Chief Investment Officer

Department:
Investment

Location:
South Africa

Description
Allied Talent Partners (ATP), a Three Cairns Group initiative, is a mission-driven, not-for-profit talent marketplace focused on solving the human capital bottlenecks slowing down sustainable development efforts in emerging economies, with an initial focus on Africa. ATP connects vetted, experienced, context-relevant professionals to high-impact opportunities in energy access and sustainable development – strengthening local capacity and fuelling economic vitality. We specialize in fixed-term, deliverable-driven engagements – from interim leadership and generalist projects to niche technical expertise – handling project scoping, talent vetting and matching, contracting, payroll, and compliance so that our clients can focus on impact.

High-Level Overview

Our client is looking for a Chief Investment Officer to lead deal execution, strengthen origination capacity, and guide disciplined portfolio growth within an infrastructure investment platform focused on PPP-linked assets, long-dated concessions, and annuity-style income streams across Southern Africa.

The CIO will operate within a clearly defined infrastructure mandate, ensuring investment activities align with established PPP structures, concession frameworks, and strategic parameters. At the same time, the role requires a commercially creative leader who can identify and shape adjacent annuity-generating opportunities across facilities management and related infrastructure services.

The ideal candidate brings strong knowledge of the regional infrastructure landscape, at least seven years of hands-on investment experience, a proven track record of originating and closing deals, and the ability to balance strategic insight with rigorous transaction execution.

Role and Responsibilities
Role:
Chief Investment Officer
Direct Report:
CEO
**Candidates Required: 1

Key Deliverables:

Capital Allocation & Portfolio Management**

• Translate the existing investment strategy, investment thesis, and portfolio construction guidelines into clear, actionable asset-allocation decisions.
• Determine capital deployment priorities, balancing risk, return, and impact objectives across sectors and geographies.
• Set deployment pacing and manage sequencing of investment opportunities to ensure optimal utilisation of capital.
• Monitor portfolio performance, including returns, risk exposures, concentration levels, and compliance with portfolio guidelines.
• Make rebalancing decisions when required, adjusting allocations in response to market conditions, performance trends, or strategic refinements.
• Provide regular portfolio analytics and insights to leadership and governance bodies (e.g., Investment Committee, Board).

Investment Origination

• Build and maintain a strong, high-quality pipeline of investable opportunities aligned with the client's mandate.
• Develop deep market and sector intelligence, tracking trends, regulatory developments, and emerging opportunities across Southern Africa.
• Cultivate strategic relationships with co-funders, developers, banks, advisors, and regulators to expand sourcing channels.

• Prioritise opportunities based on strategic fit, scalability, readiness, and expected risk-adjusted returns.

• Evaluation, Diligence & Deal Execution

• Conduct front-end evaluation of opportunities, including financial modelling, valuation, scenario analysis, and preliminary commercial assessment.

• Lead and coordinate full due diligence across technical, legal, ESG, regulatory, and commercial workstreams.
• Prepare and present investment cases, recommendations, and Investment Committee materials.
• Drive negotiation of commercial terms, transaction structuring, and execution through to deal close.
• Ensure investments are executed in alignment with asset-allocation decisions, risk management frameworks, and strategic objectives.

Governance, Processes & Capability Building

• Strengthen investment governance, including screening criteria, approval workflows, documentation standards, and reporting structures.
• Implement robust investment processes and systems that ensure consistency, quality, and compliance across the investment lifecycle.
• Build internal investment capability by developing the team's analytical, modelling, and execution competencies.
• Establish high-performance standards, workflows, and knowledge-sharing practices across the investment function.
• Foster a culture of disciplined investment decision-making and continuous improvement.

Requirements
Experience Required:

• 7+ years in infrastructure investing, PPPs, project finance, development finance, or private equity with an infrastructure focus.
• Demonstrated experience closing multiple long-duration infrastructure and PPP transactions, including origination, evaluation, due diligence, structuring, and execution.
• Strong origination capability with a proven ability to build, manage, and convert a pipeline.
• Experience managing junior team members and building investment execution capacity.
• Strong familiarity with the regional infrastructure landscape and its commercial, regulatory, and political drivers.
• Proven experience navigating government stakeholders, including National Treasury, regulators, municipalities, and SOEs.
• Knowledge of PPP deal structures, concession frameworks, payment mechanisms, and multi-year bid processes.
• Strong network across the infrastructure and PPP ecosystem, including developers, banks, DFIs, advisors, regulators, and co-funders.

Technical Requirements:

• Advanced academic qualification in finance, economics, business, or a related quantitative field.
• Strong capability in financial modelling, valuation, returns analysis, and scenario development.
• Familiarity with key due diligence components across legal, technical, ESG, regulatory, and commercial areas.
• Knowledge of PPP structures, concession frameworks, and infrastructure deal documentation.
• Knowledge of transaction structuring, term sheets, and core deal documentation.
• Understanding of risk frameworks, portfolio construction logic, and investment governance.
• Awareness of regulatory and compliance considerations relevant to investment transactions.
• High proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and financial analysis tools.

Other Skills:

• Strategic thinker with the ability to connect market insights, investor signals, and organisational priorities into clear engagement approaches.
• Strong leadership presence, able to influence decision-making and guide internal teams through complex or evolving workstreams.
• Confident communicator who can articulate nuanced concepts clearly to senior stakeholders, both internally and externally.
• Highly structured and analytical, with the ability to bring clarity, discipline, and prioritisation to ambiguous environments.
• Mature judgement and commercial intuition when assessing opportunities, shaping narratives, and navigating sensitive interactions.
• Effective relationship builder with credibility in senior investor and partner settings.
• Proactive and solutions-oriented, driving momentum, quality, and alignment across all workstreams.

**Working Arrangement

Location:
Johannesburg
Travel:
Limited to conferences and for business development
Terms of agreement:

Start Date:
April 2026
Contracting Period:**
48 months, to be extended