Agriculture, Market Systems and Climate Finance Senior Advisor, VisionFund International Full Time NEW

Agriculture, Market Systems and Climate Finance Senior Advisor, VisionFund International

VisionFund International is World Vision’s microfinance provider serving vulnerable clients through loans, savings, and insurance. We enable families to grow their livelihoods in hard to reach, rural locations in 28 countries so that caregivers can create secure futures for their children.

We believe in brighter futures for children; empowering families to create incomes and jobs; unlocking economic potential for communities to thrive.

Join VisionFund as we seek to end intergenerational poverty through microfinance.

Here’s where you come in:

As Agriculture, Market Systems and Climate Finance Senior Advisor, you will serve as the technical lead and focal point internally and externally for these three important, connected, and strategic areas of intervention for VisionFund. You will provide technical advice on current best practices, support the development of related products, guide strategy and organisational positioning, and support resource development and programme management for related Agricultural, Climate, and Market Systems initiatives and grants.

You will manage the CrediEnterprise credit product pilot project in nine countries in Africa and Central America as part of the THRIVE 2030 programme, ensuring it delivers on its targets while coordinating with and reporting to World Vision partners. You will oversee grant reporting, project management, operational delivery, capacity building of national staff, and integration of this component with other interventions within the THRIVE 2030 programme.

You will provide technical leadership to position VisionFund for institutional funding to support its growing Agricultural, Climate, and Market Systems interventions globally. You will support donor pre-positioning, grant writing, and the Resource Development team with technical content throughout proposal development processes.

Technical Advisory

You will provide technical advice to VisionFund Operations and MicroFinance Institutions across the network on Agricultural, Market Systems, and Climate industry best practices. You will lead VisionFund’s Internal Climate Financing working group, using your knowledge and experience to shape VisionFund strategy, products, and market positioning. You will also represent VisionFund in technical working groups, including Environmental and Climate Action forums, to communicate VisionFund strategy and strengthen brand visibility within the World Vision partnership.

Resource Development

You will support resource development activities for Agricultural, Climate, and Market Systems initiatives through grant writing, review, and donor positioning. You will provide technical advice and content for new and existing grant applications, lead VisionFund’s positioning with agricultural, climate, and market systems-focused donors and opportunities, and leverage learnings from the implementation of CrediEnterprise under THRIVE 2030 to pursue additional institutional funding.

You will represent the organization in technical grant calls and donor visits as needed, establish a mechanism for tracking ESCA climate-finance engagements and opportunities, and provide technical advisory support for the implementation of new and ongoing institutional funding in partnership with the Resource Development and Operations teams. You will also lead sector learning, evidence documentation, and dissemination to support VisionFund’s positioning and acquisition activities.

Operational Delivery

You will oversee the implementation of CrediEnterprise as part of the THRIVE 2030 programme and other relevant Agricultural, Climate, and Market Systems projects. You will manage CrediEnterprise implementation to achieve THRIVE 2030 targets, working closely with MFI Country Managers and World Vision field offices. You will supervise product training rollout and provide ongoing coaching and mentoring to MFI staff.

You will support the gathering of commodity profiles for the agrocalculator, lead the replication of standard tools and processes developed by Operations into CrediEnterprise projects, and ensure CrediEnterprise figures are accurately reflected in core banking and impact tracking systems. You will monitor performance metrics, assess progress, resolve implementation bottlenecks, and agree on corrective actions with MFIs, escalating issues to Regional and Operational Directors as needed.

You will ensure quality control of MFI partnerships supporting CrediEnterprise implementation, ensure integration with other financial products such as insurance and savings, and maintain coordination and differentiation between Savings Group linkage and the CrediEnterprise product. You will support MFIs in recruiting and developing Agri and Business Development Officers, provide training on THRIVE 2030, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting standards, and build the capacity of CrediEnterprise managers to use the e-THRIVE platform and other World Vision digital platforms for decision-making.

Programme Reporting and Knowledge Management

You will lead market systems, agricultural, and climate finance reporting, particularly for CrediEnterprise THRIVE 2030 programme reporting, learning, and knowledge management. You will establish a structured monitoring and evaluation framework, in collaboration with the VFI Global Impact team, to track product performance, gather field data, and assess client feedback.

You will coordinate technical input into VisionFund’s quarterly DME and narrative reporting for THRIVE 2030 quarterly AP and donor progress reports, aligned with THRIVE DME indicators. You will review quarterly THRIVE 2030 market systems reports to identify opportunities to scale CrediEnterprise financing across THRIVE countries and participate in regular country-specific quarterly THRIVE report reviews.

You will develop annual priorities, implementation plans, and budgets for the function in alignment with available resources. You will also develop case studies, implementation briefs, and other learning products to support Community of Practice learning.

Requirements include:

• 10 years’ experience agri, climate and market systems finance, preferably in Africa
• Agricultural Economics or relevant agricultural degree (or equivalent practical experience). Post-graduate level degree
• Proven experience in market systems and agricultural lending i.e. understands farmer value chains production cycles and cashflows
• Able to communicate the fundamentals of market systems and climate resilience
• Proven ability to implement projects – action oriented, proven ability to implement and follow up
• Good communication skills with staff and partners
• Demonstrated experience in partnering, grant applications, reporting and other writing skills
• Experience across a range of countries (not limited to one or two places is a plus)
• Experience of Value chain/market systems financing or finance to agricultural cooperatives
• Demonstrated experience of working on and or designing programs with a climate change component
• Working level proficiency of written and verbal English. Spoken and written Spanish or French will be a plus

Travel and/or Work Environment Requirement: The position requires ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally up to 35% of the time.

Tagged as: World Vision, Zambia