Investment Principal, Ventures

Location: Central America or Any Mercy Corps Office Location (Remote)

Position Status: Full-time, Regular

Salary Level:

• US: Starting salary for this role will be $76,800 to $91,200 USD commensurate on experience.
• Based on local benchmark for candidates outside of the United States.

Valid unrestricted work authorization in the country in which you will be based is required at the time of application for this position.

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. To do this, we know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have long term impact.

About Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV)

Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV) invests in and catalyzes venture-led solutions to increase the resilience of underserved individuals and communities. Founded in 2015 as the impact investing arm of Mercy Corps, we’ve supported 47 early-stage ventures to scale and raise over $400.4 million in follow-on capital and reach nearly 20 million end users with impactful products and services. Our portfolio is 48% female-founded and centers around resilience-building solutions in adaptive agriculture and food systems, inclusive fintech, and climate-smart technologies, so that those living in frontier markets can withstand disruption and plan for the future. Through capital and support, piloting new approaches, action-oriented insights, and rigorously managing impact, we catalyze the ecosystem toward smarter, more impactful investments.

Learn more at www.mercycorpsventures.vc

General Position Summary

The Investment Principal will join Mercy Corps Ventures’ growing investment team. They will play a critical role in building out our investment portfolio in Latin America according to our Resilient Future Thesis

The Investment Principal will be an integral member of the investment team and will lead all aspects of the investment process Central America and Mexico in close collaboration with the Managing Partner and other senior investment team members. They will be involved in the full investment lifecycle, from sourcing, due diligence, negotiations, and closing of seed and early stage direct investments. They will have the opportunity to take an active role on company boards and work closely with portfolio companies. They will be a proactive and natural networker, able to build a deep pipeline of investable opportunities, identify promising deals, and collaborate with our team and extensive roster of advisors to successfully close investments.

This is an opportunity to work in a highly entrepreneurial environment with team members who are passionate about identifying and collaborating with talented entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into reality. Individuals who would thrive in our environment demonstrate a strong work ethic, self-motivation, intellectual curiosity, emotional intelligence, and humility. They also take their work seriously but know how to have fun along the way. Moreover, they will be an unparalleled opportunity to co-create, foster, and scale the next generation of deeply impactful startups in some of the world’s most dynamic frontier markets.

We are growing significantly over the next 24 months, so there will be a variety of career growth paths for the Investment Principal within our family of funds.

Essential Responsibilities

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT (70%)

• Foster strong relationships and strategic partnerships with incubators, accelerators, peer investors and other ecosystem actors throughout MCV target geographies (particularly Central America and Mexico) and target sectors for the region (agtech, agrifoodtech, climate tech).
• Develop a deep and broad pipeline of potential investments that meet the MCV’s investment theses and criteria (>250 annually)
• Leverage MCV advisors, Mercy Corps experts & partners, and your own network to conduct diligence on potential investments
• In collaboration with the Managing Partner and Partner, lead investment structuring, negotiation, documentation, and execution
• Present investment opportunities to the Investment Committee for debate and approval
• Lead deal closing processes, including local legal due diligence, definitive document development, and any other regulatory requirements
• Support other investment team members in due diligence and investment opportunity decision making
• Represent Mercy Corps Ventures externally and serve on the MCV Team Investment Committee
• Build an unparalleled network of founders, co-investors, and advisors in target MCV investment markets
• Constantly contribute to, refine and co-own MCV’s investment thesis

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (30%)

• Maintain oversight and management of future portfolio companies. This entails strategic advisory, attending board meetings, and guiding MCV on how it can engage portfolio companies. This also includes acting as a voting or observer board member on behalf of portfolio companies as needed.
• Integrate with and influence investee boards and senior management of portfolio companies
• Provide strategic support to portfolio companies, such as input on strategic initiatives and strategies to grow and scale operations and clients
• Ensure all portfolio data is collected, analyzed and reported internally and externally

Supervisory Responsibility

No direct supervisory responsibilities, but will potentially be responsible for managing Fellows, consultants, interns and other junior analysts in due course.

Expected to maintain close working relationships with leaders in the Ventures team, and other senior level leaders within Mercy Corps and partner organizations

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Partner, Mercy Corps Ventures

Works Directly With: Mercy Corps Ventures team members; Mercy Corps field leadership and staff, partner organizations. Represents the agency to external audiences at events, meetings, and through written public pieces.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field
• 6+ years of business experience with a proven track record in early stage venture capital investing and/or impact investing in Latin America (Strong preference for candidates that have previously supported or led equity, debt, and quasi-equity impact investment deals)
• Fluent in written and spoken English and Spanish
• Primary domain expertise in agtech/agrifoodtech and/or climate tech (experience in fintech is a plus)
• Ideally, you’ve been building pioneering solutions in frontier markets at some point and maybe you’ve bounced around the ecosystem some so you’ve seen how VCs, angels, startups, and growth stage companies across multiple sectors and geographies work
• Unmatched network of contacts (investors, angels, accelerators, talent, startups)
• Hands-on operational experience as a founder or executive team member of a startup in an emerging market or challenging context a plus
• Track record (as an investor or management consultant) in providing advisory and technical support to companies in emerging markets a plus
• A team-oriented, “low-ego” individual who works collaboratively in a high-performance environment; just as comfortable strategizing in a boardroom with the C-level team of a startup as chatting with a smallholder farmer customer in Guatemala
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills – able to articulately craft an argument and defend a position

Success Factors

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in impact investing/venture capital and must be able to lead all aspects of new investments. A strong networker, this person will have well-established relationships with entrepreneurs, management teams, industry analysts, other investors and service providers that they utilize to proactively identify investment opportunities. They will have experience investing in and/or growing innovative companies in frontier markets and a demonstrated commitment to social impact. They will have the desire and ability to play an impactful role in a highly collaborative, dynamic, mission-driven, and team-oriented culture.

A superb communicator, this person is adept at synthesizing complex information and concepts and expressing them in approachable ways. The ideal candidate has a demonstrated passion for harnessing business and technology to solve challenges facing the world’s most vulnerable communities.