Objective:
The Affordable Housing Finance Specialist is responsible for identifying and efficiently implementing interventions and providing technical input in the Affordable Housing project and linkages with other FSD programmes. FSD Kenya’s affordable housing project spans four housing markets: formally delivered for sale, urban rental, informal settlements, and incrementally delivered rural housing.
FSD Kenya seeks an additional resource to join its current team comprising the Project Lead and Project Manager, expanding the team to three full-time personnel.
Responsibilities
Design and Planning:
- Support the lead in project design and development.
- Ensure documentation of intervention design, approval, monitoring, and review.
- With the Affordable Housing finance lead and project manager, design and prepare projects with partners that will drive the creation of affordable housing solutions across stakeholders including county and national governments, a wide range of financial sector players, NGOs, private sector businesses including micro and small enterprises, and other housing stakeholders.
Execution and Delivery:
- Drive affordable housing finance activities and projects with a broad range of stakeholders, especially county and national governments, a wide range of financial sector players, NGOs, private sector businesses including micro and small enterprises with a focus on creating relevant housing finance solutions.
- Identify and mitigate potential project and programme risks.
- Manage and track budgets for effective use of funds in affordable housing finance.
- Meet defined deliverables as outlined by the Project design document and interventions and tasks.
- Identify and mitigate potential risks to the implementation of interventions/tasks.
- Guide implementation of interventions and tasks where required.
- Identify project performance bottlenecks.
Technical Advice and Inputs:
- Assist in identifying prospective opportunities for project interventions and tasks.
- Provide technical input on the approach and partnerships for the affordable housing finance project, including on micro and small business models, community engagement strategies, and county and national government bodies that can be brought into the affordable housing finance project workstream.
- Manage and lead select interventions/tasks as a member of the project team.
- Provide technical input to specific intervention/task teams.
- Provide technical inputs to other FSD teams and key partners in areas of specialisation.
Monitoring, Measurement, and Reporting:
- Populate project and intervention measurement trackers.
- Ensure project measurement and intervention outputs/milestone achievement trackers are updated quarterly.
- Monitor intervention budgets and spend against activity progress monthly.
- Collect quantitative and qualitative data from partners quarterly.
- Liaise with Results lead to collate, analyse, and use quantitative and qualitative data.
- Coordinate evaluation, external project reviews, and research activities with relevant experts.
- Coordinate intervention teams to produce accountability reporting narratives quarterly, annually, and at project completion.
- Manage and update the project risk matrix.
Resource Management:
- Coordinate the project team to ensure that the project objectives are met.
- Develop and maintain project and intervention budgets.
- Identify relevant budget lines for procurement purposes.
Partnership Management:
- Manage effective relationships with key FSD partners.
- Network with and influence key industry players.
Conduct of Work:
The Affordable Housing Finance Specialist will work as a full-time member of the FSD Kenya team, reporting directly to the FSD Kenya Affordable Housing lead and working closely with the Affordable Housing Project Manager. Working closely with other members of the wider FSD team, s/he will support the CEO and CPO in managing the Trust to achieve the programme objectives, model collaboration and cross-working across FSD’s activities, ensure stewardship for the Trust’s resources, and adhere to policies and procedures. Working arrangements will be flexible with the approach taken driven by the demands of the role. Communication and collaboration are of paramount importance to the FSD team’s effectiveness. Guidelines on effective remote working and flexitime are set out in FSD’s policies and procedures which should be strictly adhered to. Successful remote and flexible working requires liaison with members of the team and the full adoption of FSD’s technology-based communication tools.
Outcomes and Deliverables:
The Affordable Housing Finance Specialist will be responsible for identifying, developing, and managing activities in relation to affordable housing finance to drive economic inclusion in the real economy. FSD is managed on a strongly results-based approach and its team is expected to deliver against its defined business plan and the specific annual targets agreed with the CEO each year to support the strategy and business plan. The Affordable Housing team (Senior Specialist (Lead)/ Specialist (being hired) and Project Manager) will be fully responsible for delivery on the FSD Kenya projects through contributing substantially where her/his expertise could add value. Formal internal project reporting requirements must be delivered on time and to the highest standards.
Person Specifications – Essential and Desirable
Mandatory Requirements:
- A Bachelor’s degree in a field related to affordable housing finance, including economics, real estate, research, results measurement, market systems development, financial inclusion, etc.
- At least 7 years’ work experience, including experience in the design and implementation of affordable housing projects and experience working with a financial sector player promoting housing.
- Demonstrable understanding of all four housing markets in FSD Kenya’s affordable housing strategy.
- Ability to use data to design solutions.
- Ability to develop and maintain sensitive relationships with a variety of partners, including government and financial sector players.
- Ability to read academic papers or case studies and distill learnings to the wider team at FSD.
- High level of ethics to handle sensitive information.
- Demonstrable understanding of Kenya’s affordable housing regulatory environment is required. Work experience in promoting a more enabling environment is a plus.
- Command of written English.
- Proven experience of working with highly technical and specialised organisations; strong analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Willingness and ability to travel within Kenya for short site visits regularly.
Desirable:
- Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment.
- Knowledge of donor policies and procedures.
- Understanding of the intersection between gender/women’s economic empowerment, climate change, and digital platforms with a focus on affordable housing.
Timelines:
An initial 6-month probationary period is envisaged and subject to satisfactory performance appointment made for a period of 2 years in line with the employment terms of the FSD Trust.
This includes 30 days annual leave, personal accident insurance, comprehensive medical cover, remote working as well as flexible working hours.
The contract may be extended upon good performance and extension of FSD’s Affordable Housing project.
Closing:Â Jul 26, 2024
6 days remaining
Published: Jul 3, 2024 (17 days ago)