Senior Adviser Innovation, (Chief of Innovative Finance Hub) P5 – Office of Innovation, Helsinki, Finland #117142

• Country: Finland
• Vacancies No: N/A
  
• Salary: N/A
• No of Jobs: N/A
  
• Education: Master’s degree
• Experience: 10 years
  
• Gender: Both

1. Manage and enhance the IF Hub’s operational model
   • Recruiting and managing a team composed of dedicated staff on innovative finance.
   • Maintain the key interlocutor position for Innovative Finance with the Finnish government.
   • Provide expertise and leadership in structuring and supporting the adoption and use of child focused standards, criteria and KPIs connected to financial investments, public and private, in line and coordination with the overall IF4C structure, governance and strategy.
   • Manage a global incubator team that will develop new fintech and cutting-edge technologies that can reach scale with clear revenue generating targets – including but not limited to leverage the use of digital payments, gaming, and crypto financing.
2. Support the Innovative finance capacity building and stakeholder engagement in IF4C in close collaboration with UNICEF PFP and PPD teams.
   • Develop Innovative and Development Financing capacity building and training modules, internally and externally, as well as network of experts and best practices around IF4C.
   • Host relevant events and workshops, including financial and development ecosystem in Finland, to create new partnerships and alliances around innovative finance.
   • Create an IF network with existing and new relevant stakeholders– including governments, private sector, civil society, foundations, etc. in close collaboration with PPD, PFP, and UNICEF Finland.
3. Provide global leadership in developing and implementing child lens investing framework and solutions.
   • Lead Innovative Finance Hub to become a catalyst for implementing and facilitate adoption of child lens investing, in collaboration with US Impact Fund, UNICEF Divisions, Regional Offices and Country Offices, bringing in expertise for RD/concept development, setting standards to influence market alignment and developing criteria for sourcing impact investing opportunity as well as reporting on the impact on children.
4. Key task areas and functions to be focused on also include:
   • Raising staff and leadership awareness and provide capacity and skills on how innovative financing can help address the scale of programmatic challenges.
   • Understanding the asks/projects and helping to develop financial funding structures which would support them, while looking to leverage both the IFIs, Development Banks and private sector and new generation of partners.
   • Help drive organizational, results oriented change and ultimately expand UNICEF’s assistance to children and youths.

The incumbent will contribute to the overall IF4C strategy and results including;

• Align a greater share of the capital markets towards the Sustainable Development Goals for children.
• Amplify impact for children by using UNICEF-driven alternative/innovative.
• finance instruments, scaling up current UNICEF and National Committee-driven financing initiatives building on current experiences and applying them in new contexts and on a wider scale.
• Accelerate additional capital for children through new-impact investment products, expanding partnerships with public and private sector partners to create new child-aligned impact investing opportunities in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Access global insurance and risk finance markets to protect the most vulnerable, piloting new child-focused risk financing instruments and innovative insurance products to protect children and their families from the negative impacts of unexpected events, including natural hazards and catastrophes.
• Apply new innovative solutions that add value for children over the next four years. This includes using cutting-edge technologies to leverage new resource channels for children (e.g., cryptocurrency donations and transactional fundraising opportunities.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in relevant field, e.g. Certified Financial Planning and Investment, Public Policy, Business Administration, Finance, Development.

• A minimum of ten (10) years at national and international level in public or private investments, including infrastructure, project management, consulting, research, budget, development, or equivalent experience
• Successfully demonstrated capacity and recognized leadership in public fora, including development, humanitarian and impact investing arenas, media, and networks and public speaking
• Proven ability to manage medium to large multicultural and multidisciplinary teams and to conceptualize, plan and execute ideas as well as to manage projects.
• An in-depth understanding and relevant experience of UNICEF initiatives and programming especially at country and regional level is highly desired.
• Strong background and proven professional experience in innovative financing solutions and public-private partnership.
• Strong capacity to work effectively in inter-divisional teams, previous solid experience with external government and non-governmental partners and stakeholders
• Strong capacity to distill and translate multifaceted and critical issues for organizational attention.
• Experience in/knowledge of the UN system and knowledge of UNICEF’s work would be an asset.
• Strategic thinking and analytical ability.
• Excellent organizational, leadership, interpersonal and public speaking/communications skills.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

APPLY NOW