SUSTAINABLE FINANCE OFFICER (ASIA)

Please note that the deadline is based on Korean Standard Time Zone (KST, UTC+9)

INTRODUCTION TO GGGI

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting and promoting strong, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing countries and emerging economies. To learn more please visit about GGGI web page. 

CONTEXT

In 2023, with the support of the Government of Luxemburg GGGI established the Global Trust Fund (GTF) on Sustainable Finance Instruments: Scaling up Thematic Bond Markets in Developing Countries, offering a novel approach to closing the development financing gap by leveraging the capital market’s potential to promote climate change mitigation and adaptation by setting in place policy incentives and de-risking measures to direct bond proceeds towards low carbon resilient projects and initiatives. The bond market represents the main source of capital for sovereign governments and public and private financial institutions. Shifting only ~3% of global issuances towards development financing gaps of developing countries would be sufficient to fill the NDC and SDG USD 3.7 trillion gap.

In the last two years GTF successfully mobilized USD 2 billion of climate finance and is now scaling up. GGGI’s technical assistance will strengthen the national green finance ecosystem of 25 developing countries through the development of policy frameworks training 1,000 private and public sector sustainable finance experts. GGGI will deliver pre- and post-issuance support leading to thematic bond issuances raising USD 5 billion earmarked to NDC targets and SDG goals. The program’s direct capital mobilization will contribute to the avoidance of 324 MtCO2 emissions, enhance the climate change resilience of 5 million beneficiaries, and create more than 950,000 green jobs.

The program aims to deliver four interrelated outcomes:

1. National policy frameworks are enhanced: supporting financial regulators across countries to develop regulatory frameworks and guidelines to mitigate perceived thematic bond risks, lift barriers to issuance and promote alignment with international standards.
   
   
2. Capacity of prospective issuers enhanced: in collaboration with LuxSE deliver capacity building webinars training to an estimated 1,000 sustainable finance experts from issuers, stock exchanges and regulators, followed by bilateral on-the-job training to incentive and promote issuances. Country-level capacity building will be complemented by international learning networks, providing a platform for capital market actors across prioritized geographies to receive specialized training, share lessons learned, and recommendations.
   
   
3. USD 5 billion mobilized for NDC and SDG activities via thematic bond issuances: delivering credit-enhancement, pre- and post-issuance support to prospective issuers. GGGI will support issuers from developing countries develop ambitious issuance strategies, bond frameworks, processes for projects evaluation and selection, impact reporting and management of proceeds. GGGI will assist the development, evaluation and selection of underlying project portfolios and support SPO processes to demonstrate issuances alignment with NDCs and SDGs targets. Following the issuance, GGGI will support issuers prepare impact and allocation reports to ensure transparent monitoring and reporting of environmental and social benefits.
   
   
4. Program knowledge is shared: promoting knowledge sharing in collaboration with LuxSE through participation in events and development of case studies. The project will leverage its broad base of beneficiaries to collect recommendations and share these with ICMA’s members and other relevant stakeholders.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Sustainable Finance Officer will support and coordinate the implementation of the GGGI’s sustainable finance technical assistance. The Officer will coordinate the engagement with government stakeholders, while leading the delivery of thematic bond capacity building and technical assistance to achieve the program’s intended goals. S/he will act as a trusted advisor to potential issuers, bringing his/her practical experience to support successful issuances of Thematic bonds.

 The Officer will report to GGGI Program Manager leading the Global Trust Fund.

PURPOSE

The Sustainable Finance Senior Associate will support the delivery of technical assistance to perspective issuers, accompanying them throughout the pre- and post-issuance process, including stakeholders engagement (regulators, arrangers, underwriters, stock exchanges, investors, guarantors), green bond framework development, green project pipeline development, roadshow organization and delivery, second party opinion negotiation, development of impact reporting. S/he is expected to take the lead on the development of pre- and post-issuance processes of thematic bonds, with minimal support from external consultants.

ENGAGEMENT

• Support the engagement with national and subnational governments, financial institutions and non-financial corporations prioritized by the program
• Build and maintain strong relationships with the Ministry of Finance, local financial institutions, national development banks, international financial institutions and international climate funds;
  • Engage with financial regulators to influence finance policy development and decision making
  • Organize and deliver consultation and validation workshops to validate products and activities 
  • Support the establishment of and periodic engagement with the program steering committee
  • Support the engagement with potential donors and partners
    • Participate in GGGI-wide events to create awareness about GGGI Sustainable Finance work and activities
    • Represent GGGI in national, regional and international events
      • Support the conceptualization and formalization of knowledge sharing networks within and across the region to share experiences, best practices and learn from each other
      • Organize relevant workshops, consultations, and focal group discussions with key department-level stakeholders to ensure alignment of GGGI´s service with client needs.
      • Development of concept notes and funding proposals for international climate funds, including the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund and Global Environment Facility

DELIVERY

Thematic Bond Advisory:

• Support prospective issuers throughout thematic bond pre- and post-issuance phases
• Perform thematic bond readiness assessment of prospective issuers
• Develop a diagnostic of prospective thematic bond issuer’s internal systems to identify weaknesses, gaps, and areas of improvement
• Collaborate with prospective thematic bond issuer’s internal teams to review, identify and prioritize eligible projects to be funded with bond proceeds
• Collect best practices on thematic bond issuances, develop case studies and deliver presentations to the projects’ primary beneficiaries
• Develop and deliver recommendations to prospective thematic bond issuers on thematic bond governance structures
• Assist prospective issuers identifying, developing and formalizing their thematic bond governance structure
• Develop and formalize the process and methodology for identifying, prioritizing and selecting eligible projects
• Develop and deliver recommendations to prospective issuers on impact reporting standards and practices, including the development of indicators for periodic use of proceeds and impact monitoring, standardized procedures for portfolio-level and project-level monitoring and reporting
• Develop thematic bond frameworks (green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked) in alignment with international best practices and principles
• Assist prospective issuers in obtaining a Second Party Opinion from a reputable certifier/verifier

Policy and Market Development:

• Conduct research on barriers to thematic bond issuance in Asia and propose solutions.
• Develop policy recommendations to reduce barriers to thematic bond issuance in emerging economies
  • Provide technical advice to government counterparts on sustainable finance policies, instruments and green investment projects.

Capacity Building & Knowledge Sharing:

• Develop and deliver sustainable finance capacity building presentations and material

• Develop and disseminate capacity development and knowledge sharing products such as insight briefs and toolkits in the field of sustainable bonds.
• Contribute to international learning networks to exchange best practices on thematic bonds

Program Management & Reporting:

• Assist in internal and external reporting on projects being implemented.

• Prepare concept notes to the GTF Board and monitor and track project deliverables and budget execution.

• Monitor and evaluate sustainable finance activities and outputs to ensure alignment with program goals.
• Support the preparation of funding proposals for international climate funds (e.g., Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, Global Environment Facility).

REQUIREMENTS

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics or other related fields;
• An advanced degree in Finance, Public Administration, Economics, Sustainable Development, or other relevant field is a plus;
• At least 6 years of professional experience in sustainable finance; experience in client facing roles in financial institutions or development agencies
• At least 2 years of professional experience with 3 years preferred designing thematic bond frameworks
• At least 2 years of international experience
• Prior experience developing and delivering sustainable finance capacity building
• Strong understanding of green finance and sustainable financial instruments (bonds, grants, debt, guarantees and equity)
• Verbal and written fluency in English

FUNCTIONAL

• Leadership, teamwork and creative problem-solving abilities
• Ability to develop and maintain working relations with financial sector stakeholders
• Committed to learning about the growing field of sustainable finance
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize under stressful circumstances.
• Ability to interact and form relationships with high-level government officials and partners
• Knowledge of and experience in adhering to internationally agreed environmental and social safeguards (ESS) and gender-sensitive design requirements

CORPORATE

• Understand and actively supports GGGI’s mission, vision and values.
• Promote an organizational culture of trust, transparency, respect and partnership.
• Process and share information easily.
• Manage emotions and stress positively, builds rapport and resolves conflict easily.
• Promote creativity and innovation among staff.
• Be able to lead where needed and provide solutions to project-level challenge.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• The Sustainable Finance Officer (Asia) is an X8 INT grade level in GGGI’s international salary scale. The salary range for the position starts at USD 64,920 per annum, depending on qualifications, experience and internal equity. GGGI provides 15% of base salary towards retirement plan/long-term savings, 27 days of annual leave, and private health insurance that covers dental and vision.
• GGGI is committed to providing a work environment that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate diverse life-cycle challenges and assist Staff members in achieving a better balance between work and personal/family commitments, thus ensuring high performance, long-term productivity, and well-being.