Senior Associate, Funding to Build at Acumen

About the Role

• Acumen Academy is hiring a Senior Associate to support the Funding to Build program.
• This role will provide hands-on, 1:1 support to funded enterprises on the fundamentals of their organisations from business models to unit economics while owning relationship management and portfolio management across the Funding to Build cohorts.
• The Senior Associate plays a central role in funding cycles, supporting due diligence, assisting the Manager in pipeline building, and helping enterprises translate their funding into credible, evidence-based Youth-in-Work outcomes.
• The role reports to the Manager, Funding to Build, and works closely with the Associate, Funding to Build, and cross-functional teams across Acumen (including Legal, Compliance, Finance, and Impact) to ensure enterprises receive consistent, high-quality support throughout the funding lifecycle.
• The ideal candidate is analytical, relationship-oriented, and comfortable managing a growing portfolio of early-stage entrepreneurs with care and rigor.

Key Responsibilities
Enterprise Support & Relationship Management:

• Act as a key relationship point of contact for Funding to Build enterprises, co-facilitating office hours on project support and company needs, and providing tailored 1:1 support on financials such as unit economics, revenue models, pricing strategy, and project budget planning.
• Support enterprises in developing realistic projects with evidence-based projections for green job creation (Youth-in-Work outcomes), helping close common gaps between beneficiary reach and actual jobs created.
• Help enterprises translate their disbursement into a clear implementation plan, ensuring funds are matched to the activities needed to deliver impact in each tranche.
• Coordinate with enterprises on outstanding documentation, contract queries, and disbursement conditions.

Due Diligence & Selection Support:

• Contribute due diligence findings and recommendations during the selection and shortlisting process.
• Support due diligence coordination, legal, compliance, and ESG reviews, working closely with Legal and Compliance to keep enterprise folders current and contract-ready.

Portfolio Management & Pipeline:

• Assist the Manager in building and strengthening the enterprise pipeline for future funding cycles.
• Support portfolio management across the Funding to Build cohort, tracking financial, operational, and impact KPIs and flagging enterprises that need additional support or intervention.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement:

• Analyze enterprise reporting (financial and narrative) at each tranche milestone, and synthesize findings into portfolio-level insights.
• Collaborate with the Associate and Manager to continuously refine tools, templates, and processes based on what’s working each cycle.

Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in enterprise support, SME finance, portfolio management, or impact investing, ideally within the social enterprise or development sector.
• Strong analytical skills, with experience in financial analysis and unit economics, and the ability to translate financial data into practical recommendations for enterprises.
• Experience conducting or supporting due diligence (financial, legal, compliance, or ESG) processes.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a portfolio of enterprise relationships independently, with strong relationship-management and communication skills.
• Comfortable working with trackers, dashboards, and reporting tools (e.g., Excel/Google Sheets) to monitor KPIs across a portfolio.
• Detail-oriented, proactive, and able to work independently and collaboratively.
• Self reflective and aligned with Acumen values.
• Permanently authorized to work in Lagos, Nigeria.