NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Finance for Peace (F4P) is a multistakeholder initiative that seeks systemic change in how private and public investment supports peace in developing and fragile contexts. It aims to create networked approaches that can co-develop the market frameworks, political support, partnerships and knowledge required to scale up “peace finance”.

F4P has been incubated by Interpeace, an international peacebuilding organization that has worked on conflict resolution and peacebuilding throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Latin America for over 27 years.

The initiative will have a finance and investment industry orientation and seek to bridge the gap between the related parts of the finance sector, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, asset managers, donors and foundations, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and other financial institutions, with peace and development actors, including practitioners, civil society, governments, and multilateral institutions. The Initiative will create new partnerships, market intelligence, political and technical support across a diverse array of actors to develop supporting market infrastructure and knowledge to scale peace-responsive investment activity globally.

The initiative is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and builds on feasibility research supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office on a new sustainable investment category called peace bonds.

Learn more at www.financeforpeace.org.

For the full role description, please visit: https://financeforpeace.org/job/head-of-standards-and-market-intelligence-finance-for-peace-inititative/

Duties and Responsibilities

Guided by the strategic direction defined by the Executive Director and Governing Board of the Finance for Peace initiative, the Head provides critical thought leadership in the following areas:

Development of the PFIF and PFS including specific peace bond and equity standards;
Creation of publicly available market intelligence for Peace Finance at sectoral, geographic and thematic levels, including development of early feasibility pipeline of peace-aligned investments;
Guidance for public and private investors to align their existing and/or planned investments to the PFIF and PFS; and
Knowledge products and practice on how to verify peace impacts, measure success and learn from prior experience.

The successful candidate should have private or development finance industry experience with exposure to emerging and frontier markets, DFI/blended finance, ESG, Impact and SDG investing as well as understanding of traditional development and peacebuilding approaches. They will have strong political acumen and project management skills to engage both finance and development/peacebuilding professionals.

The Head of Standards and Market Intelligence will report to the Executive Director of the Finance for Peace initiative once that position is filled. The Head of Standard and Market Intelligence coordinates closely with the Head of Policy and Partnerships, Policy Officers and Communications Adviser to ensure that Pillar 1 and 2 outcomes are rightly reflected, anchored and well-communicated throughout all aspects of the initiative’s implementation.

The Head of Standards and Market Intelligence will carry out the following duties and responsibilities:

Manage an ongoing agenda for the Peace Finance Standards Committee to iterate and improve the PFIF and PFS;
Oversee the publishing of key Standards and Framework documents for public/private investors;
Develop guidance documents for public and private investors to adopt the Peace Finance Standards in their investment approaches;
Lead the commissioning of thematic research and market intelligence, providing thought leadership on greatest areas of opportunity for Peace Finance;
Represent the initiative at political and official levels, as well as DFI, donor and multilateral, including participation in conferences, high-level meetings, etc. on issues related to Peace Finance, including climate security, good peacebuilding donorship, ODA financing, conflict sensitivity, and peace responsiveness of investment;
Ensure consistent engagement with relevant actors to popularize and streamline the body of knowledge and practice produced by the initiative within their workstreams and institutions;
Coordinate with the Policy, Learning and Advisory Services unit at Interpeace to leverage impact; and
Contribute to the establishment of political and market support for forms of Peace Finance and engage a critical number of key Investors, Asset managers, Development Finance Institutions, Governments, Multilateral banks, and international organisations and establish them as potential partners for participating or supporting Peace Finance issuance or investments.

Qualifications:

Candidates with relevant qualifications, experience, and fluency in English are invited to apply. Relevant experience and qualifications may include:

Education

Advanced degree in development economics, finance, business, marketing, international affairs, political science, or other relevant fields.

Experience

At least 7 years of multi-disciplinary experience working in policy, investment and/or knowledge roles in at least one, or some combination of, private finance, a Development Finance Institution, development/peacebuilding or government donor environment.
Experience in international policy initiatives involving multistakeholder engagement and demonstrated experience in project management, knowledge product development and/or research.
Familiarity with technical and political issues associated with sustainable finance, SDG, ESG investing, impact investing, blended finance, and donor policies in development.
Understanding of peacebuilding/development in the context of fragile conflict affected situations.

Competencies

Ability to develop and lead highly collaborative, co-creative practices internally and in external partnerships.
Ability to provide thought leadership and strategically shape knowledge products that appropriately address stakeholder needs.
Technical competency in public and private investment approaches and attention to detail.
Advanced planning and project management skills and a proactive problem-solving orientation.
Ability to work in a multicultural environment successfully and to demonstrate gender-responsive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.
Excellent ability to interact with people respectfully and with tact.
Excellent social and inter-cultural skills, communication skills to a variety of stakeholders from very different backgrounds.
Relevant domain knowledge of technical and political issues related to Peace Finance, or ability to quickly learn and adapt knowledge to effectively communicate key concepts of the initiative.
Excellent spoken and written English, with French as an advantage.
Desire to work in a dynamic, mission-driven, and collaborative environment.

Assets/desired

Strong existing network in the financial sector, and ability to leverage on such network.
Existing network of key policymakers, Governments, Multilateral banks and/or international organisations.
Demonstrated knowledge of peacebuilding and development approaches and/or country experience in fragile and conflict affected settings.
Strong track-record of partnership building skills.
Experience working in, or on fragile contexts.

Success factors

Ability to communicate effectively with different audiences.
Commitment to positively changing how private actors can build peace, and to the values and working principles of Interpeace.
Creative team player with a commitment to inclusiveness and consensus-building.
Political tact and a high adaptation capacity.

Interpeace Competencies

Collaboration and Weaving
Communication
Drive for results
Adaptability and Continuous Learning
Respect for Diversity