UNDP Jobs - 51739- Investment Officer/ Finance Specialist

Investment Officer/ Finance Specialist - (3 positions) - (Open to Tanzanian Nationals Only)

Location :

Dar Es Salaam, TANZANIA

Type of Contract :

Service Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

01-Dec-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

SB-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

1 Year

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

1 Year

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to development finance and investment capital. UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis. It provides seed capital – grants and loans– and technical support to help development finance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

The Local Development Finance Initiative (LFI) is a global programme of UNCDF designed to unlock financial sectors to finance small and medium-sized infrastructure projects that are needed to accelerate local economic development and private sector development.

The LFI Investment Officer will work under the direct supervision of the LFI Chief Technical Advisor (CTA), based in Dar es Salaam.

Duties and Responsibilities

Organization and facilitation of key programme activities related to developing and financing infrastructure projects (60%)

Provide implementation support for the process of identifying, developing, and financing small scale infrastructure projects in Tanzania;
Interact with local stakeholders during project identification, development and financing (government officials, private sector banks, project sponsors, development partners, etc);
Provide directly and facilitate provision of support services to project sponsors identified. This includes feasibility studies, business plans, financial analysis, market assessment, financial advisory services and project finance transaction structuring;
Support the establishment of co-financing relationships with local and international financial institutions, nurture relationships and manage activities needed to secure co-financing of LFI projects;
Facilitate the required technical studies under guidance of the CTA by engaging the project sponsors, consultants, local authorities and communities as appropriate, including the development of TORs that reflect project finance requirements and support of the procurement processes;
Identify alternative financing sources and structures for LFI-T Fund, including the preparation of and participation in discussions and negotiations with banks, investors and other stakeholders;
Participate in activities to promote LFI’s activities resulting in a project pipeline and/or strategic partnerships;
Support the implementation of the Tanzania LED Finance Programme Performance and Business-Enabling Environment Metrics.
Prepare and facilitate technical missions for project and pipeline development;
Contribute to the setting up of a system for monitoring project revenues, expenses, risk factors on an ongoing basis.

Organization and facilitation of key programme activities, related to capacity building and knowledge management (25%)

Provide support for the LFI-T capacity building and training programme, ensuring programme knowledge generation and dissemination, including support to the development of LFI-T tools and toolkits, case studies, briefs, research documents, and client impact evaluations;
Support and ensure timely delivery of LFI training programmes;
Support and ensure the implementation of the LFI-T stakeholder mobilization and communication plan and organise and coordinate outreach activities with a variety of stakeholders;
Provide specialist input to and ensure application of the processes and tools to facilitate the transfer of knowledge, training, and scaling up of LFI-T nationally, building the capacity of local stakeholders in the public and private sectors;
Develop and implement tools and programmes for knowledge building, transfer and sharing.

Project Management & Resource Mobilization (15%)

Ensure the delivery of the key results on time and to budget as assigned by the CTA;
Timely planning, budgeting and reporting in accordance with the guidelines of the Implementing Partner, UNCDF and UN Tanzania;
Exercise financial management of the project, including timely submission of requests for disbursement of funds and other forms;
Establish and maintain an effective and efficient project monitoring system providing regular feedback on the project performance and to update regularly risk and issue logs;
Support efforts of UNCDF to mobilize additional resources for LFI-T.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Ability to work independently and be creative and innovative;
Integrity and ability to travel extensively and work in team.

Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise

Expert knowledge of private sector finance. Development finance knowledge is a plus;
Understands the importance of mobilizing the private sector for development;
Demonstrates ability to engage across multiple stakeholders, including project sponsors, government partners and financial institutions;
Applies a broad knowledge of best management practices;
Keeps abreast of new developments in development finance and seeks to develop him/herself personally;
Demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments.

Building Strategic Partnerships

Makes effective use of UNCDF’s resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations;
Strong networking capabilities and ability to associate him/herself with a range of actors (including policy makers, regulators, FSPs and donors) with a view to building relations and facilitating links;
Resource mobilization experience and record of success in reporting to and managing donor grants and reporting mechanisms.

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches

Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;
Conceptualizes more effective approaches to programme development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources.

Client Orientation

Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
Proactively identifies, develops and discusses solutions for internal and external clients, and persuades management to undertake new projects or services;
Advises and develops strategic and operational solutions with clients that add value to UNCDF programmes and operations.

Core Competencies:

Managing complex projects and processes, with strong organizational and communication skills;
Developing programme activities, planning events, preparing presentations, and conducting training events;
Promoting ethics and integrity, creating organizational precedents;
Building support and political acumen;
Building staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
Ability to work and excel in a small team environment;
Creating and promoting enabling environment for open communication;
Sharing knowledge across the organization and building a culture of knowledge sharing and learning;
Fair and transparent decision-making; calculated risk-taking.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

At least a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Finance, Banking or related areas, plus preferably a Bachelor Degree in engineering, finance or economics.

Experience:

Preferably a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience;
Ability to build partnerships and deliver results that meet the needs and long-term interest of clients within and outside the institution;
Demonstrated experience in preparation of project financial analysis and creation/evaluation of advanced and complex Ms Excel spread sheet financial models;
Demonstrated experience with private equity/venture investments, credit and risk assessment, with solid financial modelling and risk assessment skills. Project financing experience in the private sector is a plus;
Demonstrated experience in preliminary evaluation of project proposals for assessing their feasibility for private sector funding and/or technical support by LFI. This involves the initial screening of project applications, carrying out of desk reviews and evaluation of feasibility studies, preparing evaluation notes for presentation to the Management Team to determine a project’s suitability for inclusion in the pipeline, and preparing more detailed project concept notes to obtain clearance for full appraisal or fact-finding field trips;
Demonstrated experience in planning and execution of project appraisal and site visits. This includes developing terms of reference for site visits; carrying out independent research on the investment climate, project sponsors, management, economic, financial, marketing, technical, environmental and legal aspects of the project. The work also includes assessing the risks of projects and advising sponsors on appropriate mitigating measures; structuring/restructuring of projects to minimize financial risks; participating in negotiations, or conducting preliminary negotiations with sponsors on financing terms and legal conditions for the proposed investment/loan by lenders;
Good listener with demonstrated ability to present and win support for ideas as well as make effective and timely decisions;
Computer proficiency, including working knowledge of MS Office products, capacity in web-based management tools.

Language:

Fluent in English and Swahili.