Programme Manager – Investment Platform Development

Background
The African Climate Foundation (ACF) is the first and only African-led climate change re-granting organisation on the continent. Through a combination of grant making, fellowships, transformational research, technical assistance, coalition building and advocacy the ACF seeks to support interventions at the nexus of climate change, and development that have the greatest potential to deliver long-term socio-economic transformation and inclusive development. ACF also provides Fiscal Hosting (also called Fiscal Sponsorship) services to support emerging and mission aligned organisations and initiatives.

Purpose
ACF works across interconnected thematic areas to help unlock systems-level change and strengthen Africa’s voice in global climate and development processes. Through its Sustainable Finance Programme, ACF supports efforts to strengthen the financial systems, institutions, and policy frameworks required to mobilise and deploy capital for Africa’s climate and development priorities. This includes work on investment platforms, public finance systems, debt and macro-fiscal resilience, domestic capital markets, and global financial architecture reform.

A core workstream within ACF’s Sustainable Finance Programme is its investment platform work. This spans national country platforms, sub-national investment platforms, and community investment platforms, reflecting the full range of climate finance delivery systems ACF supports. These platforms are intended to help governments and partners at all levels translate climate and development priorities into credible, investable, and implementable financing pathways by strengthening coordination across policy, institutions, and finance. Through this work, ACF supports governments and partners to address key bottlenecks related to investment coordination, project preparation, financing strategies, and institutional capability. ACF’s approach is collaborative and ecosystem-driven, working across governments, development finance institutions, technical partners, and regional initiatives to strengthen country-led investment delivery systems.

To support this growing portfolio, ACF is recruiting a Programme Manager: Investment Platform Development. This role sits within ACF’s Programmes team, reporting to the Advisor Sustainable Finance. It is a technical support function and does not lead ACF’s country programmes directly. That responsibility sits with dedicated country teams and Country Managers. The Programme Manager will serve as a dedicated technical resource to ACF’s country teams and Country Managers, providing backstopping and technical support on platform design, financing strategy, and investment coordination. The role may also initiate new country or platform engagements, seeding and scoping new opportunities before dedicated country teams or programmes are established. Rather than leading country portfolios directly, the role will focus on the technical architecture, institutional design, financing coordination, investment mobilisation, and systems-strengthening dimensions of national, sub-national, and community investment platforms. This includes supporting governments and partners to strengthen investment coordination systems, financing pathways, project preparation ecosystems, and institutional arrangements required to translate climate and development priorities into credible and investable programmes.

Responsibilities include but not limited to:

Technical Support and Systems Strengthening:

• Support implementation of ACF’s Sustainable Finance Strategy across its priority pillars and workstreams.
  Support governments and partners to identify bottlenecks related to investment coordination, financing readiness, institutional capability, and delivery systems.
• Provide technical support across national country platforms, sub-national investment platforms, and community investment platforms, adapting approaches to the relevant scale and institutional context.
• Help shape technical approaches related to country investment platforms, financing coordination mechanisms, project preparation ecosystems, and climate finance governance arrangements.
• Coordinate and manage technical assistance processes linked to investment platform development, including engagement with consultants, technical experts, development finance institutions, and research partners.
• Contribute to the development of practical and context-specific approaches to investment platform design, recognising differing political economy realities, institutional capacities, and financing landscapes across countries.
• Scope and initiate new country or platform engagements, providing early-stage technical groundwork and investment readiness support before dedicated country teams or programmes are established.
• Support learning and knowledge exchange across investment platform engagements to strengthen peer learning and institutional capability development.
• Lead engagement/collaboration with partners working on investment platforms.

Strategic Leadership and Programme Delivery:

•  Support the design and operationalisation of ACF’s investment platform approach across priority countries and geographies, ensuring alignment with ACF’s Sustainable Finance Strategy and broader organisational priorities.
• Support governments and national and subnational stakeholders to establish or strengthen investment platforms that align policy priorities, financing strategies, and delivery systems.
• Guide the development of investment pipelines, including support to project preparation systems, prioritisation frameworks, and coordination mechanisms.
• Oversee the design and delivery of ACF support to investment platforms, including technical assistance, grant-making, and partner coordination.
• Work in close coordination with ACF country teams and Country Managers, ensuring this role provides additive technical support rather than duplicating or cutting across country programme leadership.
• Ensure coherence between platform-level engagements and ACF’s broader work on macro-fiscal systems, capital market development, and global financial architecture.
• Lead periodic reviews of investment platform engagements, ensuring adaptive learning and continuous improvement.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager to track outcomes related to investment mobilisation, institutional strengthening, and policy impact.

Grant-Making:

• Identify and engage strategic partners, including governments, technical institutions, and implementation partners.
• Oversee grant development, performance management, and reporting.
• Ensure that grants contribute to building durable institutional capability and credible investment pipelines, rather than one-off outputs.

Stakeholder Engagements and Partnerships:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with senior government stakeholders, and key public institutions involved in planning, financing, and delivering climate and development priorities at national and subnational levels.
• Engage and collaborate with strategic regional and global partners working at the intersection of climate, public finance, and investment coordination, including initiatives such as the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, the Country Platform Hub, and other relevant platforms.
• Support coordination across development partners, financial institutions, and technical actors to strengthen alignment around investment platform design, investment pipelines, and financing strategies.
• Conduct stakeholder mapping and engagement to identify and cultivate partnerships that enhance the effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of investment platform approaches.

Fundraising and Donor Management

• Support fundraising for investment platform work, including identifying funding opportunities, engaging with donors, and contributing to proposal development.
• Help position investment platform engagements as a core component of ACF’s value proposition to funders.
  

Thought Leadership:

• Lead ACF’s thought leadership on investment platforms, investment mobilisation, and sustainable finance.
• Support the development of knowledge products, case studies, and policy insights based on platform engagements.
• Represent ACF in relevant national, regional, and international fora.
• Work closely with the Communications Team to ensure effective dissemination of insights and results.

Requirements include but are not limited to:

• Master’s degree in Economics, Finance, Public Policy, International Development, Climate Finance, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years progressive experience working in climate and development finance, or investment-related roles in Africa.
• Strong understanding of investment platforms at national, sub-national, and community levels, climate finance coordination mechanisms, sovereign financing ecosystems, investment coordination structures, and blended finance approaches, particularly within African climate and development contexts.
• Experience supporting technical advisory processes, institutional reform initiatives, or systems-strengthening programmes involving Ministries of Finance, planning institutions, development finance institutions, or investment coordination platforms.
• Experience working on sovereign financing mechanisms, public investment systems, climate finance architecture, or investment mobilisation frameworks in African contexts.
• Strong understanding of how public finance systems, development finance institutions, capital markets, and private finance interact within country financing ecosystems.
• Experience supporting governments or institutions on investment pipeline development, financing strategies, project preparation systems, or public-private financing coordination.
• Experience engaging with development finance institutions, financial institutions, or investment platforms.
• Strong programme and partnership management experience, including management of complex portfolios, grants, consultants, and multi-partner initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in a technical support and advisory capacity, working alongside and in support of programme leads and country.
• Strong strategic thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to navigate complex institutional and political environments.
• Excellent writing, reporting, communication, and presentation skills, including the ability to communicate complex technical and policy issues clearly to different audiences.
• High levels of integrity, professionalism, and commitment to development impact.
• Fluency in English is required. Proficiency in French would be a strong advantage.

Start date: Position available immediately. 
Contract duration: 12 months (renewable based on mutual agreement).
Location: ACF’s operational hub is in Cape Town, South Africa. Remote working will be considered for candidates based on the African continent.
Closing date: 05 July 2026.

For further information about the ACF, visit www.africanclimatefoundation.org. 

Should you not hear back from us by 30 September 2026, please consider your application to be unsuccessful.

The ACF strives to be an equitable organisation with a team which reflects the diversity of Africa. 
In compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), The ACF assures all applicants that any personal information provided during the recruitment process will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and used solely for recruitment purposes. Your privacy and data security are of paramount importance to us. By applying for this position, you consent to the collection, processing, and storage of your personal information for recruitment-related activities only. The ACF is committed to safeguarding your privacy and maintaining the trust you place in us.