Industry Analyst - Tourism and Retail

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2023, IFC committed a record US$43.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

IFC’s Tourism, Retail and Property (TRP) team sits within the Health Education and Services Department. The TRP sector’s business has been growing significantly. IFC has played a key role in supporting these sectors in developing countries and particularly during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The team works with a wide range of investment products, from project and corporate finance on the debt side, to equity and quasi-equity in private and listed companies. In addition, the team also supports development and deployment of relevant advisory and upstream tools to strengthen private sector’s capability and development impact and catalyze further investment in sectors in the emerging markets.

To support the growth of this business, IFC is seeking a dynamic and driven Industry Analyst covering on Tourism, Retail, and Property, with a focus on Tourism and Retail. The selected candidate will be based in Washington, D.C. and will work under the supervision of the Global Sector Manager. The position has a global focus and travel may be required depending on business needs. The Industry Analyst will have a two-year term contract extendable to a maximum of five years.

Duties & Accountabilities

The role and responsibilities of the position will include but not be limited to the following:

Due Diligence and Project Processing:

•  Work alongside Industry Specialists throughout the project lifecycle, including project screening, due diligence, appraisal, industry specialist report preparation and approvals;
•  Support assessment of the technical and commercial feasibility of potential projects and companies that are seeking an investment from IFC, including analysis of the business model (e.g. strategy, vision, mission), market (e.g. analyze existing and proposed supply dynamics, opportunities, and threats, competitive landscape), management (e.g. strengths and weaknesses, experience) and operations (e.g. investigate and evaluate key operating KPIs);
•  Conduct market research, data analysis, and benchmarking; clearly communicate analysis in narrative and presentation formats;
•  Support the Industry Specialists in industry report and document preparation for internal and external audiences;
•  Form relationships with counterparts and participate in client engagement to exchange information needed for transaction processing and/or portfolio supervision;
•  Support the Industry Specialists in developing assumptions for financial projections of investment cases prepared by Investment Officers based on findings, market research, and sector knowledge.

Strategy Development and Knowledge Creation:

•  Support the development and implementation of the sector strategies in close coordination with the Global Sector Leads to build a profitable, sustainable, consistent, high-quality growth for the portfolio in the sectors. Update as needed and operationalize the Tourism, Retail and Property Playbook;
•  Develop sector knowledge deliverables, such as sector guidance notes on relevant topics, presentations to various stakeholders, monthly knowledge and pipeline calls with regions to further institutional understanding of sector-specific investment opportunities, challenges, and KPIs and support TRP Sector Knowledge Management more broadly;
•  Lead and project manage key initiatives that may be identified from time to time in the subsectors or across the TRP space;
•  Stay current on and share as relevant with the team industry news and trends;
•  Assist with brand building activities (e.g., conferences, thought leadership) and support efforts to build relationships stakeholders, including leading industry brands and associations;
•  Develop impactful business development material and contribute to bringing innovation and best practices into the Global Team work;
•  Support portfolio monitoring and extract best practices and lessons learned to inform future projects;
•  Participate in development of advisory and value-added sector products relevant to the Tourism, Retail and Property sectors;
•  Oversee work of consultants and interns as needed;
•  Facilitate knowledge flow across IFC and promote adoption of new approaches and best practices for TRP, including activities covering mainstream investment, upstream and advisory services.