The The Green Finance for Youth Employment (GFYE) is a project in Kenya, financed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and implemented by IFAD over four years (2024-2027) through its programme and partners in the country. The project aims to create decent jobs for youth in green value chains operating in rural Kenya by improving the opportunities of rural youth and youth-employing local enterprises to access loan-based financing for their income generating green projects. The JPO will support IFAD’s supervision and coordination role in the implementation of the GFYE Project, as well as provide support to the overall IFAD portfolio in Kenya.

By supporting the planning, coordination and delivery of the GFYE Project and other IFAD initiatives in Kenya, the JPO will get exposure to a range of rural development projects and the stakeholders involved. This will include close collaboration with the Government of Kenya, Project Management Units (PMUs) and partners, rural producers and their organisations, national and international partners, donors, as well as IFAD colleagues from both operational and technical departments.

During the assignment, the JPO will have the opportunity to work intensively on the GFYE project – focusing particularly on youth and rural finance – as well as supporting IFAD’s country programmes, partnership building and policy engagement in Kenya. Depending on the profile of the JPO, the individual will also engage in analytical work to support evidence-based decision-making and contribute to knowledge generation and dissemination. The JPO will have the opportunity to participate in selected events and missions, such as the ESA regional workshop.

Key Functions and Results

Assist with IFAD’s Country Programme Support in Kenya, with a particular focus on IFAD’s supervision and implementation support role within the Green Finance for Youth Employment Project (GFYE). This will include tasks such as:

• Support the management and oversight of the grants within the GFYE Project, ensuring full compliance with donor requirements and IFAD’s internal policies.
• Support the coordination between project stakeholders and technical partners.
• Support partnership building with Finnish private sector entities in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, such as Business Finland.
• Review project planning, such as Annual Work Plan and Budgets and Procurement Plans of technical partners.
• Support the coordination and implementation of capacity building activities of the GFYE project, ensuring alignment and synergies with the capacity building initiatives of the RK-FINFA Project.
• Support Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) in developing and providing effective green financing products for low-income young producers, young entrepreneurs, and youth-employing SMEs.
• Collaborate with the National Treasury of Kenya to design and pilot a “Youth Green Guarantee” product.
• Support the development of an eligibility system for youth to participate in capacity building and project-supported lending.
• Ensure adherence to Finland’s cross-cutting principles, including gender equality and non-discrimination with an emphasis on disability inclusion, climate resilience, low emission development, protection of the environment and safeguarding biodiversity.
• Contribute to communication and visibility efforts relating to the GFYE Project, including promoting the Youth Green Guarantee product to PFIs and project beneficiaries.
• Support the Monitoring and Evaluation of the GFYE Project.
• Contribute to regular GFYE progress and completion reports, including collecting and incorporating input from technical partners and PFIs.
• Assist in planning and executing RK-FINFA/GFYE supervision and implementation support missions, focusing on project achievements, challenges and impact assessment.
• Provide technical and operational support to ensure project alignment with Kenya’s Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP) and IFAD’s priorities.
• Contribute to project implementation support and supervision in Kenya, through the preparation of, participation in and reporting on IFAD-led implementation support and supervision missions. This entails contributing to the terms of references (ToRs), assessing selected project components, drafting of minutes and reports, and discussing mission reports with IFAD internal reviewers.
• Monitor the execution of IFAD’s projects in Kenya and compliance with key performance indicators/parameters.
• Support compliance of country programmes with IFAD policies and requirements, such as the Operational Results Management System (ORMS), Annual reviews, COSOP Review, Mid Term Reviews, etc.
• Provide tailored implementation support to projects between missions and follow up on agreed actions, including discussing with Project Management Units on how to address issues and challenges in a timely manner.
• Work closely with the Country Director on strategic aspects, such as reporting on the country-level UN framework and its objectives, engagement in donor/sector working groups (especially in line with JPO specialisation) and alignment with the Kenya COSOP.
• Contribute to IFAD Kenya’s knowledge management agenda by generating technical inputs (papers/posters/blog posts) to showcase lessons from the portfolio.
• Contribute to cross-country learning within ESA and beyond, through technical presentations and appropriate communication of findings from missions and projects.
• Contribute to the preparation of missions, including visits by senior management to Kenya.
• Contribute to the organisation and participation in thematic events and workshops.
• Support the internal reporting on country level engagements in appropriate channels.

To meet the required tasks, the JPO is expected to travel frequently and to rural areas in Kenya. Official trips will include both larger missions (usually 4-8 people) as well as targeted visits with specific implementation support or analytical needs (1 or 2 people).

Working Relationships

• Direct supervisor: Country Director Kenya
• The JPO works under the overall policy and management guidance and direct supervision of the Country Director for Kenya.

JPO will benefit from the following supervision modalities:

• Structured guidance at the start of the assignment, with increasing responsibilities over time.
• Establishment of a work plan with clear key results within the first month of the assignment.
• Regular feedback and performance discussions to support the JPO’s professional development.
• Annual performance appraisal and development with the supervisor.

Job Profile Requirements

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s equivalent) from an accredited institution in agricultural economics, rural development, international development, political science, economics, climate & environmental studies, or a related field.
• Degree must be an accredited institution listed on https://www.whed.net/home.php

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years of relevant professional experience in sustainable development, project management, rural development, rural finance, program support and/or private sector collaboration, or applied research with relevance to IFAD’s mandate.
• Prior work experience in a development country context and/or international organisation is considered an asset.