Project Manager and Specialist on Alternative Finances

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate, and at least three (3) the most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him-/herself to be suitable for the position.

Travel:         

The post is home-based and travel is not foreseen.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this ToR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expneses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the individual, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. Travel costs are covered only in the event that any official travel expected to be associated with performing the functions.

Office/Unit/Project Description:

Under the overall guidance and matrix supervision of the Programme Specialist on Innovation at the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub, the Specialist responsible for development and implementation of the project “Application of Innovative Methods for NGO Empowerment“, financed by Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) with relevant country office (CO) teams, regional hubs (RH) and other UNDP business units, UN agencies and governments and partners in order to support the work and financing of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The Project Coordinator’s work will specifically focus on managing the project with implementing the project activities and exploring both the innovation in alternative financial mechanisms that provide new investment opportunities (equity and lending crowdfunding, blockchain) as well as innovation in financial mechanisms that align actors in new ways that leverage each partner’s unique strengths while also meeting their respective risk/return expectation and needs.

Achieving SDGs alone according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report will require $3,9 trillion per year between 2015 and 2030 for health, education and infrastructure – leaving a $2.5 trillion annual shortfall relative to the current and forecast commitments of $1,4 trillion. To address the financial gap, new sources of innovative finance models are needed (private and venture capital, P2P lending) as well as impactful partnerships aimed at socially geared investment projects that can leverage private investments alongside official development assistance. Innovative finance models, like crowdfunding (crowdfunding, crowd investment), impact investment, preventative and predictive finance are projected to overtake venture capitalists’ investments and grow over $100 billion as per World Bank statistics by 2020. As a form of innovative finance, Islamic finance is one of the fastest-growing segments of the global financial industry with global assets expected to surpass US$3 trillion by 2020.The Islamic Finance, ideally, is an alternative way of financing based on ethical and socially responsible standards, which ensures fair distribution of benefits and obligations between all the parties in any financial transaction.

The initiative “Application of Innovative Methods for NGO Empowerment“ (NGO empower) is grounded in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, UNDP Digital Strategy, UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2018–2021, and UNDP’s ongoing work to address the challenges in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region and in other regions as well, based on the work of UNDP Alternative Finance Lab which is a part of UNDP Innovation Team. This initiative builds on the successes of and lessons learned from two phases of the Transformative Governance and Finance Facility projects, and seeks to support mapping and categorizing NGOs, platform based approach and alternative finance mechanisms in support of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through the further work on prototypes and expanding to new grounds to understand what has the potential to be catalytic in the context of CSOs, the project was set to support CSOs through intervention of various partners of the Tadamon platform.

In this context, the IRH is looking for a Specialist position who will, under the guidance of the Programme Specialist on Innovation to ensure the management of the project in line with RBM.

Institutional Arrangement:

The project manager/expert will perform tasks for UNDP, under the supervision of the Innovation Team Leader in UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub.

•  Identify new opportunities for financing and visibility of CSOs working in development field in OIC Member Countries with the support to country offices and regional hubs on issues related to alternative finance and blockchain;
• Conduct regular horizon scanning to understand emerging trends and actors, as well as provide linkages and investigate opportunities for their application in Europe and Globally;
• Design and formulation of the programme within the area of responsibility, translating UNDP’s priorities into local interventions. Coordination of programme implementation with the executing agencies. Introduction of performance indicators/ success criteria, cost recovery, targets and milestones;
• Initiation of a project, presentation of the project in project Boards; determination of required revisions; coordination of the mandatory and budget re-phasing exercises;
• Ensuring implementation of the NGO Empowerment project in line with the Annual Workplan;
• Financial and substantive monitoring and evaluation of the project, identification of operational and financial problems, development of solutions;
• Follow up on audit recommendations. All exceptions are timely reported;
• Prepare regular reports on activities, outputs and outcomes. Preparation of donor reports.

Provides support in the implementation of the regional programme with respect to the Innovation program portfolio:

• Thorough analysis and research of the political, social and economic situation of the region and preparation of substantive inputs to the regional programmes, CCA, UNDAF, CPD, CPAP and other documents in UNDP HQ, the regional hubs and as requested by COs;
• Identification of areas for support and interventions related to alternative finance and blockchain innovation, and other innovative activities related to the implementation of the SDGs through empowering CSOs;
• Business processes mapping and preparation of the content of internal Standard Operating Procedures in Results Management.

Actively explores and identifies opportunities for new partnerships and strategic engagements, especially with ISDB actors and with respect to CSOs:

• Identification of emerging sources of funding; assessment of their current usage and potential for the future;
• Development of specific donor and other investors fund-raising strategies and approaches;
• Identification different actors, especially in the Islamic finance sphere, for collaboration towards project goals;
• Development of partnerships with other UN agencies, IFIs, government institutions, private sector companies, academia, civil society and other types of organizations in areas such as good governance, data innovation and open data, citizen engagement and civil society support;
• Supporting sustainable financing and development of CSOs through platform approach, alternative finance, Islamic finance and blockchain technology.

Provision of top quality policy advice services to regional hubs and country offices and facilitation of knowledge building and management:

• Identification of sources of information related to use of alternative finance, blockchain technology, Islamic finance for institutional partners and CSOs empowerment and achievement of SDGs overall;
• Identification and synthesis of best practices and lessons learnt directly linked to programme’s goals;
• Ad-hoc and planned contribution towards identifying emerging areas of work for UNDP, and new and emerging actors in the alternative finance;
• Ad-hoc and planned support to regional hubs and COs in design, implementation and evaluation of programmes related to the use of alternative finance and blockchain for development, especially as it pertains to achieving of SDGs, transparency, poverty reduction, citizen engagement and strengthening of civil society;
• Sound contributions to knowledge networks and communities of practice;
• Organization of trainings for the operations/ projects staff on programme issues.

• Integrity;
• professionalism;
• respect for diversity;
• teamwork.

Functional Competencies:

• Strong communication skills both written and verbal;
• Strong interpersonal skills;
• Ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Sound judgment with proven ability to work effectively under minimum supervision.

• Master’s Degree in Economics/Business/Engineering or related fields;
• PhD degree in Economics/Business/Engineering or related fields would be an advantage.

Min. years of relevant Work experience:

• At least seven (7) years of working experience in the area of development in international organizations;
• At least five (5) years practical experience in the field of crowdfunding, education on crowdfunding, or in alternative finance mechanisms; including experience with building public awareness on innovative finance;
• At least two (2) years of working experience in the field of using new technologies, with a working experience of developing blockchain based prototypes.

Required skills:

• Experience in Project Management, in organizing workshops and trainings and in writing implementation and other reports;
• Proven track record of successfully completed crowdfunding campaigns and building public awareness on development issues.

Desired additional skills and competencies:

• Innovation – Ability to make new and useful ideas work;
• Leadership – Ability to persuade others to follow.

Required Language(s) (at working level):

• Fluency in oral and written English