Consultant focused on Responsible and Innovative Finance

Join CIFOR and make a difference!

Consultant focused on Responsible and Innovative Finance (Ref. No. 1631)

Value Chains, Finance & Investments Team

Bogor, Indonesia

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a nonprofit, global research organization dedicated to advancing human well-being, environmental conservation and equity.

We conduct research that enables more informed and equitable decision-making about the use and management of tropical and subtropical forest landscapes. We help policy makers and practitioners shape effective policy, improve the management of tropical forests and address the needs and perspectives of people who depend on forests for their livelihoods. Our multidisciplinary approach considers the underlying drivers of deforestation and degradation, which often lie outside the forestry sector: forces such as agriculture, infrastructure development, trade and investment policies and law enforcement.

CIFOR is looking for a

Consultant focused on Responsible and Innovative Finance

Overview

The primary responsibility of the Consultant is to contribute to the development and implementation of a vigorous and globally relevant research agenda focused on responsible and innovative finance. The main purpose of the consultancy is to undertake research, support learning processes, and contribute to policy engagement with private and public actors and initiatives. This should lead to improving the role of finance and of financial service providers (FSPs) in promoting greater sustainability of landscapes and agricultural and forestry value chains, while enhancing smallholder access to finance. This work will be conducted under the “Value Chains, Finance and Investments” (VFI) team.

The consultant will contribute to the following areas of work:

• Analyze viable mechanisms to incentivize FSPs to more explicitly integrate Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) criteria into their product and service design, and assess the impacts of ESGconditional finance on the social and environmental performance of different types of agricultural and forestry value chain actors.
• Assess the opportunities and risks associated with innovative finance and investment schemes contributing to sustainable landscapes, sustainable commodity supply, inclusive business models, and identify options to catalyze increased support from the financial sector.
• Analyze and provide recommendations on innovative financial mechanisms implemented by FSPs to make financial goods and services more accessible to smallholder and small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), with a focus on forest-related and tree-crop value chains. 

Summary of responsibilities

Science

• Provide intellectual leadership and scientific guidance in the development of relevant conceptual frameworks and research methods.
• Conduct research in collaboration with select partner organizations on key result areas in ways that meaningfully contribute to national and global debates on responsible and innovative finance.
• Coordinate research around key result areas that contribute to improving the role of finance in supporting the governance of commodity supply, sustainable landscapes, and more inclusive business models.
• Contribute to the development of the Landscape Fund, a CIFOR-supported initiative, to provide secure investment opportunities at scale while improving livelihood opportunities and increasing resource efficiency and sustainable resource use at the landscape level.
• Write and supervise the development of publications and other scientific communications related to research priorities and policy engagement activities in collaboration with partner organizations. 

Capacity building

• Strengthen and enhance partnerships with relevant partners engaged in research on private and public finance and investment, and other actors involved in the finance industry.
• Contribute to the development of capacity-building strategies involving partner organizations from the private and public sectors, and improve linkages with existing and planned VFI activities.
• Lead and supervise capacity-building initiatives at both the project and team levels.
• Supervise students and mentor junior researchers and scientists involved in CIFOR financerelated projects. 

Policy–science dialogue

• Develop and implement a strategy for policy engagement with relevant public and private actors across various scales in order to facilitate the uptake of research results.
• Contribute to identifying Theories of Change, Impact Pathways, and appropriate knowledge sharing mechanisms relevant to individual finance projects and the VFI team.
• Coordinate and/or contribute to the policy–science dialogue within relevant finance and business platforms and key government efforts, and systematize outcomes from policy engagement.
• Coordinate and/or contribute to knowledge dissemination activities targeted at private and public decision-makers through workshops, conferences, blogs, policy briefs and other forms of social media. 

Fund raising

• Lead/contribute to the fund-raising efforts of the VFI team. 

Requirements

Education, knowledge and experience

• should have a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in finance, be a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or have equivalent credentials. A PhD in finance or agricultural economics is an advantage
• at least 10 years of relevant experience as a financial analyst, with a track record in soft commodities or with experience in sustainability processes related to or supported by the financial sector and platforms
• experience in conducting financial analysis related to ESG integration options, investment risk management, social and environmental due diligence, and smallholder finance
• analytical capacity to connect macro and micro levels of analysis, as well as to link financial analysis with other economic and social perspectives.
• excellent written and spoken English; the ability to write and communicate in other languages is an advantage. 

Personal attributes and competencies

• excellent analytical and synthesis skills
• management and organizational skills, experience in project coordination and management
• creative thinking and ability to systematize and disseminate messages within the financial and investment sector, and development and conservation communities
• excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to effectively interact with people in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment
• excellent facilitation and team-building capacity
• values the sharing of information and continuous improvement in a cooperative atmosphere of constructive evaluation and learning. 

Terms and conditions

• This is a consultancy position. CIFOR offers competitive remuneration, commensurate with skills and experience.
• The appointment is for 1 year with a possibility of extension contingent upon performance, continued relevance of the position and available resources.
• The duty station will be at CIFOR HQ in Bogor, Indonesia. 

Application process

• The application deadline is 31 May 2017.
• We will acknowledge all applications, but will contact only short-listed candidates. 

To apply, please visit our career site at: http://www.cifor.org/careers

To learn more about CIFOR, please visit our website at: http://www.cifor.org

CIFOR is an equal opportunity employer. Staff diversity contributes to excellence.