Junior Consultant, Business Development (Client Solutions) & Strategy

Role Overview

• PIF Africa’s Business Development (Client Solutions) & Strategy Department helps PIF Africa and its clients understand how a business, organisation or initiative works as a whole; what needs to be strengthened; what opportunities exist; what should be created or refined; who it should serve; and how it can be positioned, delivered, measured and sustained.
• This is not primarily a sales or lead-generation role. It is an end-to-end business-building and strategy role for someone who can see how the different parts of a business connect, including its purpose, clients, products and services, market and ecosystem, pricing and commercial model, people and capabilities, processes and technology, finance, governance and risk, delivery, performance and growth.
• As a Junior Consultant, you will work with senior leadership and teams across PIF Africa to turn organisational priorities, client needs, external research and intelligence, internal knowledge and performance data, meeting discussions, feedback and emerging opportunities into practical strategies and implementation pathways. Depending on the requirement, your outputs may include organisational and client strategies, client and partner maps, product or service concepts, value propositions, pricing and packaging recommendations, proposals, implementation plans, planning and retreat agendas, decision papers, workflows, playbooks, trackers and management actions.
• You will support the full cycle from understanding the problem or opportunity, diagnosing the underlying need and mapping the relevant clients, users, partners and markets, through solution and product design, commercial structuring, proposal development, onboarding, cross-functional delivery coordination, quality assurance, learning and continuous improvement.
• The role spans PIF Africa’s main client and ecosystem groups: individuals and families; entrepreneurs and founder-led nano, micro and small enterprises; and corporations, non-profits, public and development institutions, financiers, accelerators, associations and other ecosystem actors engaged as clients, partners or routes to beneficiaries and markets. The responsibilities reflect work delivered internally to PIF Africa and its departments and externally to PIF Africa’s clients and partners, depending on the mandate.

Who You Are

• We are looking for an early-career professional with the thinking foundation, curiosity and discipline to develop into a strong business strategy professional. You do not need to know every part of the role already.
• You are a big-picture and systems thinker who is interested in how strategy, clients, products, people, operations, finance, technology, governance and performance connect.
• You can look beyond an initial request, ask thoughtful questions and help identify the underlying need, problem or opportunity.
• You can turn discussions, research, intelligence, data and feedback into clear insights, options, recommendations and actions.
• You are interested in how products and services are designed, positioned, priced, delivered, assessed and improved—not only how they are marketed or sold.
• You can consider client value, organisational capability, delivery feasibility, commercial sustainability and impact together.
• You have strong analytical, research, problem-solving, communication and synthesis capabilities.
• You are organised and disciplined in documentation, follow-up, tracker management, file management and quality assurance.
• You have a relevant academic background and 0–1 year of relevant experience or practical exposure through employment, internships, entrepreneurship, projects, student leadership or a structured business environment.
• Exposure to working near a founder, CEO or senior leader, supporting a small or family business, or holding a cross-functional business, operations or project role is useful but not required.
• You are willing to learn quickly, receive guidance, work across different industries and client types, and handle sensitive information with integrity and discretion.
• You demonstrate discretion, integrity, confidentiality and sound judgment when handling client, partner, financial, strategic and organisational information.
• You are comfortable engaging senior internal and external stakeholders under supervision.
• You are willing to travel out of station with reasonable notice and support occasional evening or weekend engagements where required.

What You'll Do

Strategy, Planning and Intelligence:

• Develop an end-to-end understanding of PIF Africa and its clients, including their strategies, business models, client groups, products, capabilities, operations and priorities.
• Support organisational, departmental and client strategies by assessing the current position, identifying needs and opportunities, testing assumptions and developing practical recommendations and implementation pathways.
• Support retreats, strategy sessions, planning meetings and management reviews by structuring agendas, preparing materials and converting decisions into actions, owners, timelines and measures.

Product, Service and Commercial Development:

• Use client needs, research, market intelligence, internal knowledge, delivery experience and feedback to design new products and services and improve existing ones.
• Help define the target client, user and payer, value proposition, product components, delivery workflow, capacity requirements, risks, quality controls and intended outcomes.
• Support product testing, packaging, pricing, costing, profitability, payment terms, positioning, commercialisation and continuous improvement.

Client, Market, Partnership and Opportunity Development:

• Map and research prospective clients, users, partners, funders, institutions and other relevant ecosystem actors, including their needs, decision-makers and routes to engagement.
• Prepare client and partner profiles, stakeholder maps, opportunity briefs and engagement recommendations.
• Identify and track opportunities arising through direct engagement, referrals, existing clients, partnerships, memberships, conferences, affiliations and thought leadership.

Solution Structuring, Onboarding and Delivery:

• Translate approved needs and opportunities into clear solutions covering the scope, deliverables, responsibilities, resources, timelines, risks, quality requirements and intended outcomes.
• Support proposals, presentations, pricing inputs, engagement documentation, KYC, approvals, onboarding and handover to the relevant delivery teams.
• Coordinate across teams, track delivery and feedback, quality-check client materials, escalate issues and support mandate close-out, learning and appropriate follow-on support.

Advisory, Enterprise Development and Continuous Improvement:

• Support consulting and advisory work for individuals and families, entrepreneurs and founder-led enterprises, corporations, non-profits, public institutions and development organisations.
• Assist with organisational and enterprise diagnostics, business growth, institutional development, funding readiness, responsible funding absorption, wealth, legacy and philanthropy-related work within PIF Africa’s applicable scope.
• Convert learning from strategies, products and mandates into improved frameworks, workflows, playbooks, templates, trackers, dashboards, reports and reusable knowledge assets.

Application Closing Date
31st August, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:

Note

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for the next stages of the recruitment process.
• PIF Africa is an equal opportunity employer/engagement entity and welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds.

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