DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (DBSA)

INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE SPECIALIST

Details

Closing Date

2026/06/30

Reference Number

DBS250617-1

Job Title

Infrastructure Finance Specialist

Job Grade

17

Job Type Classification

Contract

Location - Town / City

Midrand

Location - Province

Gauteng

Location - Country

South Africa

Job Profile (Downloadable)

Infrastructure Finance Specialist_Job Profile May 2026 signed.pdf (308.70 kb) - 6/17/2026 8:10:04 AM

Job Description

PURPOSE OF THIS JOB

The role is responsible for providing financial modelling, transaction structuring, infrastructure financing, and investment advisory support for infrastructure finance projects and programmes.

Key Responsibilities

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS

1. Financial Modelling and Analysis

• Develop, maintain, and optimise detailed project finance models using Microsoft Excel and financial modelling methodologies to support investment analysis, debt structuring, and operational scenario evaluation.
• Ensure financial models comply with lender, investor, audit, and credit committee requirements and are suitable for financing and audit processes.
• Conduct financial analysis, sensitivity analysis, stress testing, and scenario modelling to assess the impact of changes in key assumptions and input variables on project viability and financial performance.
• Translate complex financial modelling outputs into clear, concise, and actionable insights for decision-making by credit committees, investors, management, and stakeholders.
• Support long-term financial planning, forecasting, and modelling activities in collaboration with Treasury and Finance teams.

2. Infrastructure Financing and Transaction Structuring

• Support the preparation, structuring, negotiation, and closing of infrastructure finance transactions, investment operations, and policy-based financing initiatives.
• Participate in transaction due diligence processes, including financial, commercial, technical, environmental, legal, and operational assessments.
• Access financial markets to fund IFISA investments and operations to foster sustainable economic development, create wealth and improve infrastructure in South Africa by investing in infrastructure and other productive sectors.
• Develop and deliver sustainable financing structures, models and solutions for IF clients through various products which include (amongst others) blended finance structures Public Private Partnerships (PPP) structures, B-BBEE funding structures, local currency funding, guarantees and derivative hedges.
• Develop and implement financing instruments and products to accelerate infrastructure delivery, including project bonds, green bonds, bridging finance facilities, working capital facilities, construction performance bonds, and project preparation facilities.
• Develop and implement various innovative financing instruments to unlock and accelerate infrastructure delivery, including (amongst others) blended finance instruments, working capital facilities, bridging finance facilities, project bonds, CPI-linked debt, green bonds, project preparation facilities, construction performance bonds, price risk management and hedging products, customised vendor financing solutions.
• Undertake financial analysis and modelling activities relating to guarantees operations and other financial structures aimed at mobilising commercial capital for development purposes.
• Support the execution of transactions and credit approval processes in collaboration with Treasury, Legal, Portfolio Management, and other internal stakeholders.
• Assist in negotiating commercial terms, financing agreements, facility agreements, and transaction documentation.

3. Investment Evaluation and Bankability Assessment

• Evaluate the feasibility and bankability of infrastructure investment opportunities to ensure commercial sustainability and alignment with strategic objectives and development mandates.
• Conduct financial due diligence, risk assessments, and investment appraisals to support investment decisionmaking.
• Analyse project risks, funding structures, repayment capacity, and mitigation mechanisms to ensure appropriate risk allocation and financial sustainability.
• Ensure infrastructure projects progress to financial close through effective structuring, stakeholder coordination, and transaction support.
• Support the expansion and management of the infrastructure finance project pipeline, particularly projects targeted for public and private sector capital mobilisation.

4. Advisory and Stakeholder Management

• Provide financial advisory services and technical support to internal and external stakeholders on infrastructure financing solutions and sustainable development investments.
• Support public sector institutions in the development and financing of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and large-scale infrastructure projects aligned to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with government entities, development finance institutions, private sector investors, commercial banks, advisors, and other key stakeholders.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary project teams, including technical, legal, treasury, environmental, and risk specialists, to deliver integrated financing solutions.
• Support the development and implementation of advisory solutions relating to financial, technical, environmental, insurance, and banking services.

5. Reporting and Governance

• Prepare investment memoranda, financial reports, transaction documents, presentations, and management reports for Executive Committees, Boards, credit committees, and stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with internal governance requirements, investment policies, risk frameworks, and regulatory standards throughout transaction lifecycles.
• Contribute to governance submissions, approval processes, and strategic reporting requirements.
• Maintain accurate financial models, transaction records, due diligence documentation, and investment files.
• Perform additional strategic and operational duties as required.

Key Measurements of Outputs

1. Quality, accuracy, and robustness of financial models and financing solutions developed.
2. Value and number of project approvals, commitments, financial closes, and disbursements achieved.
3. Value of infrastructure investment and development catalysed through financing initiatives.
4. Value of public and private sector partnerships and funding mobilised.
5. Percentage of projects progressed to bankability and successful implementation.
6. Effectiveness of transaction structuring, due diligence, and risk mitigation processes.
7. Timeliness and quality of investment analysis, governance submissions, and transaction reporting.
8. Compliance with governance, regulatory, and credit approval requirements.
9. Stakeholder satisfaction with advisory support, financing solutions, and transaction execution.
10. Clean audit outcomes and effective resolution of audit findings.

KEY INTERNAL LIAISON RELATIONSHIPS

1. Head: Infrastructure Finance
2. Head: IFISA
3. CEO & Exco
4. DBSA Board & Committees
5. Relevant DBSA Divisions
6. IFISA Team

KEY EXTERNAL LIAISON RELATIONSHIPS

1. Infrastructure South Africa
2. National Treasury
3. Government Departments and SOCs
4. Public & Private Sector Stakeholders
5. External Service Providers
6. Development Finance Institutions
7. Capital Markets

Expertise & Technical Competencies

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

Minimum Qualifications

1. A postgraduate qualification in Development Finance, Finance, Business, Engineering or Economics.

Minimum Experience

1. A minimum of 8 years demonstrable experience in project finance, the financial and infrastructure finance arena.
2. Demonstrated experience in infrastructure finance and development.
3. Proven ability to build a project finance model using Microsoft Excel/workbook and calculation algorithms premised on accounting rules for investment purposes.
4. Proven experience in developing and interrogating complex project finance models for transaction structuring, investment decision-making and Financial Close
5. Experience in investing in infrastructure in emerging markets, ideally in a diversified portfolio in different sectors of infrastructure (energy, transport, etc.).
6. Experience with working on new or innovative projects and programmes
7. Proven experience in project risk identification, management and mitigation.
8. Knowledge of the banking sector and financial markets.
9. Knowledge of the legal and regulatory environment for infrastructure procurement in SA.
10. Good understanding of infrastructure investments.
11. Demonstrable experience in assessing investment transaction opportunities and projects from early review to bankable debt financing deals.
12. Experience with working with deal teams.
13. Ability to provide value to transactions for the benefit of and/or the client through knowledge of the subject, innovation and lateral thinking.
14. Experience in private and public sector investments.
15. Knowledge of legislation, regulations, policies, processes and procedures governing the infrastructure planning and development in South Africa (e.g. PFMA).

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES:

a) Risk Identification & Assessment Skills

• Advises on applicable aspects of risk identification and assessment.
• Assesses and links short-term tasks in the context of long-term business strategies or perspectives.

b) Business Development

• Initiates, reviews, and interprets competitor environment reviews.
• Formulates and modifies market approaches based on competitor analyses.
• Generates new business opportunities in the public and private sector delivery of infrastructure.
• Identifies and develops new markets, products and clients.
• Builds capacity to conduct project origination exercises.

c) Business Acumen

• Thinks and plans in future-oriented terms.
• Develops annual business plans that take into account longer-term activities, issues, problems or opportunities.
• Develops and establishes broad-scale, longerterm objectives, goals or projects (e.g., affecting a business, department, or organisation).

d) Deal Origination

• Identify, conceptualize and structure projects and opportunities and develop new and alternative financing mechanisms.
• Utilises extensive networks with developers, sponsors and consultants in DBSA-mandated sectors to identify project preparation opportunities.
• Conducts project identification, conceptualisation and preliminary structuring of projects, structuring and value preposition for DBSA.
• Applies analytical skills to understand the technical, environmental, institutional, financial and legal components of projects to present a structure to prepare the project.
• Understands the regulatory and policy environments and offers advice in preparing/structuring projects.
• Conducts market research, business analysis and profiling to identify opportunities for infrastructure development in SA, SADC and selected African countries.
• Provides and grows the opportunity for DBSA equity investments.
• Independently structures, negotiates and concludes engagement letters, term sheets and facility agreements.

e) Deal Structuring

• Uses credit enhancement techniques to structure deals and optimise pricing in terms of Basel principles.
• Uses credit enhancement techniques to structure deals and optimise pricing in terms of Basel principles.  
• Has a good and practical understanding of how to optimise the Capital Structure, collateral package, and debt repayment profile.  
• Builds and 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.

f) Financial modelling

• Develop, build and maintain complex, integrated project finance models to support investment decision-making, transaction structuring and execution.
• Lead financial modelling for transactions, including scenario, sensitivity and stress testing to assess bankability, risk allocation and financial viability.
• Translate technical, legal and commercial inputs into robust financial models that accurately reflect project risks, funding structures and cash flow dynamics.
• Interrogate and validate financial models (internal and external) to ensure accuracy, consistency and alignment with transaction assumptions and market standards.
• Apply advanced modelling techniques to optimise capital structures, funding strategies and pricing of financial instruments.
• Support negotiations and Financial Close through real-time model updates, analysis and interpretation of key financial metrics (e.g. IRR, DSCR, LLCR)

g) Negotiation Skills

• 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 the IFISA.

h) Reporting & Communication

• 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.

i) 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.).
• Knows various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.

j) Written & Verbal Communication

• Understands that different writing styles are required for different documents or audiences. 
• Write effective correspondence, prepare questions and reports, statements of circumstance and briefing notes.
• Reviews others’ documents for clarity and impact. 
• Able to communicate complex problems or concepts by making them simple and understandable for others.

k) Problem Solving

• While remaining guided by organisational values, identifies optimal solutions, thinking first in terms of possible approaches and flexibilities in the system vs. blind adherence to rules or procedures.
• Implements solutions to complex problems, then evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of solutions and identifies needed changes.

Required Personal Attributes

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

a) Customer Service Orientation

• Tries to understand the underlying needs of customers and matches these needs to available or customised products and services.
• Adapts processes and procedures to meet ongoing customer needs.
• Utilises the feedback received by customers to develop new and/or improve existing services/products that relate to their ongoing needs.
• Thinks of new ways to align DBSA’s offerings with future customer needs.

b) Self-awareness and Self Control

• Withholds effects of strong emotions in difficult situations.
• Keeps functioning or responds constructively despite stress.
• May apply special techniques or plan ahead of time to manage emotions or stress.

c) Strategic and Innovative Thinking

• Experiments with new approaches, tests scenarios, questions assumptions and challenges
• conventional thinking.
• Creates new concepts that are not obvious to others, leveraging internal and external sources of information, to build incremental revenue and growth opportunities.

d) Driving delivery of results

• Sets challenging goals that will have a significant impact on the business or support the organisational strategy.
• Commits significant resources and/or time to ensure that challenging goals are achieved, while also taking action to mitigate risk.

e) Teamwork & Cooperation

• 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.

The KPA’s, competencies and relationships listed in this document are not exhaustive, and the incumbent will be expected to undertake additional duties within their capacity to meet the needs of business and/or the business unit.

Policy

The Development Bank of Southern Africa will endeavor to make appointments in line with its Employment Equity Policy and Plan. Applications from suitably qualified designated groups, especially people with disabilities, are encouraged.

The DBSA corporate culture fit requires clear, logical and analytical thinking grounded in good interpersonal skills, a sense of urgency and results orientated execution of duties. The ability to work collaboratively and finding practical yet innovative solutions is critical to success in a work environment that demands emotional resilience, accountability and responsible risk taking and management.

The DBSA reserves the right to amend or remove vacancies in line with organisational requirements.

All vacancies can be viewed on the DBSA website (www.dbsa.org) under Careers.

PLEASE APPLY HERE