Partner – Head of India recruitment
LeapFrog Investments
LeapFrog is a $135m profit-with-purpose fund. We invest in companies that serve the next billion emerging consumers in Asia and Africa with insurance and other essential financial tools. As a leading impact investor, our mission is to achieve robust returns from this vast untapped market, while providing 25 million low-income people with financial springboards and safety nets. LeapFrog’s team of former CEOs, investment leaders and financial inclusion experts has attracted leading global banks, funds and reinsurers as investors. In only three years, via its portfolio companies,LeapFrog has reached over 8.6 million people.
South Asia has been a key area of focus for LeapFrog, with our team building an exciting portfolio and network in the region. Notably, LeapFrog’s $15m landmark investment in the distribution arm of the Shriram Group was widely covered in international and Indian media. LeapFrog has also been hailed by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, and numerous global leaders for opening up new frontiers for alternative investment and financial services.www.leapfroginvest.com
The Role
LeapFrog is recruiting an entrepreneurial leader who is deeply connected in and attuned to the Indian financial services market and has operated at the highest level of industry. The successful applicant will be responsible for building and leading LeapFrog’s India office to complement our current offices in the UK, USA, South Africa and Australia. You will also co-design and lead our strategic expansion across South Asia in the years ahead.
As a Partner, you will work closely with LeapFrog’s global team, particularly the UK team that has been managing investments in South Asia to date, to build local infrastructure and develop a team of stellar investment and operations professionals. Your daily purpose will be to identify, invest in, and grow a unique portfolio of risk carriers, financial distributors and service providers that are commercially successful in serving people the vast majority of India’s population.
Your daily work will entail industry analysis, sourcing, valuation, structuring, transaction execution, as well as input to portfolio companies at Board level and below, ongoing investment monitoring, and preparation for exit. A major part of the role will be an entrepreneurial one – including engaging with potential and current portfolio companies on how LeapFrog can add unique value given the fund’s distinctive capacities.
This is a unique opportunity to grow an enduring institution that is reshaping impact investment. Ultimately, you will be a multi-talented champion of our work, mission and brand – helping LeapFrog to lead a historic wave of investing in life-changing frontier financial services. You will be a values-based innovator and leader in the Indian investment and financial services communities.
Location
You will be located in Mumbai and will collaborate with LeapFrog’s dynamic teams in South Africa, the UK, Australia, and the USA.
Experience
You are likely to have:
- At least 10 years of experience in senior-level financial services operational or private equity and venture capital roles.
- The ability to connect with leading players in and beyond India, based on your well-established network.
- Demonstrated excellence and leadership, plus a strong degree from a top-tier academic institution.
- Superb communications skills and a high level of comfort in a variety of cultural settings.
- A systematic approach to seeking out opportunities and closing transactions.
- The vision and core values required to represent and expand LeapFrog’s brand and impact in South Asia.
- The empathy and entrepreneurialism needed to build a dynamic and diverse team.
- Comfort with fast-moving and hands-on work environments in multiple geographies.
- A genuinepassion for having a significant social impact.
- A willingness to travel internationally.
Applying
The application deadline is 8 June 2012. If you aspire both to be a business leader and to impact profoundly on society, if you want to work with an elite group of professionals globally while shaping people’s lives at the grassroots, and if you can inspire many others in this mission, then please submit a cover letter and CV to Joanne Tanchel and click on the "Apply now" button.