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Consultancy- Innovative Finance Specialist, Sustainable WASH Hub, 8 months, Hybrid-based in Nairobi, Kenya
- Job no: 581029
- Contract type: Consultant
- Duty Station: Nairobi
- Level: Consultancy
- Location: Kenya
- Categories: WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), Financial Management
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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, an opportunity
We’re an interdisciplinary team around the world tasked with identifying and scaling new technologies and practices. With our partners, we focus on convening and collaborating on new and different solutions, low- and high-tech, by Identifying proven solutions that can be implemented at national scale in multiple countries – taking the ideas that help thousands in one country, bringing them to dozens of countries across multiple sectors, and impacting the lives of millions of children.
UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives. The Office of Innovation is a creative, interactive, and agile team in UNICEF. We sit at a unique intersection, where an organization that works on huge global issues meets the start-up thinking, the technology, and the partners that turn this energy into scalable solutions.
The Sustainable WASH Innovation Hub brings together a passionate global community of strategic partners including children and young people, academia, private entrepreneurs, public policy makers, social development and humanitarian actors, and other UNICEF colleagues in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. The Hub, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, aims to source, accelerate the scaling of transformational and frontier climate resilient innovations that respond to key programmatic challenges. It is anticipated that solving these challenges will unlock faster progress for a water secure future for children and young people.
WASH is a capital-intensive sector; however, numerous studies have identified global underinvestment as a significant constraint on achieving sustainable, universal access to safely managed WASH services. IF offers the potential for additional investment to address some or all investment shortfalls. Leveraged together with innovative solutions to WASH problems, IF offers a potentially catalytic approach to addressing several of the world’s largest WASH challenges. Accordingly, demonstrating pathways to accelerate scaling of IF in WASH in development and humanitarian contexts is one of the key focal areas of the Hub.
In the context of this role, IF refers to financing approaches, tools, and mechanisms that: (a) leverage additional resources for children through new financial instruments or apply existing instruments in a new way; (b) make resources work more effectively and efficiently in the interest of children; and/or (c) make resources more results-oriented to accelerate programmatic and operational solutions for children.
This role is focused on supporting the implementation of IF demonstration projects in ESAR. The successful candidate will report to the Senior Adviser responsible for IF in the Hub and assist in driving projects to scale in close collaboration with the ESAR Regional Adviser WASH and the Hub Portfolio Manager. The successful candidate will also work collaboratively with the New York WASH Program Group WASH Specialist (Finance and SS) and country and regional office WASH teams.
How can you make a difference?
1. Contribute to the development and execution of the Hub’s strategic vision for integrating IF into WASH programming in ESAR.
2. Conduct detailed financial analysis and modeling to assess the viability of innovative financing solutions in ESAR.
3. Support the development of business models that attract investment into climate-resilient WASH solutions, ensuring they are scalable and sustainable in ESAR.
4. Provide technical support and guidance to regional and country offices on innovative financing strategies that can enhance WASH programs in ESAR.
5. Develop financial reports for internal and external stakeholders, summarizing the performance of IF initiatives and their impact on WASH outcomes in ESAR.
Your main responsibilities will be:
Task 1: Strategic Planning and Financial Innovation Support
This task will involve:
• Contribute to the execution of the Hub’s strategic vision for integrating IF into WASH programming with a focus on supporting programming in ESAR.
• Support the creation of KPIs for financial innovation projects in ESAR, ensuring alignment with overall WASH and sustainability objectives, and regularly report on progress.
• Regular coordination with the Senior Advisor on the Hub on projects strategic direction
Task 2: Provide technical support in the implementation, scaling, and replication of IF solutions.
This task will involve:
• Technical advice on IF to country offices in a variety of contexts in ESAR, including but not limited to, blended finance, results-based financing mechanisms, outcomes-based contracts, impact funds, and credits, including groundwater mapping and carbon credit solutions
• Technical support to develop feasibility studies on the establishment of IF mechanisms for WASH in ESAR
Task 3: Financial Analysis and Modelling & Financial reporting and development
This task will involve:
• Conduct detailed financial analysis and modeling to assess the viability of innovative financing solutions for WASH in ESAR.
• Support the development of business models that attract investment into climate-resilient WASH solutions, ensuring they are scalable and sustainable.
• Conduct financial risk assessments to ensure the long-term success of WASH financing projects in ESAR.
• Design and/or support feasibility studies into project viability in countries in ESAR
• Develop financial reports for internal and external stakeholders, summarizing the performance of IF initiatives and their impact on WASH outcomes.
• Contribute to the development and identification of financing mechanisms that address gaps in funding for WASH innovations, focusing on bottom-of-the-pyramid households in ESAR.
Task 4: Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing
This task will involve:
• Provide technical support and guidance to regional and country offices on innovative financing strategies that can enhance WASH programs in ESAR.
• Lead workshops and training sessions to build internal capacity on IF approaches, with a focus on sustainability and climate resilience.
• Work with the Hub’s continuous learning pillar to document and share best practices in IF, ensuring lessons learned are integrated into future project designs.
For more details on the deliverables expected during this consultancy please refer to the TORs: 
TOR IF ESARO.pdf
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
• A Master’s degree (or higher) in Finance, Economics, accounting, or a related field.
• *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
Essential
• At least 7 years of relevant experience in finance, with a strong understanding of climate finance, impact investing, and/or sustainable and blended finance, ideally within the public sector, international organizations, or the private sector.
• At least 2 years’ experience working with or understanding international development organizations, particularly in emerging markets or developing countries is required.
• Demonstrated proficiency in financial analysis, project management, and a demonstrated ability to design and implement financial models that support development goals
• Knowledge and/or experience of working modalities for regional and international development banks and other IFIs
• Ability to explain complex technical information and concepts to UNICEF country staff and partners so they can understand the implications for their projects
Desirable
• Previous experience with the UN, National and Regional entities, as well as with donors is desirable.
• Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of managing innovation projects with teams who have competing priorities
• Demonstrable understanding of WASH in development and humanitarian contexts
Fluency in English is required; another UN language is an asset.
Travel:
In the financial proposal include travel costs for:
• 3 trips from Nairobi, Kenya to Copenhagen, Denmark for one week at a time, include DSA rate
• 2 trips to Kigali, Rwanda, for one week at a time, include DSA rate
• 1 trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for 1 week, include DSA rate
• 1 trip to Lilongwe, Malawi for 1 week, include DSA rate
• 1 trip to Antananarivo, Madagascar for 1 week, include DSA rate
• The selected candidate is expected to be at the office in Nairobi approximately 3 times a week. Additionally, expected participation in meetings in West Africa virtually.
· The consultant is responsible for arranging his/her own travel, including visa and travel insurance.
Payment details and further considerations
• Payment of professional fees will be based on the submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.
How to apply:
• Interested applicants are required to submit a financial proposal with all-inclusive fee. Please see the financial proposal template.
• Financial proposal must include travel costs (economy class) and daily subsistence allowance, if travel is required as per TOR and any other estimated costs: visa, travel/health insurance.
• Interested applicants are required to submit a technical proposal. Please see instructions provided in the TORs ( TOR IF ESARO.pdf)
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