BRICS bank seeks to hire top management

The New Development Bank (NDB) is calling for applications to senior positions, mostly based in Shanghai, to spearhead a team dedicated to infrastructure financing and economic development. 

Eleven vacancies for director general positions across various divisions are now advertised on the website of NDB, a multilateral lender set up last year by the BRICS countries with an initial capital base of $50 billion. 

The ten Shanghai-based positions cover project financing, risk management, human resources, administration, treasury and portfolio management, finance, budget and accounting, compliance, front office of the president, corporate secretary and legal counsel. The role of African regional director will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

The bank expects to hire around 100 staff by the end of 2016. 

Its senior management team currently includes president KV Kamath from India, chief financial officer Leslie Maasdorp from South Africa, chief operations officer Xian Zhu from China, chief risk officer Paulo Nogueira Batista Junior from Brazil and chief administrative officer Vladimir Savelievich Kazbekov from Russia. 

The NDB, which operates from its Shanghai headquarters, predominantly focuses on the Chinese and Indian markets. The bank has said it will later extend its reach to other member countries. 

With $1 billion paid-in capital brought by founding members as initial contributions, the bank has started raising debt. It intends to leverage its capital to up to two and a half times. 

NDB aims to lend up to $2 billion this year. Its first loan to India will likely support a solar project, according to Kamath. He said that the bank is also looking to finance road and water projects. 

The bank expects to announce its first set of loans by April.