Project & Business Development Assistant to strengthen the Middle East and North Africa portfolio in Fund Management and Finance

Do you want to work in a fast-paced environment on large, multi-million Euro projects in the developing world? Are you knowledgeable about the Middle East and North Africa, fluently speaking Arabic, French, and English? Do you see yourself as a driven, success-oriented person who is looking to grow and learn in the areas of business development and project management?

We are looking for a Project and Business Development Assistant in NIRAS International Consulting’s Fund Management & Finance team who has deep knowledge about MENA region and can help drive our portfolio’s growth in this area.

What we offer at NIRAS

This position offers the opportunity to jumpstart a strong career in development consulting. We offer individual mentorship, monthly trainings, and on-the-job learning across all aspects of the business. Further, you will have own responsibility for supporting the growth of the team’s portfolio in the MENA region, and will be given increasing responsibility for the management of these projects should this be successful. This is a position with real opportunity for growth and where you are treated as a full member of the team from day one.

Welcome to the Fund Management and Finance Department

The NIRAS Fund Management and Finance department is responsible for acquisition and management of a portfolio of projects in grant fund management, financial inclusion, capacity building of financial institutions (retail and DFI), and support to impact investment initiatives. Our distributed team, with a core presence in Copenhagen, Denmark and working in several of our other European offices, manages large grant funds and Technical Assistance projects across sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

Your new workday will include:

The successful candidate will spend their time supporting the team of Project and Bid Managers in a variety of capacities on projects currently under implementation, as well as in the acquisition of new business. Most importantly, you will have a focus on supporting project acquisition in the Middle East and North Africa. The specific tasks include:

Project management

• Administrative management of third party experts incl. timesheets and payments
• Budgetary and financial control of project incl. invoicing to client
• Logistics and team arrangements (travel, office set-up, etc.)
• Deliverable review, quality assurance (language, text, etc.), and reporting requirements
• Identification of replacement experts or team members, as required
• Contract management and contracting of external experts and partners
• Other project management related tasks as identified by the relevant Team Manager or Project Manager

Business development

• Research and analysis on market trends, client requirements, competition
• Research for specific tendering processes including data collection on local conditions, etc.
• Expert search and recruitment of experts for tenders
• CV tailoring and review, in collaboration with experts
• Identification and tailoring of references
• Editing, writing, language, and translation of texts in English, French, and Arabic

Team support tasks

• Analysis of Fund Management and Finance team portfolio performance
• Development of internal best-practise guidelines and documents synthesising available information
• Miscellaneous ad-hoc tasks as required

We are looking for applicants who possess:

• A Master's degree in International Business Development
• Experience or academic degrees in Business Administration, Finance, or Management (ideally a Bachelor’s degree in one of these fields; alternatively 1 year of experience working in a consultancy context on these topics)
• Minimum 1 year of experience in business development at a development consulting firm
• Minimum 1 year of working experience in North Africa
• The candidate must be fluent in English, French, and Arabic
• Preferably, familiarity with bilateral/multilateral donors and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) or Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).

Here we grow

Do you want to be part of a workplace where you grow both personally and professionally? A workplace where your skills are allowed to develop in a strong professional community and where your personal preferences and future dreams are always taken seriously? At NIRAS, we work to grow into a more sustainable future on the basis of good preparation. That is why we make sure that our employees grow with us. We do this through collaboration, knowledge sharing and creative solutions – do you want to grow with us?

Application

Please apply to the position directly on our website.

We are looking forward to hearing from you!