USAID/Africa Transaction Advisor

Jefferson Solutions, the government consulting company of Jefferson Consulting Group, a well-respected, woman-owned small business in Washington, D.C. seeks highly qualified individuals to serve as Transaction Advisor in support of USAID Africa Bureau’s Prosper Africa Initiative.

The Transaction Advisor will support a range of program and operational tasks, most importantly the triage and management of inquiries to the Initiative from the private sector and other internal and external audiences. The Transaction Advisor will work closely with the U.S. Government interagency in order to efficiently and effectively advise U.S. and African businesses and connect them with the appropriate trade and investment support services and resources.

The Transaction Advisor must develop a working knowledge of USG and USAID communications systems and applications; USG interagency programming and resources, particularly focused on trade and investment in the United States and in African countries; a range of USG programmatic and management processes and procedures related to materials development, inter- and intra-agency clearances; planning and conducting high-level events, meetings, and other activities for senior USG and African government and non-government officials and executives.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include, but are not limited to:

• Analyze trade and investment transactions to determine eligibility for U.S. Government tools and services.
• Track pipelines of prospective transactions and communicate with U.S. agencies and companies to advance the transactions.
• Develop and implement business development strategies for trade and investment.
• Advise companies and organizations on U.S. Government and private sector tools for doing business between Africa and the United States
• Monitor and manage private sector and other public inquiries, connecting them with the requested information, contacts, and resources; advising them based on trade and investment expertise; and ensuring that they receive timely, accurate, and useful responses.
• Independently research, analyze and synthesize information on commercial and policy topics related to African markets.
• Draft and/or edit reports, briefing papers, talking points, blogs, newsletter articles, journal articles, and social media input as needed.
• Prepare presentations (in PowerPoint and other presentation applications) for senior officials for meetings and events for a wide range of internal USG and external audiences.
• Help develop and continuously update timeline with key actions necessary for developing and implementing Prosper Africa strategy, operational, and implementation plans, taking into account funding, staffing and Administration/Interagency priorities. Key actions should include stocktaking to identify information gaps and review processes.
• As needed, support implementation of the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for Prosper Africa as directed by the COR and in coordination with the Prosper Regional Environmental Advisor (REA).

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE SKILLS, EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• A master’s degree or two years of graduate-level coursework is required in business, marketing, economics, finance, or a related field (equivalent years of relevant experience may be substituted) and a minimum of four years of specialized work experience related to trade and investment.
• Experience marketing or evaluating international trade and investment transactions.
• Experience with business development or relationship management.
• Experience working with culturally diverse business, government, and policy professionals.
• Experience drafting responses to public inquiries on behalf of an organization.
• Experience working and collaborating with U.S. Government agencies and private sector organizations, including officials with international organizations, foreign and domestic government officials, and development partners.
• Knowledge of US foreign and commercial policy issues related to African countries.
• Knowledge of services and resources that the U.S. Government offers to U.S. and/or African private sectors to support trade and investment.
• Knowledge of relevant disciplines including trade, private sector development, and investment required.
• Experience in written and oral communication involving coordinating, negotiating and motivating individuals to take action.
• Demonstrated ability to work with teams, often with high pressure and time constraints.
• Proficient in Google (Docs, Drive, etc.) and Microsoft (MS Word, Excel, etc.) applications, as well as database applications
• Strong written and oral communication skills; skilled at presenting information through reports and discussions to effectively support senior level officials responsible for providing guidance and direction across the interagency and to work across teams and with various levels of leadership.
• Ability to work collaboratively with team members as well as inter-agency colleagues in the United States and Africa, U.S. and African government officials, donors, private sector officials, and implementing partners.
• Professional fluency in French, Arabic, or Portuguese is a plus but not required.
• U.S. Citizenship required with the ability to obtain and maintain a Secret clearance.

Jefferson Consulting Group is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, genetic data, veteran status or any category protected by law.