Division: CEO Office

Location: United Kingdom, London

Employment Type: Intern

Salary: £58, 135

Closing Date: 09 December 2022

Summer Intern, Corporate Strategy – CEO Office

Our mission and objectives

• British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. We invest with the aim of solving the biggest global development challenges by investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation.
• We have over 70 years of experience successfully supporting the sustainable, long-term growth of businesses in Africa and Asia, and have recently expanded to invest in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean.
• We invest to achieve impact and a financial return which is then reinvested for more impact. Over the past five years, we have committed almost £7 billion of new investments, with our net assets growing in value to approximately £7.5 billion. We are now invested in 1,200 businesses which directly employ over 900,000 workers and support many more. Over the next five years, we plan to grow further, and aim to commit around £9 billion of new investments over the period.
• Our new five-year strategy responds to the opportunities and challenges facing developing and emerging economies. To ensure our capital is used in the best way possible to meet these opportunities and challenges, it sets out three clear strategic objectives – to invest in productive, sustainable and inclusive development. These objectives mean an increased focus on climate finance, including investing in green infrastructure; on financing digital transformation; and on driving inclusive outcomes, including through gender and diversity finance.
• As part of our new strategy, we have changed our name to British International Investment (from 4 April 2022), to more accurately reflect our central role in the UK Government’s international financing offer.
• In the last few years, we have expanded our presence in Africa and Asia by opening new offices in Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan and Ghana; with additional locations opening soon.
• We take an entrepreneurial approach to investment. We think innovatively about ways to deploy our capital, attract, and mobilise other investors, and drive transformational impact.
• Deliver impact. We are a growing team of over 500 and place immense value on diversity within our organisation.
• Read more about us and the new strategy at bii.co.uk

Team and role overview

The Corporate Strategy Team sits at the centre of BII reporting into the CEO, and works across the firm from our Board and Management Committees to various internal teams. Our overall purpose is to design and support execution of core corporate strategy, to make BII a more strategic DFI and ultimately lead to greater impact​. We do this by developing and maintaining BII’s 5-year strategy, and supporting strategic thinking and change via the following three pillars of work on an ongoing basis:

• Corporate Planning & Performance – including 5-year strategy setting, annual corporate objectives setting and business planning, Quarterly CEO and Management reporting, and other strategy monitoring
• Business Innovation & Improvement – including incubating new capabilities and platforms, supporting business unit-level and organisational change, identifying execution issues and conducting business performance reviews, and supporting other teams’ engagement with Management and the Board
• Strategic Intelligence – including understanding long-term macrotrends, driving or coordinating our response to such emerging themes, internal and external knowledge exchanges, big-picture thinking about the role of BII as a DFI, and facilitation of strategic thinking for senior leadership

In sourcing our work, we both proactively design and execute projects, and also offer a flexible consulting capacity to the wider firm.

Purpose

The intern will play an integral role in BII’s small Corporate Strategy Team. They will have full exposure to the team experience and will lead or support 1-2 specific projects within the Strategy Team’s current portfolio of work.

Responsibilities

The intern’s project(s) will be agreed upon based on the preferences and experience of the successful candidate and the business needs, but responsibilities are likely to include:

• Scoping, designing, and executing strategic project(s)
• Engaging with relevant internal and/or external stakeholders at all levels in the firm
• Carrying out quantitative and/or qualitative research and analysis
• Creating power points, word docs, and other materials for the projects listed above
• Participating as a fully-fledged member of the Strategy Team in all internal team meetings, as well as team meetings with the CEO and Management

The candidate

Background, skills, aptitude

Background

• University degree or equivalent and currently enrolled in an MBA or equivalent programme
• Demonstrable business experience, preferably in Strategy Consulting, Impact Investing and/or Financial Services
• Demonstration of identity with BII’s proposition including:
• An awareness of and appreciation for BII’s objectives
• A desire and passion to be part of BII’s strategy and participate in its work
• Evidence of high-performance standards in previous positions

Skills

• Excellent problem-solving and research skills (qualitative and quantitative)
• Excellent ability to communicate and present complex ideas effectively, both verbally and in writing
• Clear understanding of international development issues and the role of development finance institutions
• High standards for project execution and delivery
• Ability to effectively manage stakeholders and build consensus at all levels in an organisation
• Ideally, experience in working in an investment firm or context

Aptitude

• Team Working: Collaboration with own team and the larger BII community
• Results Focus: Drive to achieve objectives/results
• Personal Effectiveness: Proactively takes initiative to carry out work and execute to agreed deadlines
• Influencing/Persuading: Ability to obtain agreement and cooperation in a ‘win-win’ fashion

Candidates should be strongly motivated by BII’s development mission and ideally demonstrate some commitment to development or social goals through previous executive or non-executive activity.

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous
• Tenacious in the face of challenges
• Collaborative and caring

British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background.

Application Process 

• Please provide a cover letter with your application, and tell us why you would like to join the Summer Internship at BII, and why you have chosen to apply for this business area / team
• Please apply for one internship only
• Position opened: 24^th October 2022
• Position closes: 9^th December 2022
• Salary: £58, 135 (pro-rated over 8 or 10 weeks)

Please note BII will pay for flights to London for those studying internationally