Experienced Summer Intern

About BII

British International Investment is the UK's development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. With a mission to solve the biggest global development challenges, we aim to create a virtuous circle of investment and impact. Your contribution will be essential.

It won't be easy: we do the hardest work in the most complex markets. Be prepared to test your skills, get creative and say your piece as you take on high-profile work as part of a diverse team of exceptionally smart, passionate people.

In return, you can take your career to all-new places in a culture that rewards curiosity and collaboration, and balances high performance with wellbeing.

BII at a glance

75 years supporting sustainable business growth in developing and emerging markets

£8.1 billion in net assets

1,400+ businesses invested in

950,000 workers in the businesses we support

£9 billion in new investments planned in the next 5 years

600+ people in our diverse global team

3 key development objectives: Productive | Sustainable | Inclusive

Team and role overview

• The Food, Agriculture and Natural Capital team covers investments across the food value chain, from farm inputs, through primary agriculture, to primary and secondary processing and trading, commercial forestry and carbon first projects.
• Our typical investment is $20-200m of growth capital for the expansion of profitable companies with high quality management teams, although we do invest in exceptional earlier-stage companies when they are the leading players in the development of a rapidly growing new market. We invest across equity, debt and through funds, looking to back high-quality fund managers in our sectors.
• Our investments are purely in Africa and South Asia (SAARC), and we have a particular focus on businesses that are in or expanding to the poorer parts of those geographies as well as businesses with the potential for driving substantial inclusion, productivity and resource efficiency gains.

Responsibilities

• There are 5 levels in the team – Associate, Executive, Manager, Director & Head of Team. However, the team is very flat and people at all levels are involved in the real detail, and in representational work, both to Investment Committee and externally.
• There are three parts of the job (at all levels), and as a Summer Intern you will expected to gain experience of all three:
• Origination – sector mapping, finding & evaluating investment opportunities, and building and maintaining relationships with companies.
• Execution – analysing companies in detail, conducting due diligence, navigating the Investment Committee process, agreeing legal terms.
• Portfolio management – analysing companies in detail, preparing for Board meetings, helping the companies wherever we can, preparing for follow-on investments, roll-ups and/or exits.
• If offered a role following the internship, this will be at the Investment Executive level. In this role you will spend the majority of your time on execution; by the time you are a senior Investment Executive you should be able to run with most of the execution stages largely unassisted. You will also be given some sub-sectors where you are responsible for origination and play a key role in portfolio management.

The candidate (please note, this programme is not for undergraduates)

Background, skills, aptitude

• We are looking for candidates that will deliver from day one and who have the drive, ambition, and tenacity to progress through the ranks.
• Typically, candidates will have a solid grounding in fundamental analytics (financial / commercial analysis, valuation, financial modelling) from private equity, private credit, investment banking or strategy consulting. The successful candidate will likely have relevant prior work experience; an MBA, or similar, is helpful.
• Over and above quantitative skills, analytical rigour and attention to detail, the softer skills we are looking for include: (1) ability to look at complex problems and get to the root of the issue, (2) ability to build relationships with companies, (3) ability to communicate clearly on paper and in person, and (4) ability to multi-task.
• Candidates will also need to evidence previous experience working in, or demonstrable passion for, Africa or South Asia, or at the very least an understanding of emerging markets.
• Candidates should be strongly motivated by BII's development mission and ideally demonstrate some commitment to development or social goals through previous executive or non-executive activity.

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous
• Tenacious in the face of challenges
• Collaborative and caring

British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background.

Application Process

• Please provide a cover letter with your application, and tell us why you would like to join the Summer Internship at BII, and why you have chosen to apply for this business area / team
• Please apply for one internship only
• Position opened: 27 October 2025
• Position closes: 17 November 2025
• Salary: £67,780 (pro-rated over 8 or 10 weeks)

Please note BII will pay for flights to London for those studying internationally