Giga Finance Specialist
Location: Remote
Duration: 11.5 months
Application Deadline: 4 April 2022
Summary
We are seeking an experienced professional to join a small group of finance specialists to lead key workstreams, including capital formation, country engagement and project-level financing.
Your main responsibilities will be…
Capital formation
Giga seeks to mobilize $5 billion in catalytic capital to jumpstart critical connectivity investments, including donor pledges, development loans, private capital, and other sources of project funding.
Lead outreach to existing and prospective financial partners:
- articulate Giga’s unique vision to public and private sector donors;
- lead diligence processes, speaking to projects and related finance strategies in detail;
- build bespoke financial models and clearly explain their outputs and implications;
- form and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including development banks and institutional investors, in partnership with UNICEF’s Public Partnerships Division and Private Fundraising and Partnership Division.
Country-level engagement:
Giga is currently engaged with 19 countries to provide school connectivity and is actively cultivating relationships with new countries. Giga has mapped over 1 million schools in the world, across 42 countries.
Lead engagement efforts with local and regional governments:
- establish relationships with UNICEF country offices and correspond directly with local authorities, as appropriate;
- build and advance a diversified portfolio of connectivity projects at multi-national, national and regional levels;
- convene financial partners to deliver an efficient and manageable solution to the local authority.
Stakeholder engagement:
Giga is a team of technical experts. Members of the finance team are expected to develop a deep understanding of the economics of connectivity across geographies.
- Serve as a thought leader and finance expert within the Giga team as well as related organizations (UNICEF, ITU, etc.);
- Represent Giga and speak publicly in finance-related forums, as appropriate;
To qualify for this position, you will have…
- An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Business Administration, Economics, Finance or related field
*A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree. - A minimum of 7 years professional work experience of financing/finance advisory role in, or to, emerging and developing countries
- Ability to perform project-level financial analysis, macroeconomic analysis and build detailed financial models
- Demonstrated strong skills in Power Point and Excel
- Demonstrated strong writing and presentation skills in English
- Ability to effectively work and coordinate in a multiple stakeholder environment
- Ability to work with a diverse team in a rapidly-changing work environment and adapt to unforeseen changes
- Experience working in the intersection of development/donor organizations, public finance, and commercial sector is an asset
- Experience in designing and developing business cases, business plans and financial plans is an asset
- Experience in telecommunication infrastructure sector is an asset
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
- Knowledge of the UN system is an advantage.
About Our Team
We are a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, finance specialists, data scientists, policy experts, and much more. Our team is a distributed workforce and plans to remain distributed into the foreseeable future.
We are growing fast. Our team has grown by over 400% in the last 6 months as we rapidly scale to meet our stated mission. To date, Giga has brought on more than a dozen partners and raised over $27 million in funding.
Global school connectivity requires meaningful capital investment, and Giga is poised to act as both a financial catalyst and convener to achieve the goal of connecting every school to the internet. Giga works directly with governments to build affordable and financially sustainable models for connectivity. Giga prioritizes the long-term commercial viability of projects to attract a broad set of capital partners and enable innovative, blended financing solutions. From initial project planning to monitoring of service quality, Giga supports governments throughout the lifecycle of connectivity projects, ensuring that the desired social and financial outcomes are achieved.
About Giga
Giga is a joint initiative of UNICEF’s Office of Innovation and ITU’s Telecommunications Development Bureau. It aims to connect every school in the world to the Internet by 2030. Working with 14 corporate and non-profit partners, Giga maps schools’ Internet access in real time, creates models for innovative financing, and supports governments contracting for connectivity. It is part of ITU’s Partner2 Connect Coalition, UNICEF’s Reimagine Education initiative, and the UN Secretary General’s Common Agenda and Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
Follow Giga on Twitter and LinkedIn
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up.
UNICEF has a 70-year history of innovating for children. We believe that new approaches, partnerships and technologies that support realizing children’s rights are critical to improving their lives.
Payment details and further considerations
- Consultants are paid monthly
- Consultants are responsible for their own health and travel insurance
- Consultant is eligible for standard budget allowances for all work-related travel