Historique

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 “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. UNCDF’s financing models work through two channels: financial inclusion that expands the opportunities for individuals, households, and small businesses to participate in the local economy, providing them with the tools they need to climb out of poverty and manage their financial lives; and by showing how localized investments—through fiscal decentralization, innovative municipal finance, and structured project finance—can drive public and private funding that underpins local economic expansion and sustainable development. By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty and SDG 17 on the means of implementation. By identifying those market segments where innovative financing models can have transformational impact in helping to reach the last mile and address exclusion and inequalities of access, UNCDF contributes to a number of different SDGs.

Approximately US$1.7 trillion flows from the developed world to the developing world from a diversified set of actors and with equally distinct motivations, ranging from purely philanthropic to market-rate return on investments. By being innovative in the way development assistance is deployed it can have the potential to extend the reach and effectiveness of the aid through for example the complementary deployment of private capital i.e. by blending public and private funds for enhanced development results. The development assistance then has the potential to expand the pool of foreign and domestic capital available for economic development for e.g. small and medium enterprises, agriculture, infrastructure and key public services.

UNCDF can use a combination of grant, reimbursable grant, loans, guarantees and/or technical assistance to support early stage businesses, SMEs, projects, microfinance institutions and municipal investments. Up till today UNCDFs use of loans and guarantees is growing and there is now an ambition to make better use of these financial instruments and the last year has seen a steep increase in the issuance of loans and guarantees. UNCDF work to provide access to finance by using a range of financial products is available to all segments of society, at a reasonable cost, and on a sustainable basis. One objective is now to set up a joint fund with a third-party fund manager to attract other type of capitals to UNCDF’s pipeline of projects. UNCDF may also try to offer its advisory services to other UN agencies without the mandate to do loans and guarantees.

Given its value added in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals agenda particularly in Least Developed Countries, UNCDF is on the road to expanding its capital investment mandate by optimizing its funding architecture to catalyze more funding from both official and private sources.

Context:

The LDC Investment platform team reports directly to the Executive Secretary but supports the two operational divisions within UNCDF in their due diligence of transactions. Independently the LDC Investment platform provide a credit opinion to the Impact Investment Committee. Consequently, the team balances between being a support function to the loan officer in the field, and an independent credit risk function within the organization.

The LDC investment platform is now looking for one Senior Investment Advisor with extensive experience on project finance, infrastructure and renewable energy. The Advisor will work closely with the LDC investment platform team and complete certain tasks related to his/her expertise. The Platform team presently includes competencies and experiences in supporting small and middle-sized companies, especially with a focus on agribusiness, fintech and micro finance, which are the major areas of operation for UNCDF.

UNCDF shall enter into a non-exclusive long-term agreement (LTA) with the selected Consultant(s) and shall provide specific deliverables and time frames for each task, as and when required. Prospective individuals are requested to take note of the following:

• This solicitation is for a Long-Term Agreement (LTA) for one year and renewable up to three years linked to satisfactory performance of the individual consultant. “LTA” refers to a mutual arrangement whereby the Consultant will provide services as required, over a specific period of time;
• An LTA is a mutual arrangement between UNCDF and an individual to provide the required services at an agreed fixed prices 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. 

The broader objective of this consultancy is also to assist the LDC investment platform in developing an investment agenda for its operations and help position UNCDF in an investment space which is lacking access to finance. More specifically the Advisor will support on specific project finance transactions sourced by UNCDF or any other party to UNCDF e.g. UNDP. The Advisor is also expected to take a role at the credit committee of UNCDF and, more generally, give feed-back on processes and policies.
 

Devoirs et responsabilités

Scope of Services:

Under the supervision of the Head of Investment Platform Team, and in close collaboration with other colleagues in the IP Team, the consultant will specifically:

• Advise on the how to design investment strategies to achieve UNCDF’s strategic objectives;
• Advise UNCDF in expanding its investment portfolio according to mandate and related principles;
• Advise on how to design policies, tools, and processes to comply with standard requirements and methods comparable with other development finance institutions;
• Advise on the preparation and execution of project finance transactions;
• Advise on the preparation and execution of energy transactions;
• Advise UNCDF on how to partner with other financial institutions in different financial structures;
• Participate in the meetings of Impact Investment Committee (UNCDF’s credit committee);
• Advise UNCDF on the collaboration with a third party fund manager to set up an impact fund.

The call-off for the services shall be formalized by virtue of an email request from the Head of the LD 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 Head of the LDCIP Team.

The call-off email shall indicate the nature of the services required, 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 of the following documents accumulated on a monthly basis:

1. Email call-offs from the Head of LDCIP;
2. Output Submitted to the Head of LDCIP in fulfillment of the requested services;
3. Written acceptance of the output duly signed by the Head of LDCIP; and
4. Approval of the monthly invoice by the Head 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.

Compétences

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.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education: 

• Masters level qualifications in business, finance, marketing, economics, accounting, energy or related fields.

Experience:

• A minimum of 20 years of experience in finance and development, within an international financial environment, preferably in development finance institution, multilateral or government institution or similar;
• A minimum of 3 years’ experience in working for/in the UN System or similar international development institution;
• Strategic thinker, with an entrepreneurial mind-set and a high tolerance for risk, as well as being adaptable and able to deal with large organizations;
• Experience working with multilateral organizations, venture capital and/or investment banks;
• Experience with business planning and financial projections;
• Experience in managing or setting up an investment fund or investment vehicle is a must;
• Full familiarity with a range of debt and equity instruments.

Language:

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

Candidate Evaluation Methodology:

• Preliminary Screening:  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 20 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 by 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 (20 points);
• Experience (relevance, geographical coverage, etc) (75points);
• Language (Fluency in English is required) (5 points).

Interview: The 3 candidates who score the highest in the desk review and also meet the minimum threshold (75 points) will be invited for a Skype interview. The shortlisted candidates will be invited for a skype interview and evaluated against the following criteria:  Relevant experience; Topic/sector knowledge; Team work and management skills.

Financial Proposals:  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:

• Only one candidate obtaining highest score in the final evaluation will be offered to enter into a Long-Term Agreement with UNCDF.

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 (Duty station is New York and that daily fee should be all inclusive of this (no separate per diem for New York);
• Detailed Personal CV

Remuneration:

Consultancy fees will be paid upon satisfactory completion of each assignment/milestone sub.

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