Overview
The Project and Senior Sustainable Finance Specialist will be responsible for the overall supervision and management of in-country activities for the GEF8-BFP Umbrella program in Eswatini, ensuring proper workplan and budget implementation within set timelines.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee the identification, selection and supervision of national consultants and experts.
- Write/revise terms of references for national BIOFIN team members.
- Elaborate/revise the work plan and budget and submit draft workplans/budgets timely.
- Supervise the work of national experts and institutions to ensure outputs are delivered on time, within budget, and to high quality standards.
- Oversee the work of the Project Support Associate to ensure administrative requirements and budgets are managed appropriately.
- Organize all relevant project workshops.
- Discuss with Ministries of Finance, Environment and other key stakeholders the establishment of a national Steering Committee.
- Maintain regular communication with Ministries of Environment and Finance.
- Liaise project processes and products with relevant national planning biodiversity and finance relevant processes.
- Ensure timely identification of risks in implementation at the national level.
- Organize regular meetings of the national team and monthly calls with the Technical Advisor.
- Ensure participation of national team members in regional technical calls.
- Participate in regional and global meetings.
- Act as principal technical contact for the project implementation with GPMTSU.
- Provide key technical leadership on all finance issues and assure horizontal integration and consistency of workstreams/studies.
- Provide overall guidance and quality control for the four main deliverables of the project.
- Ensure drafts of all work are sent to the global Technical Advisor and GPMTSU regularly.
- Research and write Develop the sections on subsidies and financing incentives in the PIR.
- Provide technical support for the data collection, analysis, and conclusions of the BER.
- Support the data collection, modelling, quality checking, and validation of the FNA.
- Develop a Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP).
- Signal any delays in national deliverables.
- Lead project monitoring, reporting and evaluation at national level.
- Coordinate the development of workshop reports.
- Review all technical reports as required.
- Ensure alignment of national work with global methodologies.
- Liaise with relevant initiatives and programs.
- Review the final reports of the national Policy and Institutional Review, Biodiversity expenditure Review, Financial Needs Assessment and Biodiversity Finance plan.
- Develop at least one brief overview publication per year, press releases, and web and media products.
- Ensure appropriate training and other relevant capacity building activities are organized and implemented.
- Proactively identify and pursue opportunities for the documentation and communication of best practices, programme results, and lessons learned.
- Support establishment of knowledge platforms and innovative mechanisms for capturing and disseminating knowledge.
- Ensure development of knowledge resources and products.
Required Experience
- A minimum of 7 years' experience (with masters’ degree) or 9 years (with bachelor’s degree) at the national or international level in the implementation of environment/biodiversity/finance projects is required.
- Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and web-based management systems, and advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.
- Prior experience with UNDP projects would be an asset.
- Knowledge in environmental or biodiversity related policies is highly desirable.
- Must have private sector experience due to nature of the instruments to be developed in this BioFin Project.
- Have working understanding of public finance with traceable networks to the Ministry of Finance.
- Experience in gathering and processing data and information.
- Experience in managing work teams and supervising technical assessments, reports, and technical documents.
Qualifications
- Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Environment/Natural Resource Management, Project Management, Biodiversity, Political Studies, Economics/Finance, or relevant related field is required.
- A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in a relevant field in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
