UNDP Jobs - 89655- Senior Islamic Finance Advisor (IRH)

Senior Islamic Finance Advisor (IRH)

Location :

Home-based with possible missions

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

24-Jan-20 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

estimated February 2020 – December 2020

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

up to 60 working days

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 scale and ambition of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) will require massive financial and technical resources - $5 to 7 trillion annually based on UNCTAD world investment report 2014. This is particularly pertinent in the context of fragile and crisis situations where investments need to be made into strengthening development gains around preparedness and response to crisis. The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) provided a unique opportunity for UNDP and other partners to initiate a dialogue on a more robust partnership with Islamic financing providers, especially in the context of leveraging Zakat and Sukuk in a strategic manner that allows for this type of financing to operationalise the emergency phase but with a longer-term view to enhance resilience. Several UN reports, including those by the High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing and a report from the Secretary General on the WHS, have identified Islamic finance as a high-potential source of additional finance to contribute to reducing the humanitarian financing gap, complimentary to other sources.

Islamic finance can be a strong and non-traditional source of financing for the SDGs, specifically within fragile contexts. With global assets estimated to reach $3.2 trillion USD in 2020, Islamic finance has a strong footprint in Asia and Middle East; is ripe for growth in South America and Europe; and has future markets in North America, Central Asia and Australia. Given its emphasis on risk-sharing, linkages to real economic activities, partnership-based and equity-focused approaches, widened geographic reach and the rapid expansion of its global assets in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, Islamic finance can serve as a potent and yet untapped source to finance the SDGs. Its major principles– financial stability, financial inclusion and shared prosperity– can be instrumental in the successful implementation of policies on ending poverty (SDG 1), achieving food security (SDG 2), ensuring healthy lives (SDG 3), achieving gender equality (SDG 5), and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies (SDG 16). The UNDP has also formed a multi-faceted partnership with the Islamic Development Bank Group in joint services of the SDGs.

In 2019, UNDP established the SDG Finance Sector Hub (FSH) to ensure that UNDP’s support for financing the SDGs is well coordinated and aligned with the SDG integration Offer, the Secretary General’s Roadmap for Financing the 2030 Agenda and above all to increase the scale, global, regional and national levels of UNDP support to governments. The FSH will support national strategies for accelerating progress on financing the SDGs at the country level. Deepening public-private collaboration, including Islamic finance, is a modus operandi for UNDP’s work on financing the SDGs. Under the FSH, an informal Islamic Finance cross-bureau team has been created to provide support to both global and country-level Islamic finance partnerships.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Team Leader, Financial Institutions Team, under the Finance Sector Hub (FSH), the cross-bureau Islamic finance team, and the Islamic finance reference group, the Consultant will perform the following tasks during the assignment period, advancing the previous work done under related contracts for CRU and BERA:

Provide strategic advice to UNDP senior management on UNDP’s engagement in IF, including the development of guiding principles and practices for the organization, and the development of service offers for the FSH.
Facilitate/deliver high-level outreach and partnerships between UNDP and relevant IF media, events and institutions.
Guide inter-agency discussions and deliverables on unlocking Islamic finance for the SDGs.
Provide direct support when requested by specific RBx, COs or partners, with funding from those sources.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

Deliverables are subject to approval of Team Leader, Financial Institutions Team

A Strategy for UNDP’s engagement in IF developed, including guiding principles, guiding practices and service offers; up to 14 days; deadline 31 March 2020
High-level outreach and partnerships between UNDP and relevant IF media, events and institutions facilitated / delivered and GIFIIP membership base expanded by at least 10 new members; up to 8 days; deadline: 31 December 2020
System-wide discussions guided and followed-up to unlock Islamic finance for the SDGs, including through the inter-agency IF task force and inter-bureau IF reference group - up to 6 days; deadline: 31 December 2020
Direct support on IF issues provided when requested by specific RBx, COs or partners, with funding from those sources. - up to 32 days; deadline: 31 December 2020

Institutional Arrangement

Specific workplan will be agreed with the certifying officer at the beginning of each month. Payments will be made once a month upon submitted timesheets and their satisfactory acceptance by the Supervisor/Certifying Officer.
The Consultant will report to the Team Leader or Financial Institutions Team, and his/her performance will be assessed against the deliverables. The Consultant will also interact with relevant UNDP staff across the various bureaus on a regular basis, and meet with senior managers and key line staff, as well as representatives from the EOSG and across the UN System, as required. The consultant will also present his/her work to the established IF reference Group

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

Commitment to UNDP and OCHA mission, vision and values;
Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Functional competencies:

Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team
Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback
Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities
Excellent public speaking and presentation skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master’s Degree in international relations, economics, finance, political or social sciences, or a development related field.

Experience

A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience is the Islamic Finance sector with demonstrated experience advising governments and other stakeholders on Islamic Social Finance.
Proven experience with the Islamic finance sector and relevant public, multi-lateral and private institutions, as well as across the UN system is an asset
Experience in strategy development and donor and partnerships/public relations at the international level;
Specialized experience in the UN, IFIs, development financing and/or South-South cooperation an asset.

Languages:

Fluency in English both oral and written is required.
Working level of Arabic is an asset.

Evaluation of Applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on a cumulative analysis taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal.

The award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and b) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (P11 desk reviews and interviews) and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates who will get min. 70% of points in desk review (criteria A-C) will be invited for interviews. Only candidates who get min. 70% of points in technical evaluation (includes desk review and interview- criteria A-G) will be evaluated in financial evaluation.

Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation – max. 70 points:

Criteria A (Desk review - Education) – max points: 10
Criteria B (Desk review -Experience in the Islamic Finance sector with demonstrated experience advising governments and other stakeholders on Islamic Social Finance) – max points: 20
Criteria C (Methodology) – max. points: 15 points
Criteria D (Interview - Proven experience with the Islamic finance sector and relevant public, multi-lateral and private institutions, as well as across the UN system) – max points: 10
Criteria E (Interview - Experience in strategy development and donor and partnerships/public relations at the international level) – max points: 5
Criteria F (Interview - experience in the UN, IFIs, development financing and/or South-South cooperation) – max 5
Criteria G (Interview - language skills) – max 5

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation – max. 30 points.

Application procedures

The application submission is a two-step process. Failing to comply with the submission process may result in disqualifying the applications

Step 1: Interested candidates must include the following documents when submitting the applications (Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF attachment as the system only allows upload of one document):

Cover letter explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for the advertised position. Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application.
A brief methodology on how you will approach and conduct the work (max. 500 words)
Filled P11/CV form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://www.eurasia.undp.org/content/dam/rbec/docs/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc);

Step 2: Submission of Financial Proposal - Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and requested to provide a financial offer.

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

General Terms and conditions as well as other related documents can be found under: http://on.undp.org/t7fJs.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.