Overall purpose of the role:
The Innovative Finance Coordinator will support DRC Kenya in
delivering its innovative finance and private sector development portfolio,
with a key focus on operationalizing the Refugee Investment Facility (RIF),
developed by DRC and Swiss impact investment firm iGravity. The RIF provides
impact-linked and concessionary loans to enterprises benefiting refugees and
host communities across four areas: employability, decent employment, access to
services/products, and financial inclusion. It also includes a Technical
Assistance Facility (TAF) offering mentoring and advisory services to help
investees maximize their social impact. The Innovative Finance Coordinator will
lead the RIF’s Technical Advisory Facility at DRC Uganda, working with HQ
specialists. The role includes identifying and screening high-impact companies,
leading impact development and due diligence from a refugee perspective,
managing technical assistance to enhance refugee impact, monitoring investee
outcomes, and linking investees to DRC and broader humanitarian/development
programs. The Coordinator will also support implementation of various other
innovative finance initiatives under the portfolio as well as working with HQ
colleagues on new initiatives as they are developed.
The Innovative Finance Coordinator will also offer technical
support to DRC Kenya’s programmes that focus on private sector engagement and
development, offering support to implementing teams, managing relationships
with strategic partners and scoping new private sector partnership and
financing opportunities for refugee impact.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Refugee Investment
Technical Assistance
Lead the scoping and development of technical assistance activities both prior
to and during investment under the RIF, which seeks to offer patient
investments of up to 5 years to local companies and start-ups that have the
potential to positively impact refugees and host communities. This includes:
- Pre-Investment
Technical Assistance
- Identify
companies with potential refugee impact through networks and country
programming and refer such to the RIF /iGravity Investment Officers for
screening
- Lead
on identification of potential enterprise impact within target
displacement affected communities, aligning with community needs as part
of screening of potential investees
- Investee
Technical Assistance:
- Lead
the design and defining of focus for technical assistance allocations for
each investee, in line with the Technical Assistance Facility framework,
and in cooperation with the DRC country teams, DRC RIF Global Lead,
Regional Specialists and the RIF in-country Investment Officer
- Identify
business capacity building needs, opportunities for impact and ways to
further connect businesses to displacement-affected communities
- Identify
key refugee impact metrics relevant for each company and define an impact
framework for each investee
- Prepare
and submit proposals for technical assistance grant allocations to the
RIF Investment Committee
- Provide
technical assistance and advice to investees on refugee impact, such as
support developing impact management and monitoring systems, assistance
engaging effectively with refugee communities and their needs, analysis
of markets and ecosystems within refugee hosting areas to enhance
business engagement, and support in development of best practice around
refugee-inclusive business approaches
- Manage
impact monitoring for RIF investees, through annual review of impact
reports of investees, meeting with investee management teams, on-site
monitoring, and on this basis make recommendations for strengthening the
impact of investees
- Identify
links between investees and DRC’s other economic recovery programming in
country to build complementarity in approaches
- Coordination
and MEAL Activities:
- Coordinate
DRC RIF country activities and priorities with the Global DRC HQ RIF Lead
and iGravity’s RIF Country Lead
- Support
the development of learning and community impact monitoring alongside
DRC’s MEAL teams, gathering data and feedback from communities on RIF
impacts
- Support
baseline, reporting and evaluation processes
Private Sector
Partnerships and Innovative Finance Concept Development:
- Support
DRC Kenya’s work with private sector partners, including identifying and
exploring partnerships with companies with potential positive impact on
refugees and host communities, including job creation, employability and
technical training, access to relevant services and products
- Support
the global innovation team on developing innovative financing approaches
and investment partnerships to mobilize new types of capital for refugees
and host communities in Kenya, including idea and concept development,
partner and donor outreach, proposal writing and external representation
- Contribute
to business development processes
Finance and
Administration:
- Ensuring
that technical, financial, and administrative activities, including
reporting are carried out according to DRC and donor policies and
procedures and that deadlines are met
- Assume
responsibility for the effective management of the programme’s budget.
This entails regularly monitoring spending and ensure timely utilization
of funds in accordance with agreed spending plans.
- Contribute
to monthly Budget Review Meeting.
- Ensure
Value-for-Money in decision making.
Experience and
technical competencies:
- At
least five years proven and successful track record engaging with
businesses in refugee contexts or other similar contexts working with
marginalized populations, and identifying impact measurement, with ideally
some experience in the investment sector or from the non-profit or social
enterprise sector working with private sector development approaches. You
should also have:
- Experience
in social impact financing, implementing market systems development
activities and fostering strategic private sector engagement;
- Experience
in economic development, private sector development, economic recovery in
humanitarian and/or emerging economy contexts, business strategy and
business plan development, or similar fields with social impact focus
- Understanding
of the refugee / host community context in country, including
socio-economic challenges and opportunities and the role NGOs and private
sector can play in addressing challenges and realizing opportunities
- Previous
experience working in Kenya with a strong network of relevant companies
- Ability
to communicate technical information in an easy to understand, informative
and collaborative manner
- Good
knowledge of the Core Humanitarian Standards or other accountability
measures/standards.
Qualifications
Education
- Masters
degree in one of the following: International Development, MBA/Finance or
International Relations
Language:
- English
– excellent written and verbal skills
- Swahili
– excellent verbal skills
How To Apply
