Kenya: WASH Finance Specialist

Organization: DAI Global

Country: Kenya

Closing date: 06 Oct 2017

DAI, a global development consulting firm, seeks applications from qualified candidates for the Kenya Integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (KIWASH) project.

The position is open to Kenyan nationals only

1. Background

The Kenya Integrated Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (KIWASH) Project is a five-year, USAID-funded project to improve lives and health through the development and management of sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene services in Kenya. Its purpose is to institutionalize catalytic models of sustainable service delivery for accelerated water and sanitation access in nine target counties and to improve complementary hygiene behaviors.

KIWASH goals include increasing the number of people with access to safely managed drinking water, sanitation and irrigation services; strengthened capability of governments to track investments in WASH services; mobilized, sustained and reliable finance to invest in improved WASH service delivery at the local level; and strengthened ability of USAID and development partners to understand, scale, and replicate successful approaches to WASH and smallholder agricultural finance.

2. Summary of Primary Duties

The WASH Finance Specialist shall provide technical assistance to help mobilize finance for water and sanitation service delivery and smallholder irrigation in support of KIWASH counterparts in the country. The Finance specialist shall engage national and county government counterparts, WASH service providers, local agribusinesses, financial institutions, and international donors to advance infrastructure finance initiatives in support KIWASH project objectives.

He/she will provide expertise, knowledge and technical support to the team on all issues related to sector financing. He/she will review, design and manage the development and implementation of specific knowledge material supporting commercial finance in the water, sanitation and agricultural sectors and work with the Governance team to incorporate programs to support accessing commercial finance. He will support the development of the enabling environment for expanding water supply and sanitation services through capacity building of WASH institutions, county governments, and other local stakeholders and enhance their capacity in WASH financing. He or she will engage with county governments to increase their ownership responsibility through proper financial planning and budgeting

3. Essential Duties

· Conduct in-depth analyses of utility audited financial statements, management accounts, MIS reports, debt service capacity, profitability, as well as current challenges in the informal settlements

· Evaluate the demand for water and sanitation products and services and assess household capacity to pay.

· Provide project specific advice and guidance to utility companies, WASH enterprises and agribusinesses on organizational and financial capacity and requirements for the project under consideration for financing.

· Support utility strategic and business plan development, gathering data to inform and guide the process.

· Guide and support development of investment proposal for banks, microfinance institutions, donors, counties and other partners, and facilitate communication with these entities.

· Provide technical assistance to financial partners in credit policy, product design and methodology, and loan due diligence for water, sanitation and irrigation products.

· Provide orientation to bank staff on water and agricultural sector financing opportunities.

· Support and contribute to communications on the program, providing weekly status reports on the assigned projects.

· Follow up with financial partners and utility management to get updates on progress.

· Other tasks as required by supervisor.

4. Supervisory Responsibilities

· The WASH Finance Specialist will have no supervisory responsibilities.

5. Qualifications

· Working experience in the finance sector with commercial banks, microfinance institutions or development banks in capital market development or as an investment banker.

· Sound understanding of the challenges associated with raising finance for infrastructure or smallholder agricultural projects in a developing-country context

· Demonstrated experience facilitating access to capital markets by conducting project preparation and investment feasibility assessments, risk analysis, and financial structuring

· A minimum of five years of experience with infrastructure or agricultural finance strengthening programs (water and sanitation experience preferred)

· A Master’s degree in development economics, finance, business or a relevant social science, or in a water and sanitation related field

· Knowledge and experience working on Kenyan water supply, sanitation and irrigation issues will be an added advantage

· English language written and verbal fluency.

6. Base of Operations

· The position will be based in Nairobi but will involve travel to all the nine KIWASH focus counties of Kakamega, Busia, Siaya ,Kisumu, Nyamira , Migori , Kitui and Makueni

7. Reporting

· The WASH Finance Specialist will report to the Deputy Chief of Party.

How to apply:

Interested applicants should apply via the link, https://kiwashproject.formstack.com/forms/wash_finance_specialist by October 6, 2017, 5:00 pm. Only candidates who send their information by applying through the link and by the deadline will be eligible. Copy the link and paste it on the browser to submit your application.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

DAI provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics