Back Municipal Finance and Local Infrastructure Advisor, IPSA 12 - UNCDF - LTF-New York-USA

Background  and Organizational Context
 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core principles at UNDP/UNCDF:  we value diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate, we foster inclusion as a way of ensuring all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, and we ensure equity and fairness in all our actions. Taking a ‘leave no one behind’ approach to our diversity efforts means increasing representation of underserved populations. People who identify as belonging to marginalized or excluded populations are strongly encouraged to apply. Learn more about working at UNDP/UNCDF including our values and inspiring stories.
 UNDP/UNCDF does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Project Description

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 46 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. Under this Strategic Framework 2022-2025, UNCDF will realize its full potential as a hybrid development organization and development finance institution. UNCDF, through its Local Transformative Finance Practice (LTFP), will deepen and expand its role as the UN Hub for Subnational Finance by strengthening its long-standing collaborative relationships as a technical and financial partner for local transformation. Its clients encompass local and regional governments, cities as agencies of local transformation, domestic capital market participants and regulatory and budgetary authorities. UNCDF combines finance and investment instruments with sector expertise across all aspects of subnational public and private finance with a focus on designing, piloting and testing sustainable local financing mechanisms that can be taken to scale.

To this end, UNCDF offers its clients financing and policy expertise in three overlapping transformations: 

(a) The urban transition to implement the New Urban Agenda that transforms cities into inclusive, sustainable and resilient places with everyone benefiting from growth, access to transport, housing, water and sanitation, green space and the “right to the city”; 

(b) The green transition to implement the Rio Conventions through sustainable city planning and zoning, climate adaptation, urban food systems land-use management, circular water management and clean and smart energy solutions; 

(c) The productive transition to implement the priorities of the Doha program of action for the Least Developed Countries (2022-2031): increasing productive capacities through a territorial approach to local economic development and the creation of value-added urban/rural linkages leading to structural transformation. UNCDF designs, pilots and tests out financing mechanisms and business models in both public and private sectors that support locally designed public investments and revenue-generating capital investment projects. The investment financing toolboxes include Fiscal Decentralization, Local Development Funds for public capital investment programming, performance-based grants especially with focus on climate change adaptation Structured Project Finance, Municipal Finance, SME Finance, and Public-Private Partnerships.

As a hub for subnational finance, UNCDF is focusing on developing a financial ecosystem that works for cities, local and regional governments based on the understanding that this will accelerate the achievement of the global goals. In this context, UNCDF’s 2022 flagship publication “Local Government Finance is Development Finance” provides further evidence that the current system is not working for cities and local governments and demonstrates how local “financeable transformative” investments are central to financing sustainable urbanization and local development. As such, local and regional governments should be considered as key partners for investment, and as legitimate interlocutors within high-level international dialogues on the economic and financial system, governance and regulations. Five interlinked building blocks characterize the UNCDF policy agenda for local government finance: 

1)           Intergovernmental fiscal transfers as vehicles for development finance, in particular climate finance. 

2)           Increased focus on local and regional government own source revenues to rebuild local fiscal space. 

3)           Domestic capital markets that are accommodating to local and regional governments. 

4)           City-friendly investment funds which understand the specific financial and political reality of the local and regional governments and support their investment objectives. 

5)           Guarantee funds for city investments that provide confidence to financial institutions and mitigate pressure on sovereign balance sheets.     

UNCDF’s partners in local government finance include: Local and national governments; Financing agencies (the World Bank, domestic commercial banks and investment institutions); International partners (UCLG, ICLEI, CLGF, FMDV, Cities Alliance, The Hague Academy for Local Governance, ICLD, KEI, WRI, DeLoG, OECD); UN partners (UN-Habitat, UNDP, UNDESA, UNECA, FAO, etc); Development partners (Sida, EU, SDC, DFID, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein) and others. 

The Municipal Finance and Local Infrastructure Advisor performs technical advisory functions for the development and deployment of municipal finance and project finance instruments for investment in local infrastructure in LDCs and other developing countries. The focus will be on supporting towns, cities, and urban areas to develop projects, secure capital and recurrent financing required for their growing infrastructure and service needs. 

 The aim is to increase the ability of local governments and other sub-sovereign entities to address key urbanization, climate risks and productivity challenges through access to sustainable sources of capital financing. This is expected to contribute to improving resilience and quality of life in countries where UNCDF is operational, especially in Africa and Asia. 

This position will contribute to improving local government access to finance for investment in critical urban infrastructure and services in cities including by strengthening financial markets and market intermediaries so that they can facilitate financial access for cities. Furthermore, the incumbent will support establishing policies, standards, and practices that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the capital financing process in beneficiary countries. 

The Advisor will provide technical support to local governments (urban and rural) and local banks as partners of choice. This includes piloting and testing improved mechanisms, financial instruments, and tools including debt instruments (borrowing, special purpose project vehicles and bonds) for Municipal Finance; and project / SME finance for infrastructure.  The advisor will provide technical advice and support to the Blue Peace portfolio of transboundary water infrastructure projects and oversee the development of the Blue Peace financing mechanism.

 The incumbent is accountable for the identification, development, quality assurance of, and technical support to global as well as country-level opportunities within LTF’s business plan while ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women in strategic and operational activities of UNCDF. In doing so, she/he must translate the Malaga agenda and UNCDF’s Strategic Framework 2022-2025 into country programming and regional positioning, ensuring the development of synergies of technical/programme support and relationships with LDCs and other developing countries through a sound collaboration with the UNCTs.

1)           Provide technical oversight and quality control for the municipal finance and local infrastructure initiatives – contributing to the achievement of corporate and project objectives. This is about accountability for the performance, results, and impact of UNCDF Local Transformative Finance activities in Municipal finance and local infrastructure.

a)           Provide technical support for the design and implementation of programs in municipal finance and local infrastructure including piloting and testing financial mechanisms, instruments, and tools for: investments by the domestic banking sector in local infrastructure including through guarantee facilities, third party managed funds, PPPs and debt instruments (borrowing, special purpose project vehicles and bonds) for Municipal Finance.

b)           Provide technical advice and support to the Blue Peace portfolio of transboundary water infrastructure projects (global and localized) and oversee the development of the Blue Peace financing mechanism.

c)           Contribute to high-level debates and consultation processes at global, regional, and country level related to UNCDF’s work in Municipal finance and local infrastructure.

d)           Advise UNCDF in LDCs and non LDCs on issues of Municipal finance and local infrastructure and local development finance.

e)           Exercise oversight and accountability for the contributions to, and measurement of, LTFP business plan output and outcome indicators for the municipal finance and local infrastructure. 

f)            Provide technical support to UNCDF country teams on engagement with government, UN Country Teams, and with other stakeholders in municipal finance and local infrastructure development.

2)           Provide technical leadership and policy advice in municipal finance and local infrastructure – in particular in relation to infrastructure & service provision, local economic development and the strengthening of municipal capacity in the relevant countries.

a)           Support to the development of national policies in the areas of municipal finance and local infrastructure, drawing on the latest research and ideas, lessons of policy pilots and substantive dialogue with key practitioners and major international institutions. 

b)           Apply UNCDF’s local development finance diagnostic tools, instruments, and approaches to constructively inform and contribute to these strategies and policies, in a way that leverages UNCDF support to promote the interventions and finance of others. 

c)           Provide technical advice to develop and implement strategies for the rollout of the municipal finance instruments in accordance with the LTFP business plan and UNCDF Strategic Plan. These strategies to be based on an adaptation of the LTFP approach to country level development challenges, to be aligned to National Development Plans, the Istanbul Plan of Action for LDCs and other relevant national and international policies.

d)           Develop and maintain close working relationships with the LTFP Regional and country teams and ensure a client-based approach in which municipal financing is introduced on demand and in accordance with local priorities. 

e)           Identify and follow up on investment opportunities that can be leveraged within the LDCs and selected non-LDCs.

f)            Maintain effective technical relationships with strategic partners, including LDC and selected non-LDC governments at local and national levels, research and academic institutions, civil society, and the private sector.

g)           Dialogue and outreach to key internal and external constituencies and partners, to increase visibility and awareness of UNCDF’s comparative advantages and strategic niches in Municipal finance and local infrastructure.

3) Provide leadership in applying business development strategies, tools, and intelligence, to build and maintain technical partnerships, capitalize on business opportunities and enhance resource mobilization for municipal finance and local infrastructure.

a)           Develop and negotiate funding proposals for municipal finance and local infrastructure both at global level and for country- specific projects. Build partnerships to ensure replication, scaling up and to achieve greater impact.

b)           Design new instruments and mechanisms related to municipal finance and local infrastructure for partnership opportunities.

c)           Identify funding opportunities and actively reach out to relevant donors and development partners for joint programming and resource mobilization.

4) Provide technical leadership in policy development and knowledge management in the areas of local development, municipal finance, and associated thematic areas, including Financing for Development, Financing for water and climate risks, the implementation of the SDGs, and the development strategies of Least Developed Countries at the regional and global level.

a)           Monitor and actively contribute to regional and global debates in the field of urban finance, localization of SDGs in urban areas, implementations of the New Urban Agenda and of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.

b)           Actively contribute to enhancing closer dialogue and cooperation within the UN system in the field of Municipal Finance and local infrastructure.

c)           Provide technical leadership in identifying, documenting, and incorporating lessons learned from UNCDF and domestic experience with the objective of contributing to scaling up, policy influence and mainstreaming of the models developed. 

d)           Provide inputs to publications, seminars, and conferences to highlight UNCDF support to Municipal finance and local infrastructure.

e)           Collaboration with key partners and local development practitioners, including other UN agencies, practices, within the region for research and development of innovative strategies and approaches to build the reputation of UNCDF as a UN Subnational Financing Hub and sharpen delivery of municipal finance local infrastructure projects in order to better achieve LTFP Business Plan, UNCDF Strategic Plan and LDC’s SDG goals. 

f)            Development and contribution to knowledge-sharing networks on municipal finance and local infrastructure initiatives globally.

5) Provide technical support and advice to the LTF Director and UNCDF senior management on UNCDF corporate initiatives and activities related to Municipal Finance and local infrastructure. This includes leadership in the active acquisition and sharing of business-sensitive knowledge in Municipal Finance and local infrastructure. The Advisor will support the leadership of LTFP and UNCDF senior management with technical and other contributions.

a)           Technical support from regional and national perspectives to the development of substantive inputs into the LTFP Business Plan and its implementation.

b)           Participate in and provide technical inputs to the UNCDF Investment Committees and Working Groups.

c)           Active participation in retreats, LTFP Practice meetings and teleconferences.

d)           Advice to the LTFP Director and providing inputs into corporate presentations and reports.

e)           Exploration of synergies with the other UNCDF practices.

f)            Preparation of substantive inputs into the Results-Oriented Annual Report.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Institutional Arrangement

The incumbent reports to the Practice Director, LTFP, based in New York and work closely with the LTF HQ, regional and country teams. The Municipal Finance and Local Infrastructure Advisor will provide technical leadership and managerial support to Blue Peace Programme, and other UNCDF programmes managed by the LTF team while ensuring cross-practice collaboration within UNCDF. He/she will backstop, monitor, and advise on various initiatives on Municipal and Local Infrastructure Finance including guarantees, loans, reimbursable financing agreement, special purpose vehicles, project finance, relationships with third party managed funds and other relevant areas. She/he will maintain strong linkages across the various financing instruments and co-ordinate UNCDF’s policy engagement on fiscal decentralization and local government finance including at international fora including DeLOG, Malaga Policy Agenda (domestic capital market development, city friendly investment funds and local government guarantee schemes).

This position is mainly office-based with flexibility for alternative work arrangements as per the corporate requirements.

Achieve Results: LEVEL 4: Prioritize team workflow, mobilize resources, drive scalable results/strategic impact.

Think Innovatively: LEVEL 4: Easily navigate complexity, encourage/enable radical innovation, has foresight.

Learn Continuously: LEVEL 4: Create systems and processes that enable learning and development for all.

Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 4: Proactively initiate/lead organizational change, champion new systems/processes.

Act with Determination: LEVEL 4: Able to make difficult decisions in challenging situations, inspire confidence.

Engage and Partner: LEVEL 4: Construct strategic multi-partner alliances in high stake situations, foster co-creation. 

Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 4: Create ethical culture,  identify/address barriers to inclusion 

People Management Competencies:

UNDP People Management Competencies can be found in the dedicated site

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies 

Thematic Area   Name    Definition

Business Direction & Strategy - Strategic Thinking

•             Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNCDF objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities, linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions. 

•             Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNCDF.

Business Direction & Strategy - System Thinking              

•             Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.

Business Development - Knowledge Generation              

•             Ability to research and turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need.

Business Management - Communication

•             Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.

•             Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Business Management - Project Management

•             Ability to plan, organize, prioritise and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals. 

Partnership management - Relationship management

•             Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding. 

2030 Agenda: Partnerships - SDG Finance 

•             Responsive investment and impact measurement 

Minimum Qualifications of the Successful IPSA 

Education requirements

Min. years of relevant work experience 

Required skills 

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

Required Language(s)    

Professional Certificates N/A