Mission Related Investments (MRI) Officer

Position: Mission Related Investments (MRI) Officer

Team(s): Finance, Investments & Operations

Reports to: Mission Related Investments (MRI) Portfolio Manager

Based in: The Hague, The Netherlands

Salary range: Korn Ferry Level 15 (EUR 4200 – EUR 5800 gross per month excluding 13th month and vacation allowance)

Desired start date: 1 April 2026

*Only applicants with a valid work and residence permit for The Netherlands will be considered.

The position of Mission Related Investments (MRI) Officer is a new role that supports the MRI Portfolio Manager in executing the Foundation’s MRI strategy. This role supports the Foundation’s full lifecycle of the impact investing, strategic reporting, the coordination of advocacy activities and partner capacity building. The role spans financial and investment activities as well as social impact.

By helping to establish and maintain strong relationships with MRI partners, the role plays an essential part in the MRI portfolio’s ability to effectively deploy new investment capital and support the impact of the Foundation and its partners.

1. Supports the MRI Portfolio Manager to identify, cultivate and maintain ongoing relationships with investment fund managers and industry professionals as well as reviewing early-stage investments:
   1. Attends various industry investment forums (GIIN, Phenix, EVPA) alongside the MRI Portfolio Manager
   2. Updates pipeline of global impact investment opportunities across the Sustainable Development Goals selected by the Foundation.
2. Pre-investment stage: supports coordination of relevant investment due-diligence activities (i.e., financial, investment, operational, with a dedicated focus on ESG and impact):
   1. This includes follow-up activities, such as: synthesis of due-diligence meetings, evaluation of selected data room documents, including but not limited to investment and impact processes as well as ESG practices
3. Post-investment stage: supports MRI Portfolio Manager to monitor and maintain regular engagement with investment General Partners (c. 8-10 GPs) and their underlying portfolio companies:
   1. Participates in update calls, reviews quarterly reports and helps to coordinate on mission-aligned topics
   2. Coordinates the management of the strategic reporting lifecycle for the MRI portfolio, including collecting, validating and analyzing overall portfolio progress across key strategic indicators, developing annual reporting and identifying learnings
   3. Identifies and coordinates activities with the Foundation’s internal technical assistance team and external technical partners to provide capacity-building opportunities, engage to strengthen impact goals and share learning
4. Together with the MRI Portfolio Manager, support the project management, content development and/or coordination of larger strategic advocacy initiatives where learnings are used to inspire more and larger investors
5. Supports the MRI portfolio internal learning and external communications
   1. Captures and drafts partner spotlights, blogs, and success stories
   2. Takes part in internal meetings alongside MRI Portfolio Manager (for example: Theory of Change workshops and other strategic meetings)
6. Undertakes the research and support work for other projects as directed by MRI Portfolio Manager (for example: collating ESG best practices, researching other foundation’s MRI practices, administration processes of supporting grants).

Inside the Foundation:MRI Portfolio Manager, Finance team, Communications team, Investment & Operations team, Programme team, Administration team

Outside the Foundation: Other foundations, impact investment managers, specialised legal, due diligence and financial consultants, MRI portfolio companies

• 4-6 years of work experience in strategy consulting, public sector consulting, philanthropy, ESG or impact investing, strategic reporting, monitoring evaluation & learning, finance or similar
• Undergraduate degree in economics, finance, social or natural sciences, or a related field; advanced degrees are a plus
• Demonstrable interest in how investment capital can play a role in social change processes
• Working knowledge of investment management. Some experience in conducting impact due diligence on fund managers would be preferred
• Self-sufficient with advanced stress-management and excellent project management skills
• Experience with data analysis and sensemaking, strong ability to be detail-focused and solutions-oriented
• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to communicate effectively and fluently with a wide variety of stakeholders and to incorporate feedback
• Passion for Foundation’s mission and a desire to make a positive impact on the lives of young children and their families

Van Leer Foundation Competencies: Teamwork, Learning ability, Result-oriented

Job Specific Competencies: Analytical, Planning and organising, Verbal and written communication

The Foundation aims to contribute to inclusive societies where all children and communities can flourish. We do this by bringing people together with different perspectives and supporting them to achieve large-scale impact. Our work covers three main activities:

A Good Start. Giving all children a good start in life sets the foundation for inclusive societies. Through our flagship programme on early childhood development, we work globally to improve the wellbeing of babies, toddlers, and their caregivers. We provide investment and knowledge to help leaders develop and scale effective policies and services.

Van Leer Institutions. We believe the human sciences and the arts are powerful tools to promote inclusive societies because they can help make space for divergent views and mutual understanding. This underpins our support for the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and Jerusalem Film Center. We support both through recurring annual grants.

The Endowment. We rely on our endowment to finance our philanthropic activities and do not raise funds. The endowment invests in a highly diversified portfolio of public market equity and debt and has a substantial allocation to private equity. The full portfolio is screened to meet ESG criteria. We also have an allocation for mission-related investments (MRI) through which we invest in funds aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals closest to our work on early childhood development.

Our team consists of 40+ professionals representing more than 20 nationalities. We have offices in Brazil, India, Israel, Jordan, Senegal and the Netherlands. The team has a wide array of expertise including in early childhood development, urban planning, effective philanthropy, public policy, executive education, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy, strategic communications, impact investing and financial management.