Founded by a General Assembly resolution in 1966, the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers financial solutions that try to mobilize public and private resources, both internationally and domestically, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

UNCDF’s expertise is in three primary areas of work: (1) development and financing of inclusive digital economies through a market development approach, largely driven by digital finance and innovation; (2) local development finance through fiscal decentralization (including local climate adaptation finance), municipal finance and structured project finance, to drive market transformation in local economic development; and (3) investment finance, to drive capital accumulation and market transformation in financially underserved areas, including investment sourcing, due diligence, de-risking, deployment of loans and guarantees, and crowding in of investment capital from domestic and international investors. Women’s and youth’s economic empowerment are specifically articulated across all UNCDF work in terms of objectives, approaches, theory of change, targets, and indicators.

UNCDF uses a combination of grant, reimbursable grant, loans, guarantees and technical assistance to support early stage businesses, SMEs, projects, microfinance institutions and municipal investments. Up till today UNCDF’s use of loans and guarantees has been growing and there is now an even higher ambition to make better and wider use of these financial instruments. UNCDF has also seen a strong increase in demand for its loan and guarantee services from other UN agencies, not least UNDP. In response to the need to deploy different kind of risk tolerant capital, a blended finance impact fund was launched by Bamboo Capital Partners, as the result of a joint initiative between UNCDF and this private asset manager. The fund, called BUILD, has recently been incorporated and will be able to provide finance to an additional set of potential investees coming from UNCDF and the wider UN system.

UNCDF’s LDC Investment Platform (LDCIP) serves as UNCDF’s center of excellence on innovative development finance by creating the conditions for investment viability in financially underserved areas, in the LDCs. The aim of the LDCIP is to be part of a system that (a) demonstrates to domestic and international investors that LDC markets can and do generate returns, provide opportunities for successful investment, and merit the attention of a wider range of investors and that (b) uses those demonstration effects to support policy and regulatory improvements which will help the scale up of investment activities.

The transactional work undertaken by UNCDF and other actors has proven to be especially effective in stimulating SME growth. Indeed, SMEs are the mainstay of many LDC economies and play an essential role in creating formal employment, empowering women and youth, and reducing inequalities. Similarly, essential small-scale local infrastructure projects can foster local economic development and contribute to the “leave no one behind” agenda. However, their development is often hindered by their difficulty in accessing adequately structured and priced finance. 

Context:

The LDC Investment Platform (LDCIP) team reports directly to the Executive Secretary. It supports UNCDF’s two operational divisions (Inclusive Digital Economies and Local Development Finance) as well as agencies from the wider UN system on issues related to investment finance and innovative SDG financing.

LDCIP is looking to build a cohesive and well-knit team of Investment Consultants at both Senior and Junior levels, with prior substantive work-experience and strong technical expertise in various areas of finance:

• Agricultural SMEs;
• Clean energy SMEs; 
• SMEs promoting digitalization in the context of financial inclusion (FINTECH);
• Project finance;  
• Micro Finance Institutions;
• Guarantee instruments;
• Sovereign and sub-sovereign lending

These Investment Consultants will work closely with the LDCIP team and manage certain tasks related to his/her expertise. The Investment Consultants will contribute throughout the investment process, including the initial assessment of new opportunities, the due diligence and credit analysis, and the monitoring and follow-up of deployed transactions. They might be asked to carry out independent risk assessments and sometimes help structure the financial transaction. Some investment opportunities will be sourced from the wider UN system and those agencies may need more elaborated support in due diligence and structuring. Some investments may need to be referred to a third-party managed fund, the BUILD fund, which has been initiated in partnership with Bamboo Capital Partners. Along with the transactional work, it will be important to continuously build new knowledge from investing in different geographies and thematic areas and be able to share that knowledge with UNCDF’s constituency. The building of knowledge, mainly through the transactions, may lead to supporting UNCDF in shaping policy recommendations for decision makers.

UNCDF shall enter into a non-exclusive IC Framework Agrement, also referred to as long-term agreement (LTA) with the selected Consultant(s) and shall provide specific deliverables and time frames for each task, as and when required. For this particular post, UNCDF seeks to engage 5 or more senior investment consultants. 

Prospective individuals are requested to take note of the following:

• This solicitation is for IC Framework agreement or as noted, Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for one year and renewable up to two more years (total of 3 years) linked to satisfactory performance of the individual consultant. 

• An LTA is a mutual arrangement between UNCDF and an individual to provide the required services at an agreed fixed price applicable whenever provision of services is called-off at any time over an initial period of 12 months, with potential extension of up to 2 more years, depending on various factors such as funding, continued project need, and performance.

• Under an LTA, UNCDF does not warrant that any quantity of services shall be called-off during the term of this Agreement. Where a request for services arises, UNCDF shall directly contract the consultant based on its need to carry out those activities.
• A specific Term of Reference (TOR) outlining the outputs for each assignment shall be provided, which shall be aligned within the framework TOR under the LTA, and an Individual Contract would be issued to the consultant, detailing the time frame for the call-off, but adhering to the fixed pricing agreed on the framework LTA.
• A Standard Operationg Procedure (SOP) will be issued to guide the LTA implementation (i.e., detailed call off-process)

Scope of Services:

Under the supervision of the Director of the LDC Investment Platform Team, and in close collaboration with other colleagues in the LDCIP Team, the Senior Investment consultant will specifically:

• Assist UNCDF in the execution of its investment operations including:
  • Sourcing and screening of investment opportunities;
  • Due diligence and underwriting of selected transactions, including company, industry and country data which should be analyzed in the required documentation format;
  • Analysis of the financial accounts (balance sheet, income statement and cash flow analysis) of prospective investees;
  • Building of financial models in excel;
  • Scoring credit risk of transactions;
  • Writing of investment appraisal memorandums;

• If needed, participate and assist in presenting transactions during the meetings of UNCDF’s Investment Committee;
• Advise UNCDF on how to partner with other financial institutions in different financial structures;
• Advise UNCDF on the collaboration with the BUILD fund manager and Bamboo Capital Partners.
• Advise UNCDF in expanding its investment portfolio according to its mandate and related principles;
• Assist UNCDF in preparing knowledge products and policy recommendations based on the transactional work

The call-off for the services shall be formalized by virtue of an email request from the Director of the LDC Investment Platform Team. All other originator of any call-off email shall not be considered official and cannot be used as basis for invoicing for services rendered, except the ones transmitted by the Director of the LDCIP Team.

The call-off email shall indicate the nature of the services and deliverables required (Terms of Reference (TOR), and the number of days to complete the services. The work that will be indicated in any call-off e-mail MUST fall within the broad framework of services listed above. 

Payment:

The consultant shall be required to submit monthly invoices summarizing the work rendered during the given period. Payments shall only be released upon submission of ALL the following documents accumulated on a monthly basis:

1. Email call-offs (with TOR specifying services, deliverables, and duration/number of days) from the Director of LDCIP;

2. Output Submitted to the Director of LDCIP in fulfillment of the requested services;

3. Written acceptance of the output duly signed by the Director of LDCIP; and

4. Approval of the monthly invoice by the Director of LDCIP, which shall serve as an authorization to disburse the payment.

Travel:

• The consultant will not be required to report to the office. He/She is expected to render services from his/her home base;
• In the event that there will a travel outside of his/her home base, if the duty so requires, it will be paid for by UNCDF, in accordance with UNCDF travel policies as applied to consultants;
• A separate ToR with clear deliverables, budget and timelines will be prepared and agreed prior to each field mission within the terms of this ToR.

Monitoring and Progress Control:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Head of the Investment Platform.

Corporate Competencies:

• Ability to promote the vision, mission and strategic goals of UNCDF;
• Demonstrate integrity by modelling the UN's values and ethical standards;
• Display cultural, gender, religion, race and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional Competencies:

• Understands how a public funded agency like UNCDF functions;
• Understands how project finance transactions are structured to align incentives among different players and financial instruments;
• Understands investments needs of enterprises and the mix of debt/equity required at different growth stages—from incubation to scaling up to commercial viability;
• Strong quantitative and financial abilities, such as making financial projections and analyzing statistics and financial statements;
• Strong analytical writing skills; experienced in producing concise, executive level reports (PowerPoint) and presentations, training modules and materials;
• Good interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi-cultural environment, with sensitivity to diverse opinions;
• Ability to articulate strategic thinking in a bottom-up approach.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Masters level qualifications in business administration, finance, marketing, economics, accounting, or related fields.
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) diploma, or similar, is regarded as an asset.

Experience:

• A minimum of 15 years of relevant work experience in either the financial sector or the private sector or a mix, preferably with investment and/or business management expertise. (Please note that experts with minimum experience ranging between 5-10 years (or less than 15 years) may apply for an Investment Consultant position, please check out UNDP Jobs.
• Experience working in venture capital and/or banking within an international financial environment, preferably in development finance institution, impact investor or similar;
• A minimum of 3 years of experience in working for/in the UN System or similar international development finance institution;
• Experience in private credit and/or equity for investments with a social mission in emerging/frontier markets, is highly preferable.
• Experience in project preparation and/or in development of investment opportunities, especially for investment projects with social objective in developing countries.
• Experience from fund management, preferably a fund with both financial and impact targets, is regarded as an asset.
• A minimum of 5 years investment experience in at least one, but preferably several, of the following areas: Agricultural SMEs, Clean energy SMEs, SMEs promoting digitalization in the context of financial inclusion (FINTECH), Project finance, Micro Finance Institutions, Guarantee instruments and/or Sovereign and/or sub-sovereign lending

Further, the interested applicants should be able to demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking capability, with an entrepreneurial mind-set, as well as being adaptable and able to deal with large organizations.
• Active interest in investing in developing countries and understanding of emerging market environments, opportunities and barriers to investing.
• Strong knowledge of financial markets and financing for sustainable development, with ability to apply it to strategic and/or practical situations.
• Full familiarity with a range of debt and equity instruments.
• Experience with business planning and financial projections.
• Competency with financial modeling and analysis in Microsoft excel.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment.
• Computer literacy, including proficient use of research and applied software.

Language:

• Written and spoken fluency in English is required;
• A second UN language fluency is considered desirable, French preferred.

Application Procedures:

All applications must contain the following information in one word or PDF document (as the system only allows to upload maximum one document) combining the following:

• Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies in relation to the TOR please refer to the following link for a template:

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916

• Financial proposal: The financial proposal must indicate daily professional fee in USD;
• Detailed Personal CV

Candidate Evaluation Methodology:

Preliminary Screening (Longlisting): Applications will be screened and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

• Education: Masters level qualifications in business, finance, marketing, economics, accounting, energy, engineering or related fields;
• Experience: At least 15 years hands-on experience in working in finance and development, such as a development finance institution/investment industry—either in banking, fund management, insurance, underwriting, refinancing or financial consultancy business.

Shortlisting

1. Desk Review:

UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates by evaluating the following criteria with the corresponding points (100 points)

• Education/Qualification (15 points);
• Experience (relevance, geographical coverage, etc) (80 points), as follows: (i) A minimum of 15 years of relevant work experience in either the financial sector or the private sector or a mix, preferably with investment and/or business management expertise (20 points); (ii) Experience working in venture capital and/or banking within an international financial environment, preferably in development finance institution, impact investor or similar (10 points); A minimum of 3 years of experience in working for/in the UN System or similar international development finance institution (10 points); Experience in private credit and/or equity for investments with a social mission in emerging/frontier markets, is highly preferable (10 points); Experience in project preparation and/or in development of investment opportunities, especially for investment projects with social objective in developing countries (5 points); Experience from fund management, preferably a fund with both financial and impact targets, is regarded as an asset (5 points); A minimum of 5 years investment experience in at least one, but preferably several, of the following areas: Agricultural SMEs, Clean energy SMEs, SMEs promoting digitalization in the context of financial inclusion (FINTECH), Project finance, Micro Finance Institutions, Guarantee instruments and/or Sovereign and/or sub-sovereign lending (20 points). 
• Language (Fluency in English is required) (5 points).

2. Interview:

The candidates who score the highest in the desk review and also meet the minimum threshold (70 points) will be invited for a Skype interview. The shortlisted candidates will be evaluated against the following criteria: Relevant investment experience; Area knowledge; Team work and Management skills.

Financial Proposals:

 The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposals: lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.The shortlisted candidates will be rated on both technical and financial submissions, providing a weight of 70% to the technical offer and 30% to the financial offer. 

Final Evaluation:

The Final evaluation will combine the scores of desk review, interview and financial proposal with the following weights assigned to each:

• Desk Review (30%) + Interview (40%)
• Financial Proposal (30%)

Contract Award:

Five candidates obtaining the  highest scores in the final evaluation will be offered to enter into IC Framework Agreement with UNCDF.

Additional Application Information

• Individual consultants and individuals employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply. 

• Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). 

• P11 form will be required at the time a consultant signs an Individual contract (IC).

• UN Personal History form (UN PH11) can be downloaded from: http://sas.undp.org/documents/P11_Personal_history_form.doc;
• For reference, General Terms and Conditions for the Services of ICs is provided here: How we buy | UNDP

UNCDF 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.

If you are experiencing difficulties with online job applications, please contact uncdf.procurement@uncdf.org

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