Advisor- Innovative and Sustainable Finance

Overview

The organization is seeking an Innovative and Sustainable Finance Advisor to support UNOPS projects, programmes, and hosted entities through research, stakeholder engagement, and the development of practical recommendations for legally, operationally, and financially viable financing models. This role supports innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms and return on investment (ROI) instruments, primarily for the Geneva portfolio.

This position is part of the organization’s Corporate Retainer Pool and is on an as-needed/on-call basis, initiated through formal Task Orders. Retainer assignments vary in scope and duration.

Responsibilities

On an as-needed/on-call basis, the Advisor will:

Research and landscape analysis

• Conduct comprehensive reviews of innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms, including (but not limited to): venture philanthropy models, accelerator programmes, venture funds, catalytic financing approaches, and blended finance mechanisms relevant to supported programmes.
• Review comparable financing models used by multilateral organizations, development finance institutions, philanthropic organizations, and private sector investors.
• Assess lessons learned and best practices applicable to UNOPS projects, programmes, funds, and hosted entities (including Geneva).

Stakeholder consultation and coordination

• Consult relevant UNOPS departments, including the Legal Group, Infrastructure and Project Management Group (IPMG), Finance Group (FG), Procurement Group, and Partnerships and Futures Group, to assess institutional feasibility.
• Consult external experts in innovative and sustainable financing (including accelerator, venture and impact investing, development finance, innovation, and global development), as appropriate.
• Facilitate discussions to validate findings and recommendations across internal and external stakeholders.
• Consult hosted entities and funds to gauge interest in potential collaboration or joint investments, when appropriate for joint programming.

Framework integration and mechanism analysis

• Provide strategic guidance on embedding innovative and/or sustainable financing mechanisms into UNOPS corporate policies, operational strategies, and risk management frameworks.
• Identify high-impact opportunities to scale financial models across core sectors, including climate action, global health, education, and humanitarian response.
• Assess legal, fiduciary, governance, financial, and operational implications of introducing new financing mechanisms across UNOPS corporate structures, hosted entities, managed funds, and project and programme governance bodies.
• Identify sector-specific risks and propose mitigation measures.
• Define and evaluate ROI and impact-linked instruments, including green/blue bonds, recoverable grants, revenue-sharing arrangements, royalties, milestone-based repayments, and revolving funds.
• Analyze comparative advantages, limitations, risk profiles, and operational requirements of each financing mechanism.

Operational implementation

• Develop innovative and/or sustainable finance frameworks and policy recommendations, including technical parameters.
• Define policy limits and rules for holding, receiving, and recycling financial assets (e.g., equity, bonds, royalties, revolving facilities).
• Support preparation of project/programme policy exception requests as needed and recommend policy strengthening language to IPMG and FG.
• Map financial tools to entity types and product/service maturity stages (e.g., health, technology, infrastructure, service delivery) aligned with project or programme impact goals.
• Evaluate cross-border regulatory constraints, including international sanctions, tax structures, withholding requirements, and legal compliance.
• Establish oversight requirements and design concrete risk-mitigation measures.
• Define impact monitoring and impact measurement methodologies.
• Draft initial operational frameworks and term-sheet outlines for prioritized financial instruments.
• Advise and train UNOPS personnel on designing, structuring, and managing robust financial architectures, including blended finance tools, green bonds, and impact metrics.

Reporting and presentations

• Develop executive summaries, presentations, and briefing materials summarizing key findings and recommendations.
• Present findings to leadership, teams, and external partners as requested.

Other duties

• Ensure gender and social inclusion considerations and the adoption of sustainable and environmentally responsible practices are integrated into project design and implementation.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Management, Finance, Economics, Investment or Banking, Law, or Global Development, or equivalent, with 7 years of relevant experience
  OR
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent with 9 years of relevant experience
• Minimum 7 years of extensive experience in innovative financing and/or sustainable financing, venture capital, private equity, impact investing, blended finance, development finance, or related fields.
• Strong understanding of innovative and/or sustainable finance concepts, environmental and social risks, and impact measurement methodologies.
• Demonstrated experience in financial analysis, investment strategies, financing mechanisms, or financial instruments.
• Knowledge of global sustainable innovative and/or sustainable finance frameworks, impact measurement, regulations, and reporting standards (e.g., UN Principles for Responsible Investment).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in fragile or conflict-affected countries.
• Familiarity with accelerator programmes, venture funds, or innovation ecosystems.
• Experience working with multilateral organizations, UN agencies, development finance institutions, or international financial institutions.
• Prior experience in energy, trade, climate, food and/or health thematic areas.
• Adaptability to navigate evolving innovative financing and sustainability trends and market dynamics.

Language Requirements

• English: Fluent (required)

Compensation & Benefits

• Contract type/level: ICA – IICA – Retainer (IICA 3)
• Duration: 12 months
• Retainer positions are not full-time roles. They are contract arrangements where the Retainer may be requested to provide a specific output/deliverable within a specified period on short notice.
• The organization has no obligation to obtain any minimum quantity of services during the duration of the retainer ICA.
• Mandatory courses (around 4 hours) must be completed in the individual’s own time prior to providing services; no compensation is provided for these courses and refreshers.
• For retainer contracts, individuals may have multiple consultancy contracts with or outside the organization, provided they declare them to the organization’s Ethics Office.

Location

• Duty station(s): Home based
• The role is supervised by the Geneva Head of Programme for technical onboarding and overall supervision.
• Assignments may require time-zone overlap with the teams ordering services and, in some cases, presence in HQ and/or international travel on occasion, including to remote or post-conflict environments.

Important Information

• The organization does not accept unsolicited resumes.
• The organization will not request candidates to make payments of any kind during recruitment.
• Applications must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage.

Application Deadlines

• Posting start date: 30-Oct-2026
• Posting end date: 15-Nov-2026

Position Details

• Position title: Advisor- Innovative and Sustainable Finance
• Job category: Strategy & Corporate Services
• Seniority level: Senior Level
• ICS level: ICS 11
• Contract duration: 12 months