Habitat for Humanity International is currently seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as Housing Finance Specialist to be located at our AME Area Office (AO), located in Pretoria, South Africa. This key position will report to the Housing Finance Director and may involve up to 40% travel throughout the AME region.
This individual is responsible for leading the design, definition, and execution of models and methodologies for Habitat’s housing financial services to the poor in AME. The Housing Finance Specialist will be responsible for the promotion and advancement of the Housing Microfinance (HMF) strategy and program across the AME area.
These responsibilities include:
TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP:
- Serves as lead subject matter expert in the design, planning, monitoring and evaluation of housing microfinance programs in the region
- Works in collaboration with regional program teams and the global Housing Finance Leadership Team to lead and steward the strategic integration of financial services with Habitat’s work
- Designs, develops, promotes, defines and refines housing (micro) finance products and partnerships with financial institutions
- Provides advice on the development of finance options (grants for savings and loans, piloting grants, loan guarantees, risk mitigation grants, refinancing credit, and the like)
- Develops reporting standards for retail and wholesale lending programs
- Guides National Organizations to develop social performance indicators and integrate them in the retail lending reports; maintains and monitors consolidated AME wide report
- Serves as the Africa Middle East lead on the capture of promising practices, and work with the Organisational Learning (OL) Specialist to share learning and best practices around: o Market research and product development of housing microfinance products o Institutional technical assistance to MFIs o HFH”s practices around retail lending/credit/portfolio management o Linking construction technical assistance and other non-financial services to housing finance services o Linkages with government subsidy programs
- Assesses and mitigates risk (financial, economic, organisational, etc.)
- Partners with coordinating departments, global, regional and national teams in providing technical knowledge, training, and advice in housing finance, housing microfinance, financial education and loan portfolio management initiatives; including the development of related policies
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT STRATEGIES:
- Collaborate interdepartmentally in the development of competitive proposals and reporting structures for financial literacy and housing finance
- Lead and implement the regional investment strategy for HFH’s housing finance programs
- Lead regional efforts for mobilizing social investment to the market of low income housing
- Coordinate all AME investments that impact the HFHI balance sheet
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS:
- Minimum 5 – 7 years’ combined experience in the field of microfinance/development finance
- Master’s Degree in Business, Finance, Development, OR a degree in a related field and equivalent field experience
- Fluent in English (both spoken and written)
- Strong people skills with the ability to communication cross-culturally and work in team environment
- Proven organizational and project management skills
- Ability to work independently, often managing multiple and simultaneous tasks at varying levels of complexity and detail
PREFERRED EXPERIENCE A MAJOR PLUS:
- Minimum 2 years working in the Africa or Middle East context strongly encouraged
- Proven experience in housing microfinance, housing finance and community development work highly valued
- Knowledge of French strongly preferred
- Fluency in Arabic or Portuguese helpful
- Experience in training using adult training techniques helpful
- Experience in Market Research
In Africa and the Middle East (AME), Habitat for Humanity is building homes in 19 countries. By working in partnership with families to provide safe affordable shelter, Habitat empowers them to break the cycle of poverty and build the foundation for a secure future.
Please express Interest to http://www.habitatjobs.org/JobDetail.asp?jid=44309
HFHI is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best qualified personnel for all our positions in a manner that does not unlawfully discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, gender, marital status, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, veteran/reserve national guard status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.
