Program Manager, Circular Economy

The AECF provides catalytic funding in the form of repayable and non-repayable grants to businesses that would not otherwise have access to adequate financing. The AECF is part of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) family and has been supported by governments (Australia, Canada, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom), and int…

Program Manager, Circular Economy

The Role

• The role holder will provide full-time investment and programme leadership for AECF’s circular economy portfolio, with primary responsibility for structuring, appraising and managing investments in private sector enterprises, and secondary responsibility for ensuring those investment decisions are informed by sound circular economy principles. Leading a small team and working closely with the sector head, advisory and programme teams, the Programme Manager will manage the circular economy investment pipeline, portfolio, work plan, budget and donor reporting.

• The incumbent will lead investment due diligence and structuring, oversee portfolio management and results verification under the results-based financing mechanism, and represent the programme with ecosystem stakeholders to strengthen circular economy financing and enterprise growth across the programme countries.

This role will report to the Associate Director – Energy.

Key Responsibilities

Investment Leadership and Portfolio Management

• Lead end-to-end investment due diligence on prospective portfolio companies, assessing business models, financial viability, commercial scalability, management capacity and risk, alongside circular economy performance.

• Structure and recommend appropriate financing instruments — results-based repayable grants, blended finance and other risk-sharing mechanisms — tailored to enterprise needs and investment risk.

• Present investment recommendations to the investment committee and manage the approval-to-disbursement process.

• Oversee active portfolio management, including monitoring financial and operational performance, covenant compliance, and results verification under the results-based financing mechanism.

Programme Management and Coordination

• Manage the planning, budgeting, work planning and reporting of the circular economy programme.

• Supervise and provide guidance to programme team members and consultants, including technical circular economy specialists supporting the portfolio.

• Coordinate with donors on work plans, deliverables, timelines and reporting requirements.

• Monitor programme and portfolio risk, ensuring timely, quality delivery of investment and programme outputs.

Enterprise Advisory and Investment Readiness

• Oversee the design and delivery of technical assistance and investment readiness support to strengthen portfolio companies’ performance and bankability.

• Work with technical circular economy specialists and the Advisory team to ensure enterprises receive appropriate guidance on cleaner production, eco-design, sustainable packaging, recycling, repair and refurbishment, reverse logistics, material recovery and resource efficiency.

• Work closely with the ESG team to support enterprises in improving investment readiness, operational performance, and ESG practices.

Market Development and Knowledge Management