Lead Global Technical Specialist (Rural Finance) [Rome, P-5]

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, and advocates at the local, national and international level for policies that contribute to rural transformation.

The Office of Technical Delivery is responsible for providing expert technical guidance to IFAD teams engaged in the design and implementation of projects and programmes to deliver the high technical quality investments that facilitate rural transformation, and which comply with IFAD's mandate and operational policies. The Office ensures IFAD applies and disseminates state of the art knowledge in its investments and evidence on strategic themes and encourages the innovative application of global knowledge and evidence in IFAD investments. This helps countries tackle complex development challenges in fostering inclusive and sustainable rural transformation including mainstreaming areas. The Office of Technical Delivery (OTD) is led by a Managing Director and is comprised of two (2) divisions: the Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion Division (ECG) and the Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division (PMI).

The Sustainable Production, Markets and Institutions Division (PMI) facilitates improved and efficient delivery of IFAD's corporate mandate, predominantly through the quality of the design and implementation of its policies, country strategies and projects. Key functions and activities of PMI include Quality Enhancement, Policy Engagement, Networking and Strategic Partnerships. PMI's technical mandate covers a range of themes, all of which are key to deliver IFAD's strategic framework, including: agronomy, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, markets and value chains, agriculture research for development (AR4D), ICT4D, inclusive rural finance (including PARM, INSURED and remittances), rural institutions and farmers organizations, rural infrastructure, water, land and natural resources management.

PMI is led by a Divisional Director.

Position specifics:

The Lead Global Technical Specialist, (Rural Finance), is the leading global technical authority in the organization in the area of Rural Finance. The incumbent provides strategic and technical leadership for IFAD’s Rural Finance thematic area globally, guiding and overseeing technical contributions to country and regional programs across all regions and curating knowledge and expertise from external sources. The incumbent leads and shapes the corporate Rural Finance agenda by providing authoritative, state-of-the-art technical advice throughout the project cycle (strategic and operational).

The incumbent ensures global technical coherence, quality assurance in design and implementation, oversight and consistency across the rural finance function, including direct managerial and supervisory responsibility for staff assigned to the unit at the Global (HQ) level, (including other professional LGTSs, where applicable) while providing strategic oversight, direction and ensuring methodological and technical coherence across the global and regional Rural Finance portfolio, in addition to being involved in direct operational delivery.

The incumbent ensures that IFAD’s Rural Finance function benefits from the systematic curation, integration and application of cutting-edge knowledge and expertise from external sources, including international financial institutions, research bodies, centres of excellence and private sector partners.

The incumbent oversees the corporate level implementation and periodic review of the Inclusive Rural Finance Policy and leads associated corporate and cross-divisional working groups.

The incumbent also oversees the strategic direction and governance of supplementary funds related to Rural Finance (including inter-alia the Public Development Bank Platform, the Facility for Remittances). Working at the strategic, policy and oversight level, and also at the operational level, the incumbent works collaboratively with other thematic Technical Specialists, Country Directors (CD)/Heads of Multi-country Offices (MCO) and other staff to ensure corporate alignment, methodological consistency, and strategic coherence, cohesion and synergy in the application of technical advice and provision of programme development support.

Education:

• Level - Advanced university degree from an accredited institution in a technically relevant area.
• Areas - Agriculture/rural development; economics (agricultural/natural resource/environmental economics, behavioural economics, development economics, trade, etc.); finance, business management, marketing or commerce, agricultural engineering, and other agriculture specialization
• Degree must be an accredited institution listed on

Experience:

• At least ten (10) years of progressively responsible professional experience in and demonstrated understanding of, development investment projects and interventions in the field of markets and value chains development, of which at least 3 of the 10 years of experience should be at the international level.
• Proven experience in the design and coordination of pro-poor value chain development projects leveraging on innovative solutions to emerging issues, including the use of digital/ICT solutions, working with the private sector and developing value chain financing instruments/initiatives and other forms of collaborations with the private sector.
• Experience in designing and implementing value chain financing schemes and public private partnerships is an advantage;
• Three (3) years in a multi-cultural organization or national organization providing support on a global scope.
• Experience in international policy frameworks related to global issues is an asset.

Languages:

Note: The original description included application steps which are not part of the job responsibilities, so those have been removed to focus on the role, responsibilities, and qualifications. The content is preserved to reflect the core job description without promotional or process details.