Job Description

The Financial Modelling Specialist is responsible for building robust financial models and providing advanced data analysis that support the development of infrastructure projects, validating technical and commercial assumptions, and structuring optimal solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Modelling


Provide models that support preparation of feasibility assessments, concept studies, pre-feasibility studies, and bankable feasibility studies. Lead the financial modelling component of Bankable Feasibility Studies (BFS), ensuring alignment with project technical, environmental, social, regulatory, and commercial requirements. Collaborate with technical engineers and sector specialists to assess project feasibility, risks, and development readiness. Review, validate, and challenge technical and operational assumptions used within financial models. Support preparation of technical and investment documentation for internal decision-making committees and external stakeholders. Build, update, and maintain complex, dynamic financial models for infrastructure and project finance transactions. Conduct scenario, sensitivity, and stress testing to evaluate project resilience and identify key value and risk drivers. Assess financial performance indicators and recommend funding structures that align development impact with financial sustainability. Present financial modelling outputs, results, and recommendations to internal executives, project sponsors, investors, and partners.

Stakeholder Management and Reporting


Present financial outcomes, valuation insights, and financial models to governance structures and external partners. Prepare investment committee submissions, memos, summaries, and model commentary for review by multidisciplinary project teams. Participate in negotiations and discussions with sponsors, advisors, lenders, and government entities. Undertake other tasks as assigned by the line manager, from time to time.

Key Measurements of Outputs


Quality of financial models and mechanisms designed. Financial modelling insights. Quality and effective financial models and solutions. Number of projects successfully supported and that reach financial close for implementation. Management of relationships with new/existing clients and service providers

Expertise & Technical Competencies

Minimum Qualification


A Bachelor's Degree in Business Science, Actuarial Science, Finance, Economics or related field.

Minimum Experience


A minimum of 5 years' experience in financial modelling within project finance, investment banking, infrastructure development, or corporate finance. Advanced financial modelling capability. Strong understanding of project finance structures, capital allocation, cost of capital models, and risk allocation. Experience developing or supporting infrastructure or capital-intensive projects. Exposure to project feasibility studies, due diligence, and transaction structuring. Demonstrated understanding of the project preparation cycle and requirements to prepare bankable projects.

Desirable Requirements


A post-graduate qualification/ honours degree in Finance, Business, Accounting or Economics. Development finance experience. Ability to interpret technical, engineering, regulatory, and commercial project data. Experience developing or supporting infrastructure projects.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES



Business Acumen


Deep understanding of commercial drivers and can make decisions based on an assessment of alternatives concerning complex business situations. Deep understanding of the economic priorities of South Africa and Africa and how they can be implemented to meet an organisation's strategic objectives. Deep understanding of the need to coordinate efforts with many government entities, the private sector, community groups and individuals to ensure effective implementation of new policies and regulations. Takes actions to fit business strategy. Assesses and links short-term tasks in the context of long-term business strategies or perspectives. Reviews own actions against the organisation's strategic plan; includes the big picture when considering possible opportunities or projects, or thinks about long-term applications of current activities. Anticipates possible responses to different initiatives. Understands the projected direction of the industry and how changes might impact the organisation.

Deal Structuring


Uses credit enhancement techniques to structure deals and optimise pricing in terms of Basel principles. Has an in-depth and practical understanding of how to optimise the Capital Structure, collateral package, and debt repayment profile. Interrogates financial models, including those with a high degree of complexity, to develop an optimal structure. Identifies complex structural issues that need escalation and proposes appropriate bankable structures. Demonstrates knowledge on advanced structuring, including the use of derivatives, syndicated loans, synthetic loans, securitisations, inflation-linked debt, credit default swaps and subordinated debt. Prepares specialised or tailored reports relating to new innovative instruments, gathers information from a variety of sources, analyses and includes in a report to new product approval committees. Compiles comprehensive specialist reports as required for inclusion in credit committee submissions.

Financial Analysis


Serves as subject matter expert. Evaluates and determines fiscal, operational, and service impacts; analyses and evaluates legislation; and implements and evaluates statistical models in their subject areas. Demonstrates in-depth technical and administrative knowledge of the rules and regulations in the subject area and to defend analyses, testimony, and recommendations relating to a variety of issues before management and commissions.

Financial Acumen


Makes sound financial decisions after having analysed their impacts on the organisation, partner agencies, and community. Effectively prepares budgetary submissions and forecasts for own department. Knows the internal and external factors that impact resource and asset availability. Can interpret management account reports in an operational/commercial context and take action as appropriate to maximise revenues and control costs.

Project Preparation


Demonstrates a sound understanding of limited recourse and balance sheet funding, the process required to prepare projects, and financing documentation required to present projects for investment decisions. Leads an internal team of sector specialists and analysts to appraise and present transactions to internal committees. Appoints and leads a team of external consultants/advisors (technical, environmental, financial and legal) to prepare and present the Project Information Memorandum (PIM) to prospective financiers. Analyses sponsors' financial statements, understands and reviews financial models. Demonstrates a sound understanding of the water, transport and energy sectors to identify potential fatal flaws generally associated with these sectors in projects presented and key risks to be mitigated

Solution Focus


Identifies broad, highly complex problems based on a multitude of factors, many of which are complex and sweeping in nature, difficult to define and often contradictory. Creates procedures to articulate the nature of problems and to identify and weigh alternate solutions. Evaluates the effectiveness of solutions using approaches tailored to the situation.

Financial Analysis


Serves as subject matter expert. Evaluates and determines fiscal, operational, and service impacts; analyses and evaluates legislation; and implements and evaluates statistical models in their subject areas. Demonstrates in-depth technical and administrative knowledge of the rules and regulations in the subject area and to defend analyses, testimony, and recommendations relating to a variety of issues before management and commissions.

Risk Management


Drives integration and standardisation of risk management processes across the organisation. Advises on the application of the organisation's risk management policies, industry best practices and constructs organisation guidelines. Analyses trends in risk management and internal control, evaluates implications, defines, and implements organisation-wide response.

Negotiation


Has an appreciation of cultural sensitivities and differences. Effectively employs a variety of advanced behavioural/interpersonal competencies to control the negotiation situation. Can take the lead in a variety of sensitive negotiation situations requiring high levels of tact and diplomacy. Can place a discrete negotiation situation within the context of a broader long-term relationship and is not threatened by conceding ground to protect the longer-term interests of DBSA.

Commercial Awareness


Deep understanding of commercial drivers and can make decisions based on an assessment of alternatives concerning complex business situations. Deep understanding of DBSA economic priorities and how they can be implemented to meet DBSA's strategic objectives. Deep understanding of DBSA's core sector role in achieving DBSA's strategic objectives. Deep understanding of the need to coordinate efforts with many government entities, the private sector, community groups and individuals to ensure effective implementation of new policies and regulations.

Communication and Reporting


Able to communicate complex problems or concepts by making them simple and understandable for others. Adapts language to the level of the audience to ensure that the message has a positive impact and is interesting to the audience. Is articulate, demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary, and is confident when talking to large/high-level audiences. Designs / customises reports to meet user needs. Prepares complex or tailored reports, gathers information from a variety of sources, analyses and includes in a report. Keeps standard reports under review and proposes improvements to meet user needs.

Presentation Skills


Knows how to deliver arguments persuasively by employing a range of advanced presentation techniques (e.g., the appropriate use of body language, how to close a presentation so that the audience continues to think about the subject matter, etc.). Has knowledge of various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.

Required Personal Attributes

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES



Achievement Orientation


Focuses on new or more effective ways of improving own work and meeting targets. Focuses on raising quality, customer satisfaction and revenues. Makes specific changes to systems and processes to improve efficiency and quality. Formulates own objectives and action plans to achieve a measurable improvement in the future.

Analytical Thinking


Identifies multiple elements of a problem and breaks down each of those elements in detail, showing causal relationships between them. Uses several analytical techniques to identify several solutions and weighs the value of each.

Conceptual thinking


Creates new concepts that are not obvious to others and not learned from previous education or experience to explain situations or resolve problems. Looks at things in a significantly novel way, breakthrough thinking.

Strategic and Innovative thinking


Recognises opportunities or problems emerging in patterns and trends, and their impact on the business and profitability drivers. Applies learning from previous situations and experiences. Sees underlying causality in the current situation. Applies business acumen to make sound decisions. Recognises opportunities or potential problems, before they become obvious, by seeing the connections in a range of sources of information, including insights from outside DBSA. Restates complex knowledge in a way that makes it easier for others to understand.

Teamwork


Acts to promote a friendly climate and good morale and resolves conflicts. Creates opportunities for cross-functional working. * Encourages others to network outside of their own team/department and learn from their experience.