The Organization
The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people's lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.
The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.
About the position
The CGIAR Hub for Sustainable Finance (ImpactSF) is a key technical partner for sustainable finance actors, integrating science-based impact indicators in all areas of the investment lifecycle. Building off CGIAR evidence, ImpactSF offers an array of data-driven solutions empowering financial institutions and investors to de-risk investments by quantifying climate and environmental risks and impacts. Our goal is clear: drive investments toward climate-smart and nature-positive Food, Land, and Water systems.
ImpactSF, hosted by The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, is developing climate-smart risk financing solutions for the agriculture sector in Punjab. This measure/project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂźr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The project aims to partner with financial intermediaries (FIs) to improve their climate awareness and develop new financing solutions to support the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) ecosystem in agriculture, specifically for mango and potato value chains in Punjab.
Based in Lahore, Pakistan and reporting to a Project Lead, the Coordinator (Sustainable Finance) is responsible for overseeing the planning, coordination, and implementation of this project in Pakistan, ensuring deliverables are met timely, and working directly with the project lead to facilitate the day-to-day implementation. This role involves identifying local needs, engaging with financial stakeholders and supporting capacity-building efforts towards increased climate-positive agricultural investments in Pakistan
Requirements Key responsibilities
The Coordinator (Sustainable Finance) will coordinate and oversee the implementation of ImpactSF's activities in Pakistan and responsibilities will include, but not limited to:
Develop, coordinate, and monitor sustainable finance projects in agriculture, ensuring alignment with local climate action goals. Provide regular reports to the Project Manager about implementation status, action points from meetings workshops and any implementation challenges;
Act as focal point with different partners and stakeholders for the implementation of project activities;
Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders including financial intermediaries (banks and non-banking institutions), private sector, government and investors within the climate and agriculture landscape;
Conducting deep-dives/consultations with financial intermediaries to understand and prioritize critical business needs in climate risk finance, including review of existing strategy, products, credit lending system with management information systems including climate risk analysis;
Design needs-based trainings and facilitate capacity-building workshops for financial intermediaries on climate-smart agricultural financing;
Provide technical assistance to financial intermediaries on aligning reporting with national and international sustainability and green financing standards;
Together with the project team, co-design innovative loan products with financial institutions integrating climate risks and environmental impact goals;
Set up effective internal monitoring systems for project delivery and engage with team members to monitor implementation;
Develop communication content on projects development in cooperation with communication professionals;
Consolidate and synthesize technical outputs from various matter experts in the team and literature into a high-quality narrative and deliverables for clients' reporting;
Support with designing and organizing strategic high-level meetings, capacity development workshops etc.;
Represent Alliance at events workshops meetings taking place in Pakistan;
Manage and oversee logistics of Alliance international staff visiting Pakistan;
Coordinate the development of new proposals targeting investors, working closely with CGIAR subject matter experts.
Deliverables:
1. Internal project reporting (monthly): provide monthly project updates to program manager highlight challenges and opportunities for the project and the propose plan for next month.
2. Mapping and engagement with financial stakeholder (Months 1-3): Identify and engage with financial actors, including banking and non-banking financial institutions, assess their willingness to collaborate, and inform them about the project activities.
3. Organize stakeholder workshops (Months 1-3): Organize and coordinate stakeholder workshops for data collection and validation with experts including key value chain actors, financial actors, disaster management practitioners, government departments, private sector, and investors in the agriculture and climate resilience domain.
4. Needs assessment of financial intermediaries (Months 4-6): Conduct a needs assessment of financial actors, understand their agricultural portfolios, identifying their specific needs, challenges, and opportunities to enhance financial services or investment strategies within the agricultural sector.
5. Design and deliver trainings on climate-smart financing and risk management (Months 6-9): Engage with finance and value chain specialists within the team to design and deliver trainings on climate-smart financing and risk management tailored to the specific context. Liaise with SMEDA and other local organizations to encourage uptake of these training materials.
6. Develop climate-smart financial product proposal (Months 10-12): Develop proposals for innovative financial products that integrate climate considerations, focusing on balancing financial returns with environmental impact goals.
Required qualifications and skills
Master's degree in finance, environmental economics, climate policy, sustainable development, public policy, or a related field;
At least 4 years of relevant experience in climate finance, environmental finance, green investments, or a closely related area. Demonstrable experience in managing or advising on climate-related projects, especially those involving financing for sustainable agriculture, adaptation, or mitigation initiatives;
Knowledge of climate finance frameworks and financial instruments and strategies for climate projects, including blended finance, green bonds, insurance, and risk management products;
Experience working on investment design for adaptation, resilience, agriculture risk management projects;
Excellent eye for detail, critical thinking, high standards of excellence, personal organization, prioritization and time management skills, flexibility, and the ability to deliver on agreed deadlines.
Strong quantitative skills, including experience with climate finance modeling, cost-benefit analysis, and financial forecasting;
Proven ability to engage with and support a wide range of stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector, financial institutions, and investors;
Experience in capacity-building initiatives to strengthen local understanding and management of sustainable climate finance;
Superior analysis and insight generation capacity;
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with experience in preparing reports, presentations, and funding proposals for diverse audiences;
Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to work effectively with other national and cultural backgrounds;
Strong client service orientation;
Ability to work with a considerable amount of autonomy;
Fluency in English and Urdu.
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Benefits Terms of contract
It is a 12 months consultancy contract (full time) with a possibility of extension depending on performance and availability of funds.
The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Applications
Please send applications to J.Koge@cgiar.org
