05 November 2015

NGO Jobs - Financial Linkages Specialist at GOAL International






Organisation: GOAL

International


Duty Station: Kampala,

Uganda


GOAL is an

international humanitarian agency dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the

poorest of the poor.  We are a

non-denominational, non-governmental and non-political organisation. GOAL

Uganda country project focuses on two of GOAL’s three strategic sectors: Health

(including WASH and health accountability programming); and Livelihoods. GOAL

Uganda mainstreams HIV, gender, child protection and the environment/DRR across

all programming. GOAL works on a district focused approach, and uses a mixture

of direct implementation and partnerships with local civil society

organisations, private sector partners and District Local Government to give

effect to our mission.


Job Summary: The Financial

Linkages Specialist will implement all aspects that support farmer access to

and utilisation of formal financial services under the current GOAL Uganda

livelihoods programme. The incumbent will be required to design and apply a

wide variety of value chain financing tools and approaches in order to catalyze

innovative services, facilitate linkages between formal financial service

providers and market actors (smallholder farmers inclusive) and strengthen

critical financing points in the different value chains towards beneficial

outcomes for smallholder farmers in Agago and Abim Districts. The person will

work closely with the Livelihoods Advisor, Resilience and Advocacy Specialist,

the Agricultural Markets Development Specialist, and have a critical role in

supporting the district project implementation teams and private sector actors

in identifying and implementing innovative agricultural and rural financing

approaches. In addition, She/he will help develop annual business plans for

Producer Units.


Key Duties and Responsibilities: 


·        
Planning, developing and implementing

agricultural and rural finance activities:


o   Carry out

regular analysis and provide advice on agricultural finance and related market

development.


o   Collect, manage

and maintain a database on financial service providers, and the range and

quantity of financial services they are currently providing.


o   Mentor and train

GOAL staff on rural and agricultural financing options.


o   Build and strengthen

strategic linkages with a wide range of stakeholders including relevant DLG

departments, banks, microfinance and other private sector financial service

providers – including providing specialist advice on agricultural and rural

finance to partner banks and other financial service providers.


o   Disseminate new

agricultural and rural financing opportunities for market actors; that focus on

building and maintaining a pipeline of investment opportunities through

business planning.


o   Work in liaison

with the AMDS to prepare business cases for off-farm businesses and provide

business skills training for off-farm enterprises.


o   Support farmers

and POs in developing viable agro based business plans and businesses for

financing; ensuring that they are guided by business principles and informed by

the needs of the market.


o   Secure

financial service providers interest in farmers business


o   Aggregate

individual farmer/POs financial services demand projections and ensure business

plans receive micro-financing from an established financial institution.


o   Facilitate

sustainable linkages for individual farmers/farmer groups/POs / processors,

small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to existing micro and formal finance

institutions to facilitate access to credit.


o   Actively monitor

/ mentor loan repayments and support defaulters to work closely with the FSP.


·        
Documentation, Monitoring, Evaluation and

Reporting:


o   Prepare and

submit progress reports detailing major work accomplishments and progress incl.

monitoring and documenting project participants accessing and utilising formal

financial services.


o   Document and

disseminate case studies, best practices on value chain financing activities

and lessons on working with formal financial service providers.


o   The incumbent

will support the Livelihoods Project Managers in preparation of progress

reports (quarterly, annual, final) and respond to the queries related to

project particularly related agricultural and rural financing activities.


o   Contributing to

annual work plans/budgets and other technical reports.


·        
Organizational Learning: As part of GOAL

Uganda’s commitment to organizational learning and in support of our

understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and

relevant to the communities they serve – we expect all team members to commit

5% of their time to learning activities that benefit GOAL Uganda as well as

themselves.


·        
Representation and Coordination:


o   Act as the

focal person for all coordination, partnership and related activities with

formal financial service providers and related stakeholders.


o   Work in liaison

with local government officials, local NGOs and civil society organizations,

and other notables to ensure support for and acceptance of GOAL Uganda’s market

based programs.


o   Maintain close

working relationships with humanitarian and development organizations, and

local partners, including representing GOAL Uganda at local coordination

meetings as assigned.


o   Conduct

himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring

credit to GOAL Uganda and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.


·        
Accountability to Beneficiaries: GOAL Uganda

team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability,

specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding

international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary

communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our

field projects.


Qualifications, Skills and

Experience: 


·        
The ideal candidate should preferably hold a first

degree or equivalent qualification in finance, accounting, business or other

related field.


·        
A minimum of five years’ experience working in

financial services, either with a development bank, private financial

institution or consulting firm – or a combination of these. This experience

should ideally include agricultural and rural finance, banking and

microfinance, and all preferably in the private sector.


·        
The applicant should also have at least three years’

experience in emerging markets.


·        
Demonstrated ability to work in multi-disciplinary

and multi stakeholder working environments.


·        
Strong networking skills


·        
Excellent analytical skills in planning, financial

analysis and risk management, and project implementation are desired


·        
Familiarity with issues facing the development of

the agricultural and rural financial sectors in Uganda.


·        
The applicant should preferably be an individual

with initiative, who is performance driven and has considerable planning and

organizational skills.


·        
Strong communication, analytical and report writing

skills with fluency in spoken and written English.


·        
Computer literacy skills are a must.


·        
Excellent interpersonal skills.


·        
Willingness and enthusiasm for working with rural

and vulnerable communities living in remote areas of the country.


All suitably

qualified and interested applicants should send their applications which must

include at least 4 reference contacts (2 professional, 2 character references,

including your supervisor and the most recent/previous employer), and daytime

contact number to; The Human Resource Manager, GOAL Uganda via E-mail to:

AdminKampala@ug.goal.ie


NB: Please do not attach certificates and indicate the

Position applied for in the email subject.


Deadline: 23rd November 2015













0 comments:

Post a Comment