Sovereign Risk Financing Specialist

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a global organization with 17,000 staff working in approximately 170 offices globally towards supporting governments in developing strong policies, institutions and partnerships to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

UNDP's policy work carried out at HQ, Regional and Country Office levels, forms a contiguous spectrum of deep local knowledge to cutting-edge global perspectives and advocacy. In this context, UNDP invests in the Global Policy Network (GPN), a network of field-based and global technical expertise across a wide range of knowledge domains and in support of the signature solutions and organizational capabilities envisioned in the Strategic Plan. Within the GPN, the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) has the responsibility for developing all relevant policy and guidance to support the results of UNDP's Strategic Plan.

In order to streamline its financial and investment engagement, UNDP launched the Finance Sector Hub, a finance and innovation platform, that draws on a critical mass of UNDP expertise, initiatives, and partnerships to support the mobilization and leveraging of resources for the SDGs and lead the implementation of the new UNDP private sector strategy and other initiatives. The Hub is an integral part of both the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support (BPPS) and the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy (BERA), as well as part of the GPN.

The Finance Sector Hub team in Geneva works across a range of work relevant to financing and investment for the SDGs, with strong links to financial, private and institutional sectors across Europe. In particular, it leads on UNDP’s work in insurance and risk financing as well as delivers initiatives that target the ecosystems of investment actors across Europe.

UNDP’s Work on Insurance and Risk Financing

The collaboration between the insurance industry and the development sector has grown significantly over the last five years. Key initiatives, such as the Insurance Development Forum, InsuResilience Global Partnership and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, have evolved into significant policy and standard setting partnerships, bringing together countries, the development sector, and the private and mutual/cooperative sectors of industry. Increasingly, these partnerships are moving beyond policy to programming, with a strong focus on not only delivering insurance and risk financing solutions to countries and communities, but also on long-term transformational change of insurance markets.

UNDP’s growing work in this space has led to the creation of a flagship initiative on insurance and risk finance, and the creation of a dedicated facility for supporting UNDP Country Offices and country partners worldwide, within the newly created Finance Sector Hub. This work covers a range of critical areas where insurance and risk transfer solutions and collaboration with the industry can add significantly to achieving and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs.) Covering inclusive insurance, sovereign risk financing, insurance investments, natural capital, health, SME development and more, UNDP will work towards developing and delivering insurance solutions together with countries and communities, as well as collaborating with partners to transform insurance markets through enhancing legislation, regulation and institutional capacity.

UNDP’s dedicated team working on insurance, risk and resilience financing, is now being enhanced with additional capacity to deliver on the promise and commitment at the core of this initiative.

Sovereign Risk Financing Specialist Delivery:

The role of the Sovereign Risk Financing Specialist is to drive forward UNDP’s work in in all areas relevant to its growing work in Insurance and Risk Finance and take responsibility for much of its work in this space. In particular the successful candidate will be responsible for playing a key leadership role across critical insurance/development spaces such as the Insurance Development Forum and InsuResilience Global Partnership, developing and implementing joint workplans, knowledge management and advocacy work, and increasingly country operations. S/he will also be responsible for playing a technical lead role for sovereign risk financing work across UNDP’s portfolio, supporting the team’s Regional Specialists in their delivery at regional and country level. In addition to this, the Sovereign Risk Financing Specialist will be expected to work with partners to originate and develop initiatives of all kinds in the sovereign risk financing area. A critical focus for the consultant will be the successful delivery of the tripartite agreement between the insurance industry, UNDP and BMZ (The German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development) for working on risk financing across 20 countries by 2025.

In summary, the Sovereign Risk Financing Specialist will be responsible for the delivery of various outputs within the following inter-locking areas:

• Coordination and Coherence;
• Technical/Policy Leadership and Support;
• Programme Identification, Development and Resource Mobilization;
• External Engagement, Knowledge Management, Advocacy, Research and Evidence.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Special Advisor, Finance Sector Hub and in close collaboration with other colleagues from the FSH and respective Country and Regional Offices, the Sovereign Risk Financing Specialist will be responsible for performing the following duties during the lifetime of the assignment:

A) Coordination and Coherence

• Provide appropriate leadership and representation across UNDP’s work in the sovereign risk finance space, especially in the tripartite programme between UNDP, the IDF and BMZ;
• Play a key advisory role across all key global forums for sovereign risk finance, including within the Insurance Development Forum and InsuResilience Global Partnership, as well as with critical public and private sector partners;
• Actively connect these key global fora and partnerships with UNDP’s work at the country level and focus on translating global policy discussions into practical action;
• Support UNDP’s corporate work by providing strategic advice, advocacy support, and critical analysis and information on sovereign risk financing, to enhance UNDP’s overall positioning, including the preparation of briefing notes, presentations, speeches etc.

B) Technical Policy/Leadership and Support

• Develop UNDP’s offer for sovereign risk finance that leverages UNDP’s country office scale and engagement with government and existing portfolios across financing, the environment and governance;
• Provide technical leadership to all of UNDP’s work in sovereign risk financing, and support all work, global, regional or at a country level (where appropriate);
• Play the key role in developing UNDP’s workstream for sovereign risk financing at the country level, working across both supply and demand sides, covering legislation, regulation and institutional capacity development, as well as advocacy and awareness raising for both government and potential beneficiaries, and finally distribution partners;
• Lead the design and roll-out of an internal policy, training and education package to deliver on this workstream and support their rollout across critical countries, regions and all UNDP country offices.

C) Project Identification, Development and Resource Mobilization

• Advise on UNDP’s development work across sovereign risk financing, from project identification, through technical specification, partnership collaboration, fund-raising and delivery;
• Develop and roll-out clear fund-raising strategy for UNDP’s sovereign risk financing work that connects our growing technical work and capacity, to the needs and interests of key donors and financing mechanisms;
• Contribute significantly to the development of strategic programmatic partnerships with both internal and external partners to advance the implementation of Risk Finance initiatives as part of UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility;
• Develop strong relationships with donor financing and technical teams on sovereign risk financing, and provide regular guidance on policy and programming changes within donors that could impact on resource mobilization. 

D) External Engagement, Advocacy, Research and Evidence

Develop a multi-year plan of external engagement for UNDP’s growing work in sovereign risk finance, including knowledge management, advocacy, research and evidence.

Expected Outputs/Deliverables:

Coordination, Coherence:  

• UNDP is duly represented in all key forums and processes, especially in the in the tripartite programme with BMZ and the IDF;
• A set of key internal UNDP policy documentation for the entire sovereign risk programme of UNDP is developed in close collaboration with the Team Leader and Corporate Lead for UNDP for Insurance and Risk Finance;

Technical Policy/Leadership and Support:

• UNDP workstream on sovereign risk financing is developed and implemented at country, regional and global levels, especially on issues of legislative, regulatory and institutional development, as well as the integration of insurance/risk financing into development and development processes;
• An internal UNDP plan of guidance, policy and training is developed for all country offices and delivered with the support from the Senior Institutional Advisor and Senior Risk Finance Advisor;

Project Identification, Development and resource Mobilization:

• A fund-raising strategy for UNDP’s growing work in sovereign risk finance is developed and implemented in close collaboration with the Team Leader and Corporate Lead for UNDP;

External Engagement, Advocacy, Research and Evidence:

•  A multi-year plan of external engagement for UNDP’s growing work in sovereign risk finance, including knowledge management, advocacy, research and evidence, is developed in collaboration with the Team Coordinator for Engagement, Research and Evidence.

At the outset of this consultancy, the incumbent will be expected to draft a full workplan for the year, along these four workstreams, with more detailed outputs, deliverables, etc.

 

Competencies

Corporate:

• Demonstrates commitment to the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Demonstrates and promotes the highest standard of integrity, impartiality, fairness and incorruptibility in all matters affecting his/her work and status.

Organizational Awareness:

• Promotes the mission, vision and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Demonstrates corporate knowledge and sound judgment understands the structure and hierarchy of UN/UNDP, process flows throughout the organization, products and services, their measures of effectiveness, and perceptions of clients;
• Excellent knowledge of development issues on financing the 2030 Agenda and internationally-agreed development goals.

Teamwork:

• Acts as a team player facilitating team work;
• Works collaboratively with colleagues inside UN/UNDP as well as its partners and other stakeholders to pursue common goals;
• Able to work at ease in a multicultural setting.

Communication:

• Facilitates and encourages open communication in the team, communicating effectively;
• Delivers verbal/written information in a timely, clear, organized and easily understood manner;
• Strong communication skills and ability to listen and take direction and leadership from others.

Self-Management & Emotional Intelligence:

• Creates synergies through self-control, tolerates conditions of stress, uncertainty or ambiguity and continues to maintain a positive outlook and to work productively;
• Proven ability to work under pressure with tight deadlines, and to deliver in a timely manner within cost and quality standards.

Knowledge Sharing & Continuous Learning:

Able to efficiently handle and share information and knowledge.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications

• University degree (Master’s Degree or above) ideally in economics, finance, insurance or other related area.

Experience

• Minimum 15 years of experience in developing and delivering risk financing tools, products and services at increasingly senior level is required;
• Excellent understanding of global developments in the sovereign risk financing space and demonstrable experience working in and with developing countries is desirable;
• A proven track record working with and implementing projects with governments especially in developing countries and emerging markets, civil society and especially the private sector is desirable;
• Excellent understanding of the role of data and analytics in supporting risk finance is desirable;
• Experience in leading teams, inspiring and mentoring staff, facilitating their capacity development, and resolving conflicts is desirable;
• Experience managing results-orientated projects across issues of strategy, financing, administration and human resources is desirable;
• Experience in overseeing and guiding the development of both internal and external communications, knowledge management strategies and products is an asset;
• Management or project experience in or with the UN, World Bank or other multilateral agency, and proven ability to engage at a senior level with donors and member states is an advantage;
• Familiarity with key partnership forums and structures for the insurance/risk finance and development communities such as the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) and the InsuResilience Global Partnership is desirable.

Language:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.

Application Procedure:

The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using UNDP provided template;
• Methodology and workplan to complete this assignment, over no more than two pages;
• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.
• Financial proposal. (Please see the details below.)

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

• The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on an 8 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 11 days per month).

• The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; (excluding mission travel); living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.

• In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

• If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.

Evaluation process:

Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below.  Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring.  When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.

Technical evaluation - Total 70% (70 points):

• Criterion 1:  University degree ( Master’s Degree or above) ideally in economics, finance, insurance or related area. (Desk Review: min Masters’ Degree – 3 points; Master’s Degree or above in economics, finance, insurance or related – 5 points); – Max. 5 points;

• Criterion 2: Minimum 15 years of experience in developing and delivering risk financing tools, products and services, at increasingly senior level (Desk Review -  min 15 years – 8 points,’ 15-20 years – 9 points; 20 years and more - 10 points) -  Max. 10 points

• Criterion 3: Fluency in English (Desk Review) – Max. 3 points.

• Criterion 4:  Management or project experience in or with the UN, World Bank or other multilateral agency, and proven ability to engage at a senior level with donors and member states (Desk Review:  0-2 years – 2 points; 3 years – 3 points; 4-5 years – 4 points; over 5 years – 5 points) – Max 5 points.

• Criterion 5: Methodology and workplan (Desk Review) – Max 17 points. Note that the paper should sketch out over a maximum of two pages how the candidate would deliver this TOR over the year of the consultancy and include some of the key additional criteria areas, such as the role of data and analytics, and their understanding of global developments in sovereign risk finance.

• Criterion 6: A proven track record working with and implementing sovereign risk finance projects with governments especially in developing countries and emerging markets, civil society and especially the private sector. (Interview) – Max 10 points.

• Criterion 7: Experience in leading teams, inspiring and mentoring staff, facilitating their capacity development, and resolving conflicts both internally and externally. (Interview) – Max 5 points.

• Criterion 8: Experience managing results-orientated projects for sovereign risk finance across issues of strategy, financing, administration and human resources (Interview) – Max 5 points.

• Criterion 9: Experience in overseeing and guiding the development of both internal and external communications, knowledge management strategies and products for sovereign risk finance. (Interview) – Max 5 points.

• Criterion 10: Familiarity with key partnership forums and structures for the insurance/risk finance and development communities such as the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) and the InsuResilience Global Partnership (Interview) – Max 5 points.

Only those candidates that meet the minimum level of education (Master’s), language (fluency in English) and relevant years of experience (at least 15 years) will be considered for the technical evaluation. The technical evaluation will include a desk review and evaluation of methodology/workplan to select the shortlisted candidates.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 28 points (criteria 1-5) of the maximum obtainable points for the above indicated criteria (40 points) shall be considered for the interview.

Candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (all criteria) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points, criteria 1-10) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Contract Award

Candidate obtaining the highest combined score in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.

Institutional Arrangements:

• The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Special Advisor, Finance Sector Hub and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above;
• The consultant will engage with other relevant UNDP staff as needed. Detailed work plans, including timeline, external organizations and individuals to engage and consult with will be developed at the beginning of the assignment;
• The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop;
• Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the Supervisor;
• The work week will be based on 40 hours, i.e. on an 8 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.

Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):

Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs

Annex 2 - IC Contract Template

Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions

Annex 4 – RLA Template