Country Fund Portfolio Manager

Background Information – Job-specific

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund is a UNOPS Trust Fund committed to saving lives and improving the well being of people by improving access to sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health hygiene. The Fund will invest in country led programmes to accelerate progress and sustainable impact toward the achievement of SDG 6.2.

The Fund will maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of international development assistance and national investment. Staff at the Fund manage grants and other financial modalities, coordinate with partners,support countries, monitor and evaluate results, report on progress, manage donor relations and raise funds.

At the core of the new architecture is a country funding model designed to be an efficient and effective mechanism that can operate at scale and deliver impact and supported by a suite of policies that define how funding is to be invested. The SHF uses development and impact innovative finance mechanisms, including co-financing by recipient countries, to secure sustainable funding and the long term sustainability of its programs.

The SHF is looking for mission-oriented, collaborative, open minded and flexible candidates who are passionate about global development.

Role of the Country Fund Portfolio Manager

Reporting to the Head of Country Fund Portfolio, the Country Fund Portfolio Manager contributes to the delivery of the primary business of the SHF, specifically leading and managing the negotiation processes for investments (development and impact financing models and grants) at various stages of the investment/grant cycle.

The role manages and supervises the work of in-country pre-financing activities and risks, reviews and analyses requests for disbursements and decides on amounts to be disbursed. The role is also responsible for performing a host of related fund administrative and managerial functions, including the management of partnerships with governments; the private sector, multilateral organisations and civil society.

The Country Fund Portfolio Manager leads a small physical and/or remote team, to deliver timely integrated, ‘hands-on’ support, to secure countries’ access to, and effective/efficient use of, SHF resources to achieve tangible results, working closely with internal stakeholders and specialists.
Functional responsibilities

1. Country engagement process – application and pre-financing

Within the portfolio of assigned countries:

• Manage relationships for the timely process for pre-financing applications and the award cycle for pre-financing for eligible countries

• Undertake the role of interlocutor between country focal points and the Head of Country Fund Portfolio to ensure well targeted and timely dialogue for all aspects of country engagement

• Working with the Head of Fund Portfolio and financing specialists and/or partners, contribute to the shaping of development and impact financing packages for eligible countries, and when/if secured manage the ongoing SHF investment relationship with the country (this may include but is not limited to grant awards, extended pre-financing etc.)

• Ensure that implementation of the allocation and prioritization methodologies are conducted in a timely manner and monitor adherence to SHF funding conditions (for example, mutual accountability and the multi-stakeholder process); and contribute to the development of all materials required (including appropriate translations) for SHF eligible countries to submit clear applications in line with SHF strategy and policies

• Update knowledge and have full familiarity with the country development architecture, especially for health, WASH, education, gender and financing with a view to identifying opportunities and risks

• Work closely with Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure timely submission of country reports and results whilst maintaining quality-assured data, including support for determinations outlined in country-related policies).

• Oversee the timely preparation and appropriate archiving of relevant communications to countries regarding SHF policies (on eligibility status, allocation, co-financing requirements and transition) and application processes to enable countries to submit hiqh quality applications.

• Identify all forms of risk, managing through implementation of the SHF risk register(s) and elevating appropriately.

• Provide trouble-shooting and support for resolving SHF co-financing and leveraging issues.

• Monitor specific country co-financing requirements.

• At the request of the Head of Country Fund Portfolio, prepare reports for the Executive Office and to the Board related to implementation of various SHF funding policies.

• Secretariat support to Independent Review Team (IRT)

• In consultation with key stakeholders including IRT leadership, develop orientation sessions to brief new and returning members at the start of each review meeting.

• Provide documentation required for IRT review processes for countries within the assigned portfolio, including applicant materials.

• Liaise between stakeholder in countries within assigned portfolio and IRT members for clarifications during the review step.

• Support documentation of IRT funding recommendations related to countries within the assigned portfolio.

• Liaise between stakeholder in countries within assigned portfolio and IRT members regarding amendments where applications are returned by the IRT.

• Grant management

Within the portfolio of assigned countries:

• In close collaboration with SHF operations, administration and finance, manage delivery of all SHF pre-financing activities in eligible countries leading to the development of high quality investment cases and bankable projects.

• Develop and review high quality and country-specific funding documents (for grants and other innovative financing mechanisms) for Head of Country Fund Portfolio review.

• Manage the negotiations processes for SHF investments across various stages of the grant cycle to achieve strong political engagement, leverage co-investments and deliver impact.

• Ensure efficient and proactive coordination of all SHF processes with a country, including clear and comprehensive communications consistent with SHF strategy and policies.

• Act as a point of contact for multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms (MCMs), i partners , and other regional or country stakeholders.

• Manage risk related to the country portfolios assigned (including designated budgets and effective management of contracts) and bring solutions forward to support mitigation measures for consideration.

• Work in collaboration with the Finance and Operations Unit to oversee SHF disbursements.Document and reports on implementation and results and developments, responding to information requests from internal and external stakeholders..

• In collaboration with the Monitoring and Evaluation team, monitor and evaluate all investments, gather evidence and data to strengthen investment effectiveness, sustainability, value for money and to course-correct if required.

• Knowledge management and innovation

• Develop means by which to capture feedback and lessons learned related to SHF and country experiences with co-financing requirements.

• Contribute to discussions and information sharing at country level, convening and mobilizing appropriate resources to leverage co-investments and scale up efforts.

• Consult with key stakeholders to capture feedback and to ensure that lessons learned across countries, technical partners and other SHFteams inform updated application materials.

• Contribute to the development and introduction of innovation to ensure SHF is continually incorporating best practice approaches into operational policy, procedures and tools.

a. Education
Advanced university degree preferably in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, Political Sciences, Social Sciences or other relevant field is required.

A bachelor’s degree with a combination of two additional years of relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the master’s degree.

b. Experience

Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible fund portfolio management and grant experience is required.

Experience of managing government and donor relations while working for an international organization or related experience is required.

Experience in structuring investment opportunities and investor engagement would be a strong asset,

Prior experience in supporting or managing implementation of multi-donor supported projects would be a strong asset.

c. Language

Full working knowledge of English is essential.

Knowledge of another official UNOPS language, particularly French, is an asset.

Contract type: Individual Contractor Agreement
Contract level: International Individual Contractor Agreement Level 3
Contract duration: Ongoing ICA – ‘Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.
For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:
https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx

Should the preferred candidate be a national of the country where the position is based, a LICA contract at the same level could be applicable.