National Project Coordinator, Affirmative Finance

The National Project Coordinator, Affirmative Finance, provides strategic, programmatic and technical leadership for the implementation, coordination, monitoring and positioning of the Women’s Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Finance project in Senegal. The role involves leading programme implementation, guiding coordination with partners, ensuring results-based management, strengthening partnerships, advancing resource mobilization, and leading knowledge generation and advocacy on affirmative finance.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic programme implementation and ensure coherence of the Affirmative Finance project in Senegal.
• Provide strategic direction for the national component of the project, ensuring alignment with UN Women’s Strategic Plan, the Senegal Country Office programme priorities, the approved project document, annual workplan, budget and corporate standards.
• Translate the project’s regional objectives into a coherent national implementation strategy that responds to the priorities of women entrepreneurs, women-led enterprises and national gender equality commitments.
• Lead integrated annual and quarterly planning, budgeting and implementation processes, ensuring strategic prioritization, operational feasibility and timely delivery of results.
• Anticipate implementation of risks and bottlenecks, propose strategic corrective actions, and ensure effective follow-up with the Country Office, Regional Office, and implementing partners.
• Ensure that project implementation contributes to broader programmatic outcomes on women’s economic empowerment, financial inclusion, gender-responsive financing and inclusive private sector engagement.
• Provide high-level technical and programmatic advice to the Senegal Country Office, national institutions, financial institutions and partners on the integration of affirmative finance principles into policies, programmes, financial products and institutional practices.
• Lead the design and positioning of gender-responsive and inclusive financing solutions tailored to women entrepreneurs and women-led small and medium enterprises.
• Oversee strategic analyses of systemic barriers to finance, credit, collateral, markets and business development services, and translate evidence into actionable programmatic and policy recommendations.
• Develop high-quality, evidence-based policy briefs, technical notes and analytical papers on gender-responsive and affirmative financing to inform policy dialogue, programme design, advocacy and stakeholder engagement.
• Identify capacity development priorities and coordinate targeted technical assistance, training, mentoring and institutional strengthening initiatives for partners and women-led enterprises.
• Establish and maintain a robust results-based management framework to monitor implementation progress, financial delivery, risks, results, lessons learned and contribution to transformative outcomes.
• Prepare high-quality analytical progress reports, donor reports, briefing notes, financial updates, and corporate reporting inputs that demonstrate strategic results, learning, and accountability.
• Lead monitoring missions and strategic reviews, document findings and ensure follow-up on recommendations to improve programme quality, efficiency and impact.
• Provide programmatic guidance to implementing partners on indicators, reporting requirements, risk management, documentation of results and evidence generation.
• Cultivate and sustain strategic partnerships with government institutions, financial institutions, private sector actors, women entrepreneurs’ networks, civil society organizations, donors and UN partners to advance gender-responsive financing and project scale-up.
• Coordinate technical consultations, steering committee sessions, partner reviews and policy dialogue spaces to strengthen coherence, ownership, decision-making and collective accountability.
• Represent the project in relevant inter-agency, national and regional coordination mechanisms on women’s economic empowerment, inclusive finance, and gender-responsive financing.
• Identify opportunities for strategic partnerships, joint programming, resource mobilization, and policy influence to expand the reach and sustainability of project results.
• Support the Country Office in positioning affirmative finance as a catalytic, scalable and transformative area of work to advance women’s economic empowerment, financial inclusion and gender-responsive private sector engagement.
• Identify and assess resource mobilization opportunities aligned with UN Women strategic priorities, national development priorities and emerging financing agendas, including partnerships with donors, international financial institutions, development finance institutions, private sector actors and UN partners.
• Contribute to compelling concept notes, funding proposals, investment cases, donor briefs and partnership materials that demonstrate the project’s strategic relevance, results, innovation, value for money and potential for scale.
• Provide evidence-based inputs to donor consultations, partnership dialogues and resource mobilization efforts, including analysis of financing gaps, catalytic investment opportunities and lessons emerging from implementation.
• Contribute to the sustainability, visibility and expansion of the affirmative finance portfolio by documenting results, identifying entry points for strategic partnerships, and supporting follow-up with prospective partners.
• Lead the generation and dissemination of knowledge products, good practices, lessons learned, evidence briefs, advocacy messages and communication materials on affirmative finance and women’s access to finance.
• Document and communicate project results, innovations and evidence to inform policy dialogue, programme adaptation, advocacy, donor engagement and resource mobilization.
• Contribute actively to UN Women communities of practice and regional learning platforms to share results, lessons and scalable approaches on women’s access to finance and economic empowerment.
• Support high-level advocacy events, technical workshops, and learning initiatives that strengthen the visibility, influence, and transformative impact of the project.

Requirements

• Master's degree (Bac+5) in Economics, Finance, Gender, International Development, Procurement or any other relevant area.
• Certification in Procurement, Gender, Financial Management, Project Management, Public Private Partnerships is an added advantage.
• A first-level university degree with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
• At least five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in development programme or project implementation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity development.
• Experience in public policy and strategy to support women's entrepreneurship.
• In-depth knowledge of gender/public procurement procedures and regulations in West and Central Africa.
• Knowledge of and experience working with private sector affirmative sourcing and supply chain practices is desirable.
• Experience in leading and guiding personnel in an international setting.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.) and spreadsheet and database packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems.
• Experience coordinating and liaising with government agencies and/or donors is desirable.
• Experience working in the UN System is desirable.
• Experience in the use of a modern web-based ERP System, preferably Oracle Cloud, is desirable.
• Fluency in French and English is required.
• Fluency in local languages is desirable.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Skills

• Project Implementation
• Project Coordination
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Donor Reporting
• Capacity Development
• Public Policy Support
• Women's entrepreneurship development
• Gender Procurement Procedures
• Public Procurement Laws
• Private Sector Supply Chain
• Personnel Leadership
• Office Applications
• Spreadsheet Management
• Database Management
• Web-based Management Systems
• Government Liaison
• ERP System Experience
• Oracle Cloud
• Resource Mobilization
• Result-Based Management
• Advocacy

Languages

French, English