Financial Inclusion Manager

Habitat for Humanity International aims to expand and deepen its housing finance initiatives across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Contributing to this aim, Habitat for Humanity International is looking for “Financial Inclusion Manager” that would contribute to design and implement a MENA focused strategy to address systemic barriers linked to quality and access to financial services across the housing ecosystem.

As a core member of: the MENA regional team; the Financial Inclusion and Capital Markets team, housed under the Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter (TCIS); and hosted by Habitat for Humanity Egypt, the position is required to work with various internal and external stakeholders, including the donor community, to mobilize support for intervention design, capacity development and implementation of initiatives to remove barriers and increase access to housing finance in the priority markets of within Middle East. The role will work in close coordination and collaboration with the Habitat Egypt National Office.

Working closely with the financial institutions and contributing to the development and refinement of housing finance products, the person will find ways and partnerships to improve access to housing finance for low-income households and multiply Habitat’s impact in this space the specialist may also be engaged in community finance programs and services and provide support in improving services and systems.

This position, to be based in Egypt, would carry a subject matter expertise in at least one of the following: technology / digital finance services, gender and / or climate financing to assist in unpacking the housing solutions within the existing financial ecosystem for low-income households. The person will serve as a technical advisor on strategy, project design and implementation across the MENA region, predominantly supporting initiatives in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and other identified countries.

Scope of work and deliverables:

Financial inclusion & finance systems:

1. Contribute to the development, and lead the execution of a MENA financial inclusion strategy, focused on low-income households, financial intermediaries, investors and regulators.
2. Responsible for lead identification, design, and implementation of Housing Finance partnerships and interventions across the MENA region.
3. Providing expert advice to financial institutions (Banks, Microfinance Banks/Institutions, FinTech and platform firms, Housing finance companies, central banks, regulatory bodies) on the following areas: (a) initiating a mortgage lending program, or in enhancing a program that is already underway, (b) developing and implementing innovative financial solutions (through financial intermediaries) aimed at low-income and middle-income households that help them develop or construct houses incrementally or buy affordable housing units (c) developing products and policies for microfinance housing loans (d) financial feasibilities of establishing and running sustainable housing finance companies.
4. Drafting of documentation such as terms of reference for consultants, strategy notes, market assessments, presentations on housing, concept notes for advisory projects, project approval documents, etc.
5. Working closely with Habitat for Humanity offices across the region, with an initial focus on Egypt.
6. Managing client expectations and ensuring their satisfaction while managing the day to day project activities
7. Ensuring the completion of projects within the allotted timeframe and budget.
8. Managing the work of outside consultants as per the agreed TORs and expected work quality to help implement the project.
9. Liaising with various functions within Habitat for Humanity International working to support the Housing ecosystem
10. Design and implement internal revenue strategy for long term sustainability, including donor identification, proposal development and pitching.
11. Relationship management with existing partners and other stakeholders within the investment, housing and financial inclusion community across the region.
12. Promote dialogue with government and micro finance regulatory bodies to develop enabling policies, and laws for housing micro finance.

Design and Operationalize Solutions:

1. Lead conceptualization and documentation of project proposals and ensuring thematic solutions such as housing finance solutions embedding gender lens, climate resilience and use of technology, are well-designed to meet donor / partner needs.
2. Support the designing of pitch materials for business development and thematic proposals
3. Gather information from clients and project teams to monitor implementation of thematic area recommendations.

Create and Share Knowledge:

1. Gather information from external sources on best practices, evolving trends and challenges, and emerging players that can be used to create new knowledge products.
2. Conduct research and draft policy notes on state-of-the-art practices in financial inclusion and contextualise these to the MENA country programs.
3. Provide organizational and coordination support in convening knowledge sharing forums and conferences and contribute to the development of content materials.

Build Capacity:

1. Coordinate and support the delivery of training programs and workshops to raise awareness of thematic area, especially Housing Finance

Required Skills & Competencies:

1. Education: Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or a related area.
2. Experience:
   1. Minimum of 10 years of international experience in financial institutions or advisory services with at least 3 years of specific housing finance related experience across MENA, in at least one of the following areas (a) housing micro finance (b) mortgage finance for low cost housing (c) climate finance (d) digital / technology platforms (e) housing finance companies (f) Construction finance/ Developer finance project structuring and execution
   2. Experience of working within the financial sector across, internationally and particularly across MENA, on multiple thematic areas, such as product development, project design, research and capacity building.
   3. Demonstrated aptitude and ability to manage complex consulting projects effectively, including ability to implement projects on time and within budget.
   4. Strong client focus, excellent business judgement and ability to produce consistently positive results.
   5. Ability to ideate, conceptualize, package and present strategies and solutions for diverse range of stakeholders, with excellent writing skills.
   6. Having an entrepreneurial mindset and solution driven attitude, with ability to build relationships and teamwork.
   7. Fluency in English and Arabic