Consultancy - Finance Specialist (GIGA), New York or Home-based, Office of Innovation, 11.5 months

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UNICEF - United Nations Children's Fund

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Application deadline 1 year ago: Friday 23 Sep 2022 at 03:55 UTC

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Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, Connectivity

Launched in 2019 as a joint initiative between UNICEF and ITU, Giga has set the ambitious goal to connect every school in the world to the internet.

Half of the world’s population has no regular access to the Internet. Millions of children leave school without any digital skills, making it much more difficult for them to thrive and contribute to local and global economies. This has created a digital divide between those who are connected and those who are not, a divide that has become even wider during the Covid-19 pandemic. UNICEF and ITU have therefore joined forces to create Giga, an initiative to connect every school in the world to the Internet and address this new form of inequality.

You can read more about Giga’s work at https://giga.global/ and by following us on twitter @Gigaglobal

How can you make a difference?

According to the International Telecommunication Union (“ITU”), 1.3 billion children do not have access to the internet for learning and are excluded from the opportunities and services that have shifted online. Digital exclusion impedes the development of children and disenfranchises young people, perpetuating socioeconomic inequalities between countries and communities.

In 2019, UNICEF and ITU launched Giga, a partnership to connect all unconnected schools in the world to the internet. Giga is uniquely equipped to geolocate previously unmapped schools, finance projects and deliver connectivity. To date, Giga has connected over 1 million students and teachers to the internet for the first time. We are seeking an experienced professional to lead a group of finance specialists and deliver on key workstreams, including capital formation, country engagement and project-level financing.

Main responsibilities include but are not limited to:

  • Capital formation - Giga seeks to mobilize $5B in catalytic capital to jumpstart critical connectivity investments, including donor pledges, development loans, private capital, and other sources of project funding. Setting the team’s capital mobilization strategy and leading outreach to existing and prospective financial partners, including:
    • articulating Giga’s unique vision to public and private sector donors;
    • leading diligence processes, speaking to projects and related finance strategies in detail;
    • building bespoke financial models and clearly explain their outputs and implications;
    • forming and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, including development banks and institutional investors, in partnership with UNICEF’s Public Partnerships Division and Private Fundraising and Partnership Division.
  • Country-level engagement - Giga is currently engaged with 19 countries to provide school connectivity and is actively cultivating relationships with new countries. Giga has mapped over 1.1 million schools in the world, across 50 countries. Lead engagement efforts with local and regional governments, including:
    • establishing relationships with UNICEF country offices and corresponding directly with local authorities, as appropriate;
    • building and advancing a diversified portfolio of connectivity projects at multi-national, national and regional levels;
    • convening financial partners to deliver an efficient and manageable solution to the local authority.
  • Stakeholder engagement - Giga is a team of technical experts. Members of the finance team are expected to develop a deep understanding of the economics of connectivity across geographies.
    • Serving as a thought leader and finance expert within the Giga team as well as related organizations (UNICEF, ITU, etc.)
    • Representing Giga and speak publicly in finance-related forums.

Description of assignment:

# Tasks End Product / Deliverables Time Frame****1Advance capital formation efforts by leading conversations with prospective large-scale donorsFormal funding commitments to Giga and/or specific projectsMonths 1-122Deepen and expand relationships with IFIs3Setting the finance team’s objectives for the upcoming calendar year and establishing workstreams to achieve themFinance workplan and strategy documentMonths 1-34Bundle school connectivity projects into financeable packages, leveraging and updating Giga’s cost model accordinglyActionable pipeline of connectivity projects with accompanying finance strategies and execution plansMonths 1-35Develop bespoke finance strategies for project pipeline, including procurement and project delivery plans as appropriateMonths 4-126Present plans to relevant country stakeholders and achieve buy-inMonths 4-127Develop framework and process for economic impact analysesFramework for impact analysis and related processesMonths 3-12To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

  • University degree in Business Administration, Economics, Finance or related field.
  • Minimum 7 years of professional work experience of financing/finance advisory role in, or to, emerging and developing countries.
  • Ability to perform project-level financial analysis, macroeconomic analysis and build detailed financial models.
  • Demonstrated strong skills in Power Point and Excel.
  • Demonstrated strong writing and presentation skills in English.
  • Ability to effectively work and coordinate in a multiple stakeholder environment.
  • Ability to work with a diverse team in a rapidly changing work environment and adapt to unforeseen changes.
  • Experience working in the intersection of development/donor organizations, public finance, and commercial sector is an asset.
  • Experience in designing and developing business cases, business plans and financial plans is an asset.
  • Experience in telecommunication infrastructure sector is an asset.
  • Knowledge of the UN system is an advantage.
  • Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

Payment details and further considerations

  • Monthly payment, based on monthly tasks and progress reports, approved upon monthly review with supervisor.
  • Consultant is responsible for his/her own health and travel insurance
  • Consultant is eligible for standard DSA for all work-related travel
  • Consultant is eligible for roundtrip airfare to and from the duty station at the beginning and end of the assignment.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unicef.org