, and business control requirements across the entire portfolio.
• **Stakeholder Relationship Management:** Building and leveraging strategic stakeholder relationships. This involves developing robust internal and external networks that facilitate cross-selling opportunities, enhance market access, strengthen the bank's franchise, and support the delivery of leading debt solutions.
• **Team Leadership and Development:** Leading, developing, and inspiring high-performing teams. This includes allocating client portfolios, setting performance targets, providing consistent coaching and feedback, building team capabilities, and fostering a culture of leadership, diversity, inclusion, and high performance.
• **Market Insight and Thought Leadership:** Staying ahead of market developments by monitoring macroeconomic trends, industry shifts, client behaviours, and regulatory changes. You will generate actionable insights, oversee origination content, and contribute to the continuous enhancement of lending capabilities and client experience.

What You'll Bring

The ideal candidate will possess a Post Graduate Degree in Business Commerce and bring substantial experience to the role. Specifically, 8-10 years of experience in lending within the Energy & Infrastructure Investment Banking space is required. This should include a proven track record of concluding and leading debt solutions across a defined portfolio (product, sector, client, or country).

Essential experience includes complex debt structuring, with demonstrable deal expertise within the Energy and Infrastructure Finance domain. The ability to effectively lobby for support from Corporate Functions and collaborate with various product teams within a large banking organisation is crucial. Furthermore, experience in managing transformative changes within Debt Solutions in a dynamic macro client environment is highly valued.

Over 10 years of experience is needed in partnering with specialist risk areas to align with business risk management requirements, policies, and procedures, as well as in portfolio monitoring to manage risk and exposure. A strong understanding of and experience in interpreting relevant regulatory frameworks is also necessary, alongside advanced knowledge and experience in interpreting financial statements to understand business and portfolio profitability.

A proven ability to stay abreast of market and industry trends, coupled with providing thought leadership in Project Finance and Infrastructure (e.g., Power, Oil and Gas, Logistics) is paramount. Candidates must also demonstrate a proven ability to proactively build and maintain strong relationships with clients (at C-suite, shareholder, and board member levels) and external stakeholders. Key behavioural competencies include strong articulation and persuasion skills, strategic thinking, idea generation, analytical insight, people leadership, decision-making, and proactive engagement.

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In South Africa, senior roles in investment banking, particularly in specialised areas like Energy & Infrastructure Finance, typically command competitive remuneration packages. While specific figures vary widely based on experience, performance, and the size and scope of the institution, such positions are generally associated with substantial earning potential, often including significant bonuses tied to performance and deal origination. The primary employers for such roles are the major South African banks with established corporate and investment banking divisions, as well as international financial institutions with a presence in the country. Career progression often leads to broader regional leadership responsibilities or executive management roles within the financial services sector.

Qualification: Post Graduate Degree in Business Commerce

Experience Required
Lending - Energy & Infrastructure
Investment Banking
8-10 years
Concluding and leading Debt Solutions across a single portfolio i.e. product, sector, client or country. Complex debt structuring including deal expertise within Energy and Infrastructure Finance. Lobbying for support from Corporate Functions and collaborating with various product teams across a large bank. Managing disruptive transformation of Debt Solutions in an evolving macro client context.

8-10 years
Partnering specialist risk areas to align to business risk management requirements, policies and procedures Portfolio monitoring to manage risk and exposure. Working with and interpreting relevant regulatory frameworks. Advanced knowledge and experience in interpreting financial statements to adequately understand business and portfolio profitability

More than 10 years
Proven ability and experience in staying abreast with market and industry trends and providing thought leadership on Project Finance and Infrastructure (e.g. Power, Oil and Gas, Logistics) Proven ability and experience in proactively building and maintaining client (c-suite level, shareholders and board members) and external stakeholder relationships

Behavioural Competencies: 

• Articulating Information and Convincing People
• Developing Strategies and Generating Ideas
• Examining Information and Providing Insights
• Directing People and Empowering Individuals
• Understanding People and Upholding Standards
• Making Decisions and Seizing Opportunities

Technical Compeetencies:

• Deal Appraisal and Deal Negotiation
• Economic Research and Financial Analysis
• Local Market Knowledge and Economic Research
• Strategic Planning and Reporting and Financial Analysis
• Deal Appraisal, Deal Negotiation and Financial Analysis
• Local Market Knowledge and Strategic Planning and Reporting