Climate Finance Specialist (Home based Retainer) - Mbabane, Eswatini

The Climate Finance Specialist will provide technical guidance to enhance climate finance mobilisation to implement Eswatini's updated NDC 3.0 and strengthen the Ministry’s capacity to access and manage external support. The role includes developing investment plans, strengthening climate policies, capacity building, and facilitating coordination among stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical screening, appraisal, and prioritization of complex climate-resilient proposals applying established multilateral fund criteria to ensure bankability and alignment with Eswatini's NDC and climate sector partners
• Prepare and refine high-quality concept notes, project proposals, investment cases, and financing packages that mainstream gender, youth and health in consultation with ministries and government agencies
• Coordinate bankable project documentation including problem analysis, theory of change, results and monitoring frameworks, budgets, financing plans, implementation arrangements, environmental and social safeguards, gender and social-inclusion measures, and risk-management plans
• Facilitate the development and regular update of a simplified Excel Roster of potential funding sources, donor and investor engagement plan, and resource-mobilization pipeline for priority sectoral interventions
• Provide operational and technical support to integrate climate change into national planning and budgeting processes through engagement with relevant ministries
• Provide technical expertise to adapt and operationalize existing national policy frameworks into the NDC Investment Plan, Climate Finance Strategies, and Long Term Low Emission Development Strategies
• Provide technical support on the operationalization of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement in Eswatini
• Coordinate the integration of the Climate finance landscape assessment into the Biennial Transparency Report (BTR)
• Assess institutional capacity gaps and needs assessment in climate finance, investment planning, gender mainstreaming, health-climate nexus, project preparation, donor engagement, and NDC 3.0 implementation
• Coordinate the design and implement a climate finance capacity building program incorporating gender mainstreaming and the health-climate nexus
• Coordinate the delivery of practical training including one-to-one mentoring for Ministry staff, sectors, government agencies, and other implementing partners
• Coordinate the development and institutionalizing training methodology and approaches on climate finance, project-development templates, investment-planning tools, guidance notes, standard operating procedures, and knowledge products
• Support information sharing and knowledge exchange with national and sub-national government, civil society and private sector stakeholders
• Facilitate collaboration among ministries, government agencies, research institutions, development partners, civil-society organizations, banks and private-sector actors
• Work closely with the NDC Partnership In-Country Facilitator and the GCF liaison officer to ensure alignment, coordination, and follow-up on support provided to the Ministry
• Facilitate technical working groups, investment consultations, project-design workshops, capacity building workshops and partner dialogues on climate-resilience development
• Provide support to Eswatini in its role in hosting the SADC Regional Transparency Hub
• Produce and submit monthly and quarterly plan and progress reports to the Ministry of Finance Focal Point
• Provide inputs to the preparation of presentations, advisory and briefing notes and/or position papers for the UNFCCC Conference of Parties
• Undertake other related strategic or technical tasks consistent with the assignment

Requirements

• A first-level university degree in a relevant field combined with two additional years (7 total) of qualifying professional experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree OR an advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) preferably in Climate Change, Environmental Studies, Economics, Natural Resources, Management; Energy; Project Management; Business Studies; or any other related subject
• A doctoral degree, preferably in a relevant field, or specialized postgraduate training in climate finance, is desirable
• At least 5 years of professional work experience in climate policy development and management of programmes in the area of climate change, energy, forestry, biodiversity, agriculture and technical assistance initiatives is required
• Demonstrated knowledge and extensive experience in the climate finance space, including climate finance readiness, grant proposal writing, climate change capacity building or technology transfer
• Demonstrated experience in resource mobilization, stakeholder relationship building and collaboration with government agencies, donors and/or international development partners, and non-government organisations
• Proven experience in developing knowledge products, including analytical pieces, papers, reports and related products
• Experience developing blended-finance, public-private partnership, results-based finance, technology-transfer, or private-sector engagement arrangements is desirable
• Prior professional experience in Eswatini, knowledge of Eswatini’s NDC and climate-development architecture
• Fluent proficiency in English

Skills

• Climate Policy Development
• Programme Management
• Climate Finance Readiness
• Grant Proposal Drafting
• Climate Change Capacity Building
• Technology Transfer
• Resource Mobilization
• Stakeholder Relationships
• Government Collaboration
• Donor Engagement Strategies
• International Development Partnership
• Knowledge Product Development
• Analytical Report Production
• Blended Finance Structuring
• Public Private Partnerships
• Results-Based Finance
• Private Sector Engagement
• Investment Plan Preparation
• Climate Finance Mobilization
• Capacity Building

Languages

English