The National Wealth Fund are currently recruiting for an Advisory Director within our Local Authority team to join our Leeds office on a permanent, full time basis.
Location: Leeds - 3 days a week in the office.
Salary: £110,000 -£135,000
Purpose of the role:
The National Wealth Fund transitioned from the UK Infrastructure Bank in October 2024. As part of the Fund's mission to support net zero transition and drive local and regional economic growth, the Fund established a Local Authority (LA) function.
Our LA Function supports localernment to successfully implement technicallyplex, innovative and essential infrastructure investments with an ambitious aim to accelerate and improve how public infrastructure is delivered. Within the LA function, Directors work seamlessly across advisory and lending, which has £4bn of lending capacity. LA Directors work closely with the private investment and sector teams across the Fund to delivermercial opportunities. Specific sector areas of focus for local authorities are retrofit, heat networks, transport and place-based infrastructure & regeneration. As NWF's remit continues to develop further sectors of focus will be introduced for advisory engagements.
Local authorities have high ambitions and broad remits to manage and regenerate local infrastructure. The LA function helps to unlock potential and increase shared learning across authorities in the UK and is working increasingly in partnership with local authorities, to support the development of their local growth plans and investment pipelines.
The Director role for Advisory in the LA function is a senior, client-facing, leadership position, that will be required to proactively lead advisory engagements and build relationships with local authorities to identify lending opportunities. The Director will bring together excellent relationship management skills, delivery knowledge and financing excellence to enable localernment to enter into successfulmercial and financial arrangements with delivery partners and to bridge financing gaps in sustainable ways. We are looking to appoint an Advisory Director to lead our place-based infrastructure and regeneration sector.
Key Accountabilities:
1. Represent the Fund - Cement the Fund's reputation as a centre of excellence in local authority infrastructure financing. Act as an ambassador for NWF by participating at industry events and conferences, using these opportunities to influence the broader infrastructure agenda, and successfully showcase NWF's mission and purpose.
2. Build relationships across local authority executivemunity. Proactively network and engage with both internal and external senior stakeholders, to include investors, developers, banks and leading industry experts to create futuremercial opportunities to enhance NWF's reputation in the market.
3. Strategically solveplex problems, draw on own sector expertise and identify solutions efficiently. Ensure that NWF's clients receive expert advice enabling them to best identify and facilitate the mostmercially sustainable and appropriate oues which effectively align to the Fund's principles.
4. Support the Managing Director/Head of the LA team in shaping the function within the Fund, helping to attract and retain high performing talent and expertise within infrastructure finance and delivery, and establish NWF as a market leader in the provision of trusted, expert advice on infrastructure investment and delivery in NWF's mandated sectors.
5. Utilise expert knowledge to support local authorities in delivering financially sound investments, including any NWF strategic partnerships withbined Authorities, and advise them on how to manage their specialist technical input, including and due diligence and advisory reports to encourage and engender best practice project delivery.
6. Utilise industry experience to advise and support local authorities through legal andmercial negotiations and ensure all affiliated risks are clearly identified andmunicated to the appropriate levels within the local authority.
7. Interface in an open, constructive, and collaborative manner with senior colleagues across NWF to share expert knowledge and experience, draft sector strategies and to fulfil the strategic mission of the Fund.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
8. Significant experience in financing, advisory or consultancy, with a particular focus on delivering large-scale public sector infrastructure.
9. Extensive experience of the infrastructure financing landscape, familiarity withernment finance ( grant programmes and support mechanisms) and knowledge ofmercial lending.
10. Specific areas of expertise are sought in place-based infrastructure and regeneration to lead the LA function's mixed infrastructure focus sector. Knowledge of clean energy technologies and investment characteristics is also desirable.
11. Substantial experience of leading client engagements, specifically in infrastructure advisory and able to demonstrate knowledge or experience of lending transaction processes.
12. Must bemercially astute and able to fashion solutions tailored towards the specific needs ofplex public sector infrastructure delivery.
13. Be a skilledmunicator,fortable operating at a senior level across all stakeholder groups and passionate about contributing to the positive culture of the organisation.
A career with us offers a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact and work on cutting-edge technologies that will drive the UK's future. We value diversity in our people and inclusion is at the heart of what we do.
We offerpetitive benefits and unique learning opportunities frombining both private and public sector skills and experience. Please note, referencing and background checks are carried out for all roles here at the National Wealth Fund.
Job ID JR100249