Gender, Rural Finance and Financial Inclusion Specialist

The Gender, Rural Finance and Financial Inclusion Specialist will lead the Plan phase of the Sierra Leone component of the project aimed at promoting gender-responsive finance for rural women. The role involves conducting diagnostic studies, developing assessment tools, targeting value chains and pilot districts, co-designing pilot packages with stakeholders, and supporting the handover to implementation teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop the diagnostic study, methodology and instruments in collaboration with ESP Team HQ.
• Conduct the desk review, policy mapping and stakeholder mapping.
• Lead the field data collection through key informant interviews, focus group discussions and surveys, in the post-rains window (October–November 2026).
• Develop the VSLA maturity and autonomy assessment tool, to be tested in 2027 during the pilot.
• Analyse the data and produce the draft diagnostic report.
• Organise the validation workshop and finalise the diagnostic report.
• Develop the value chain and geography selection criteria.
• Conduct the rapid screening and propose the value chain and pilot district.
• Facilitate Government and FAO sign-off on the value chain, area and target group.
• Develop the target group and beneficiary selection protocol.
• Convene consultations with women, financial institutions and government to establish the working group.
• Develop the exploratory pathways to link women to financial institutions, through participatory processes.
• Produce the co-designed pilot package — capacity development package and exploratory pathways to promote linkages with financial institutions — together with the rollout plan and lean MEL plan.
• Support the Service Provider during the inception and early implementation of Component 2 (January–March 2027) to ensure full handover of the Plan-phase deliverables, and provide technical clarifications on the diagnostic findings, the VSLA maturity tool and the rollout plan.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Economics, Agricultural Economics, Finance, Development Studies, Gender and Development, Social Sciences or a related field.
• At least five (5) years of relevant professional experience in rural finance with additional expertise in financial inclusion, gender-responsive programming and/or applied research on rural development.
• Demonstrated experience in carrying out assessments of needs and markets for rural finance products and services with focus on rural women's financial inclusion using qualitative (KII, FGD) and (where possible) quantitative (mini-survey) methods, with sex- and age-disaggregated analysis.
• Demonstrated experience working with VSLAs, cooperatives or community-based financial institutions in Sierra Leone or the West Africa region.
• Sound knowledge of Sierra Leone’s financial sector landscape, including the NSFI 2022–2026, the GEWE Act 2022 with 2024 Regulations and the Feed Salone Programme.
• Working knowledge of English (level C).
• National of Sierra Leone
• Technical knowledge of gender-responsive financial inclusion in rural agrifood contexts.
• Experience in the design of maturity or capacity assessment tools for community-based organisations.
• Ability to facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations and co-design processes.
• Knowledge of socio-cultural and gender dynamics in rural Sierra Leone.
• Familiarity with FAO’s strategic priorities on gender equality and rural transformation is an asset.
• Experience in Results-Based Management (RBM).

Skills

• Rural Finance
• Financial Inclusion Knowledge
• Gender-Responsive Programming
• Applied Research
• Needs Assessment
• Market Assessments
• Qualitative Research
• Quantitative Research
• Sex-Disaggregated Analysis
• Age-Disaggregated Analysis
• Community-Based Financial Institutions
• Village savings and loans associations
• Cooperatives
• Sierra Leone Financial Sector Knowledge
• Design of Assessment Tools
• Multi-Stakeholder Facilitation
• Co-Design Processes
• Socio-Cultural Gender Dynamics
• Result-Based Management
• Gender Equality Strategic Priorities

Languages

English