Investment Specialist

The Joint SDG Fund supports countries as they accelerate their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It operates through joint programmes (JPs) that provide the mechanism for transformative solutions implemented by governments and national stakeholders and supported by the UN Country Team led by Resident Coordinators (RCs). Strategic direction for the Fund is provided by the Strategic Advisory Group chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General as the chair of UN Sustainable Development Group. The Fund is managed by the Operational Steering Committee, comprised of representatives of UN entities, and with the support from the Secretariat of the Fund. The UN Development Coordination Office (DCO) hosts the Fund and provides for the alignment with the broader UN Development System reforms. The Administrative Agent of the Fund, in charge of financial management, is the Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (MPTF-O). Official documents (e.g. Terms of Reference and Operational Guidance) of the Fund and information on funding can be found on the Gateway portal.  

To advance the dual mandate of supercharging the UN Development System reform to be fit for purpose and, in turn, supporting the acceleration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Fund incentivizes coherent and coordinated join UN action, anchored in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks at country level under the leadership of Resident Coordinator (RC). Serving as the catalytic funding to piece together emerging policy priorities and financing strategies, the Fund aims to galvanize the UN Country Teams around integrated policies and identify the fiscal space to overcome the political and financial hurdles to scale and accelerate progress towards the SDGs.  

Duties and Responsibilities

• Working under the supervision of the Head of Secretariat of the Joint SDG Fund, the Investment Specialist is responsible for supporting the Resident Coordinators and United Nations Country Teams to (1) creating the development investment opportunities and (2) building innovative financing skills within the Joint SDG Fund programme.
• UNDP adopts a portfolio approach to accommodate changing business needs and leverage linkages across interventions to achieve its strategic goals. Therefore, UNDP personnel are expected to work across units, functions, teams, and projects in multidisciplinary teams in order to enhance and enable horizontal collaboration.

Creating Development Investment Platform

• Develop and execute innovative investment portfolios and strategic engagement with philanthropic foundations, institutional investors and individual impact and other socially responsible investors.
• Preparing strategic inputs to position the UN family as a key intermediary for SDG investment.
• Provide advice and lead the development and implementation of the Fund’s transition windows and portfolios of joint programmes in terms of advancing the SDG financing agenda especially in areas of climate/energy financing and SDG localization.
• Researching the latest approaches and influential partners and academic scholars in the SDG and impact investment space.
• Scanning the business environment and on-going efforts of country and regional venture philanthropists, investors, bilateral donors, and other potential SDG investment partners.
• Preparing periodic reports analysing investment trends, on-going initiatives, and their results, as well as their impact on UN programmes and positions;

Establishing and Strengthening Strategic Partnerships (Private and Public) 

• Identifying areas of potential engagement between governments, International Financial Institutions, regional/national banks, and other investment partners for SDG attainment in areas of SDG financing, localization and/or climate/green financing.
• Establishing and maintaining networks of strategic investment partnerships as well as in areas of localization and/or climate/energy.
• Supporting the production and distribution of marketing materials to raise awareness about the UN’s SDG investment capacity and in particular in thematic areas of SDG localization and/or climate/energy.
• Advising on approaches for effective networking with individual and institutional investors;

Strengthening UNCT Capacity for Finance and Investment Programme Activities

• Strengthening the capacity of United Nations Country Team (UNCT)s to mainstream and promote SDG investment partnerships and position financing in the SDG key transitions.
• Providing advice in discovery, evaluation, and selection of pipeline opportunities at the sourcing and origination stages.
• Provide advice on how to perform due diligence of potential investment opportunities according to UN regulations and procedures.
• Preparing UNCTs for post-investment preparation of risk reports, arrears management/collection issues.
• Supporting the RCs/UNCTs to increase investment knowledge and maximize their capability to unblock policies which curtail SDG investment while securing technical financial assessments, and structuring SDG.
• Providing support to the Fund Secretariat governance and management functions especially in terms of SDG financing and in the area of technical/thematic leads.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Finance, Business Administration, International Economics, or related field is required. Or
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years (with a master’s degree) or 9 years (with a bachelor’s degree) of progressively responsible experience working in development finance and/ or impact investing space is required.
• Experience working with multilateral, bilateral, and philanthropic partners is required.
• Proven experience and knowledge of financial instruments (eg impact investment, grants, concessional loans, investment products, etc.) and how they are applied, in particular in the UN development system, is required.
• Experience and expertise in SDG localization (e.g. enhancing capacities of sub-national level in terms of financing and development action) and/or climate/energy financing and action is desired.
• Experience in driving niche investment product solutions within a multilateral institution and/or utilizing private equity and venture capital evaluation techniques is desired.
• Proven analytical capability and strengths in risk assessment and mitigation; data analysis and performance measurement are desired.
• Sound knowledge of and extensive experience in developing countries an advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in English required.
• Working knowledge of another UN language is an advantage.

Source: https://estm.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/requisitions/job/19363