Fund Administrator

Reporting to the co-heads of the Fund, the Development Manager will be a key part of the team responsible for taking investment opportunities from initial site survey through to presentation to the Investment Committee. They will also oversee project developer partners across its portfolio of investments and manage these strategic relationships as part of the execution of the Fund’s strategy.

**About Finance Earth**

Finance Earth is the UK’s leading environmental impact investment advisor and regulated fund manager, working in partnership with a range of organisations to protect and restore the environment utilising market-based mechanisms, designing and implementing bespoke financing solutions and creating high impact investments. We are an employee-owned social enterprise with a mission to mobilise investment for nature, climate and communities. We have advised on over 100 projects and mobilised over £100 million for environmental impact. We are the UK’s leading financial adviser working in its emerging ‘nature markets’, through which the Government aims to scale up private investment into nature recovery in England to at least £500 million a year by 2027, and over £1 billion by 2030. We are also an FCA-regulated fund manager, having designed, raised and managed several impact funds to date, including Community Owned Renewable Energy (“CORE”), a £50 million fund raised in 2017 that invested in community solar farms, successfully exited in 2023 generating commercial-level returns for investors alongside a projected £20 million in local community benefits over the lifetime of the assets.

Other

**The Fund**

UK Nature is a pioneering fund investing in NbS in England. It has already secured cornerstone investment from the UK Government via Defra, which is investing £30 million and taking a ‘first loss’ position, meaning it doesn’t get paid back until other investors receive their capital back plus a 7% return. It is targeting £90-120 million in total, including Defra, with a first close of around £50 million expected in Q4 2025. The Fund has a 5-year investment period followed by a 7-year holding period, and is targeting a net return of over 8%. It will be primarily investing in woodland creation projects registered with the Woodland Carbon Code, peatland restoration projects registered with the Peatland Code, and Biodiversity Net Gain (“BNG”) projects, with returns generated primarily from the sale of carbon credits and biodiversity units, as well as government grants for woodland and peatland projects, a small amount of commercial timber income, and land appreciation on up to 15% of the Fund available for freehold acquisition. Up to 10% of the Fund will be deployed into impact private equity as growth capital into nature restoration supply chain companies.

Finance Earth is the AIFM for the Fund and will act as investment adviser and fund manager. The current UK Nature fund management team (“the Fund Team”) consists of Rich Speak and Jamie Mansfield, co-Founders and Managing Directors of Finance Earth and Investment Committee members; Rich Fitton, Developer Manager and co-head of the Fund Team; several Finance Earth analysts and associates; and a support function including risk, compliance and administration.

**The Role**

Reporting to the co-heads of the Fund, the Development Manager will be a key part of the team responsible for taking investment opportunities from initial site survey through to presentation to the Investment Committee. They will also oversee project developer partners across its portfolio of investments and manage these strategic relationships as part of the execution of the Fund’s strategy. The Development Manager will be creative, and solutions driven, overseeing a wide range of projects and project developer relationships. There is a need for the individual to have experience in rural land transactions and working with project developers in related sectors. Experience in project finance, financial structuring, investment management and environmental impact investment will also be helpful.

The Development Manager will join the Fund team as it is about to reach first close and begin to deploy capital. In addition to assisting with project investment appraisal processes, and working closely with colleagues to identify high-potential opportunities and strategic relationships with project developers, the Development Manager will also be involved in fundraising efforts to support the Fund in reaching its final close target of £120 million.

**Key Responsibilities**

**Origination & Deal Sourcing**
- Proactively source and cultivate investment opportunities aligned with the Fund’s strategy
- Build and maintain strong networks with NbS project developers, supply chain businesses and intermediaries

**Investment Execution**
- Lead on all technical aspects of the investment appraisal process
- Support on financial modelling, particularly in regard to technical inputs e.g. carbon credit vo