ROLE DESCRIPTION
As Legal Counsel / Senior Legal Counsel at IFD – Impact Fund Denmark earlier known as IFU – the Investment Fund for Developing Countries you will join a small corporate team (currently 2 legal professionals) in Legal Corporate, which together with Legal Transactions (currently 7 legal professionals) is part of Legal, Compliance & Commercial. The size of the team combined with the complexity and global nature of IFD’s activities provide you with the opportunity to work within a great breath of legal disciplines with an emphasis on procurement, state aid, administrative law, international development assistance standards, contracts and GDPR.
We do not expect you to be an expert in all these areas but require you to have the solid legal foundation necessary to engage in them in your day-to-day legal support of the IFD organization. For highly specialized and complex matters you will instruct and work with external lawyers.
You will report to the General Counsel & CCO and join a changing and growing team that has taken on additional responsibilities most recently. The team Legal, Compliance & Commercial covers Legal (Corporate and Transactions); Compliance and Operational Risk; and Sales & Investor Relations. When fully formed the team will have about 15 people + student support across these disciplines.
The role offers exciting and professionally challenging work in a collaborative environment. You will be encouraged to engage in constructive legal discussions, where open communication, mutual support, and collaboration are prioritized as you work together with your IFD colleagues to achieve collective team goals. You must be able to manage your time effectively, deeply understand IFD’s processes and know when to advise and support and when to constructively challenge.
The General Counsel & CCO has laid out an ambitious plan for transforming Legal, Compliance & Commercial, and as part of the role you will participate in one or more development projects.
LEGAL TEAM
As Legal Counsel / Senior Legal Counsel, you will be a key member of IFD’s legal team (“Legal Corporate”), which presently consist of two legal professionals.
The team covers all corporate legal areas relevant to IFD, including legal disciplines with an emphasis on procurement, state aid, administrative law, international development assistance standards, contracts and GDPR. You will be managing day-to-day legal requests and issues and will instruct and work with external lawyers as required.
You will be based at IFD’s headquarters in central Copenhagen, where approximately 150 colleagues are located. Within the next year, IFD will relocate to modern and attractive office facilities in Nordhavn – conveniently situated close to both metro and S-train stations.
For candidates interested in international exposure, there will also be opportunity to travel to IFD’s various global locations.
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
In close cooperation with the other team members in Legal Corporate, you will take on responsibility for legal assistance and advice related to:
- Procurement and tender processes,
- The legal structure and foundation of IFD as a self-governed fund established by law,
- IFD’s general operation and legal agreements (like investment mandates and guarantees issued to IFD by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs),
- Various EU and OECD related matters such as state aid and international standards relating to development assistance,
- Various ad hoc legal assistance to IFD’s group functions,
- Internal cooperation with the Operations Team on various projects and matters including internal delegation of authority,
- Involvement in legal disputes related to IFD,
- Maintenance and development of internal policy documents of legal nature and drafting of internal memos related to the legal requirements for IFD’s operation,
- Managing and maintenance of legal entities owned or managed by IFD, including in the investment funds managed by IFD and related to IFD’s regional offices,
- Planning and conduct of internal education and on-boarding of the general IFD organization to corporate legal related matters.
REPORTING AND TITLE
Reporting to: General Counsel & CCO, Frederik Bjørn
Title: Legal Counsel / Senior Legal Counsel
IDEAL EXPERIENCE
Education: You are a qualified lawyer (cand.jur. or cand.merc.jur.) and possibly also license to practice as attorney-at-law (“advokat”).
Work experience: You have a minimum of 5 years of post-graduation experience as a lawyer at a reputable law firm, business or organization.
Legal skills: You have solid experience working as a legal advisor preferably within the broader EU law, corporate law, contracts, administrative law, privacy and/or procurement law areas. You have excellent legal analytical skills with the ability to apply relevant laws, regulations, and compliance frameworks accurately to a given matter and you appreciate the importance of a thorough, detail-oriented, and structured approach to your work.
Stakeholder management: You have excellent abilities in interacting and building relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels, including at senior executive level. You constructively balance legal and commercial interests, and you are comfortable with flagging and challenging processes and decisions that impose compliance risks.
International: You have an international outlook and ideally also have experience from working in an international environment.
Language skills: You are fluent in Danish and English (both written and verbal).
PERSONAL CAPABILITIES
Team player: You are a team player with the ability to share and seek information openly, and you make the effort to understand the context and implications of your colleagues’ requests in order to provide the best possible legal advice.
Proactive: As a proactive, driven, and solution-oriented professional, you strive to create meaningful change and continuous improvement.
Communication: With an understanding of the importance of clear and precise communication, you have an ability to translate complex legal matters into clear criteria and decision points.
Commercial & solution oriented: You have a commercial acumen and naturally look to find practical solutions even when dealing with complex legal matters.
IFD’S VALUE PROPOSITION TO YOU
IFD’s learning culture provides tools and organization for individual development. Learning is an important element of working in IFD, and IFD will support your personal development through training, sparring and by ensuring that you get exciting and challenging tasks and new opportunities for growth.
IFD offers a hybrid workplace, allowing you to manage your own time effectively. IFD has a diverse and inclusive working environment with more than 150 talented individuals from 20+ different nationalities. At IFD you work seamlessly together with colleagues around the corner, cross the organization and between the regional offices in Asia, Africa, LATAM and Europe.
When joining IFD, you will take part in their extensive onboarding program to get the best possible start in your new role.
ABOUT IFD
IFD is a Danish impact investor contributing to green, just and inclusive societies as well as supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. IFD provides risk capital to companies operating in developing countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and parts of Europe. Investments are made on commercial terms in the form of equity, loans and guarantees.
The fund provides risk capital and professional advisory services in financially viable companies through a range of investment products ranging from direct investment in debt and equity, as well as fund investments, mezzanine financing and guaranties with the purpose of creating impact. IFD operates as an active owner (minority stakeholder) with a long investment horizon and invests in companies established in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and parts of Europe sharing the risk with their investment partners. IFD’s return/risk appetite depends on the product with a range of the products operating with expectation of commercial level returns. Ticket size is between DKK 50-750 M depending on product.
IFD’s work is closely aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, investing in projects that generate positive societal impact. In 2024 IFD received recognition from BlueMark as one of the worlds’ best Impact Investors.
IFD has co-invested in over 1,300 companies in more than 100 developing countries and emerging markets. Contracted investments total EUR 31 billion, of which IFD has contributed EUR 3.4 billion. Capital under management will be growing from EUR 2.1 billion to EUR 5.0 billion over the next few years.
Headquartered in Copenhagen, IFD also has regional offices in Nairobi, Kyiv, New Delhi, and São Paulo with additional offices on the way, ensuring strong local presence and market insight.
With over 55 years of experience and a strong mission to drive social and sustainable development through responsible investments, IFD plays a key role in Denmark’s international development efforts and the global green transition.
You can learn more about IFD at https://www.impactfund.dk/.
APPLICATION AND CONTACT
If you believe this position is a good fit for you, we look forward to receiving your application. Please attach your CV and any relevant documentation. Should you have any questions regarding the position, please don’t hesitate to contact Camilla Krogh at (+45 51261264) or Mikkel Falkenberg at (+45 29993065) from the team at RESOLVA.
