Investment screening & ESG Specialist

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners' peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world.  Mandated as a central resource of the United Nations, UNOPS provides sustainable project management, procurement and infrastructure services to a wide range of governments, donors and United Nations organizations. 

UNOPS has established a Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation (S3i) Office in Helsinki, Finland. The S3i Office is a dedicated and integrated subsidiary within UNOPS with a significant degree of operational independence. The S3i Office bolsters UNOPS’ current business model by enhancing UNOPS’ brand as an innovative player in inclusive infrastructure, providing forward-looking strategic advisory services to UNOPS’ existing clients, and drawing new partners from the private sector to expand UNOPS’ portfolio of initial investments while leveraging resources to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The goal of S3i is to catalyze investments in sustainable infrastructure by developing, brokering, and investing in high-quality, socially and environmentally responsible, and commercially viable transactions.  

• In the short-term, S3i makes minority share investments in infrastructure projects best aligned with UNOPS’ mission, and provides project management, procurement, and ESG/Impact services on a fee basis.

• In the long-term, the S3i Office could bolster its self-sustainability by developing and scaling other revenue streams that would complement its investing and deal management functions.  These could include fund management, development impact advisory, due diligence and risk management advisory work, and would enable S3i to operate more broadly with private sector participants and projects.   

Under the supervision of the Director, Infrastructure Investment Partnerships, the Investment Screening & ESG Specialist will develop partnerships and deal flow in Asia, and closely work with the Partnerships & Social Investments Manager to develop S3i’s ESG/Impact standards, framework, benchmark, and various offers and products, such as impact reports, knowledge products, training, etc.  

The Specialist reviews and appraises the social, environmental, governance risks and impacts associated with potential investments against S3i criteria as early in the investment process as possible, and develops recommendations for S3i and client actions.  He/she monitors and evaluates the performance of ongoing deals from the financial and ESG/Impact perspective, and makes decisions to take corrective action as required.

1. Investment Management for Asia Portfolio:

• Conduct industry and market research to support the development of investment strategies or identify transaction opportunities; lead the investment thesis and identification of value creation strategies; 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key partners, with a focus on global and regional leading investors, banking and multilateral partners, and government officials to develop specific investment opportunities. Contribute to strengthening S3i’s brand and investor relations in key markets, with an initial focus on China and Singapore.  

• Provide suggestions for innovative and appropriate financial structures for transactions; evaluate structure, and close new transactions;

• Coordinate with internal and external project developers to improve projects’ bankability; Use negotiation skills to overcome impasses and finalize negotiations for transactions;

• Coordinate the financial due diligence process including overseeing modeling and valuation and analysis; 

• Work with legal, risk management and other internal teams, coordinate the transaction execution process, including ensuring transaction documentation and structuring are consistent with the business case;

• Prepare investment committee presentation material;

• Define steps required to assist clients with improving their performance and meet social, environmental, and governance safeguards in order to close transactions; 

• Support the Partnerships & Social Investments Manager in the development of S3i’s sustainability policies, ESG and impact standards, guidelines, benchmarks, data collection tools, best practices, and lessons learned.  

• Work with the Risk Management Specialist to develop ESG risk management framework and monitoring plan for the portfolio, and develop ESG risk mitigation strategies;

• Stay abreast of industry developments, emerging standards and best practices for ESG/Impact data tracking and analysis;

• Impact of Results

The effective and successful achievement of results by the Investment Screening & ESG Specialist directly impacts UNOPS S3i’s ability to drive progress towards the SDGs, build a strong investment portfolio and to demonstrate UNOPS’ comparative advantage of combining UN ethics and values with tailored solutions, consequently strengthening UNOPS’ competitive position as a partner of choice in sustainable development and project services.  

Education: 

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent), preferably in Finance, Accounting and/or Business; a first level university degree with relevant combination of academic qualifications.

Experience: 

• A minimum of five years of relevant experience with a financial/ESG/Risk management background and relevant market knowledge, with at least 2 years experience in development finance and/or investing in developing countries is essential.; Knowledge of renewable energy and affordable housing investment is an asset.

• Strong understanding of sustainable infrastructure investment and current trends, with deep knowledge of ESG data, standards and trends.

• Track record of analytical and data analysis, previous experiences of synthesising and summarising quantitative and qualitative data.  Knowledge of good governance practices for data collection and management.

• Demonstrated experience in collaborating with diverse and senior teams in achieving results, including negotiations and relationship management.  

• Previous experience in working with international organizations is highly desirable.  

Language Requirements: 

• Excellent writing and oral skills in English.  

• Working knowledge of Chinese is desired.  

1. Contract type: IICA
2. Contract level: I-ICA 2
3. Contract duration: One year, with possibility for extension subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.