IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2022, IFC committed a record $32.8 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of global compounding crises. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

Climate business is a key strategic focus area for the IFC. The need to address climate is urgent, with global carbon budgets set to be depleted in less than two decades. Following the Paris Agreement, 147 countries around the world submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) with pledges to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. To achieve these climate targets, many countries have created policy packages to green their economies. Green financing needs however remain unmet, indicating a significant untapped potential for banks to grow their green financing products and services. The green financing gaps will only be bridged if commercial banks adopt strategies and targets to develop green finance products and services to support the real economy in the green transition.

The Financial Institutions Group (FIG) is one of three major industry groups at IFC, responsible for managing roughly 40% of IFC’s overall business in terms of volume and capital at risk. FIG contributes a critical piece to the IFC’s climate program and ambitions by building climate markets globally and providing thought leadership in new high-growth areas for climate finance. IFC recognizes that financial institutions are central to these efforts and that they will be needed to support regional markets to transition to low-carbon economies, including via offering new financial products.

The Alliance for Green Commercial Banks (The Alliance) is a global initiative convened by FIG and targeted at commercial banks dedicated to Green Financing, including the first members of the Alliance (Cornerstone Banks), other financial institutions, research institutions, and innovative technology providers. These institutions will work under the Alliance to develop a community of financial institutions in emerging markets that will work collectively to finance the infrastructure and business solutions needed to urgently address climate change. The main objectives of the Alliance will be to: (i) build a membership base of banks committed to leading a green and sustainable transformation in the markets that they operate; (ii) support banks to build their technical capacity and know-how to accelerate their green and sustainable transformation and (iii) to develop a community in emerging markets focused on financing the infrastructure and business solutions needed to advance sustainable economic development.

The Alliance will be implemented in partnership with regional anchors. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Hong Kong’s central banking institution, is a regional partner of the Alliance and is the inaugural and sole Regional Anchor for the Asia Chapter. One of the HKMA’s main functions is to maintain Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center, including the maintenance and development of Hong Kong’s financial infrastructure. The HKMA is committed to promoting green and sustainable finance and collaborating with local and global stakeholders to address climate risk. For more information on the HKMA, please visit www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/

IFC is seeking an Extended Term Consultant to support the Secretariat for the Alliance. The primary objective of this consultancy role is to assist the Head of the Secretariat in managing the overall functioning of the Secretariat. The Secretariat has been established to administer and oversee the day-to-day work of the Alliance and to support the Alliance to deliver on its mandate. An advisory board (Advisory Board) has also been established to provide general advice to the Secretariat.

Under the oversight and supervision of the Head of the Secretariat, the Operations Officer will provide assistance in the following areas:

•  Keeping the criteria and the process for admission of membership to the Alliance up to date;

•  Coordinating the administrative processes and procedures for onboarding, renewal, and termination of Alliance members (Members), Candidates, and Cornerstone Banks in consultation with the Head of the Secretariat, subject to IFC’s satisfactory integrity due diligence requirements;

•  Keeping the criteria, processes and terms of reference for engaging prospective third-party verifiers for the Alliance up to date in consultation with the Head of the Secretariat;

•  Administrative support for the Alliance, including, the procurement and deployment of IT facilities (e.g., databases to store membership application information) and processes necessary for the operation of the Membership program; and

•  Supporting the administrative/coordination work of the Membership Technical Panel (i.e., hiring/onboarding of Members, liaising with the Membership Technical Panel on recommendations for membership and resignations).

•  Supporting the Head of the Secretariat to coordinate and manage the Alliance’s relationships with Candidates and Members, and assisting in the delivery and roll out of activities (e.g., training, mentorship, study tours, etc.) to support them in acquiring the capacity, knowledge and tools they need to meet the criteria established by the Alliance;

•  Assisting the Head of the Secretariat to manage the Alliance’s relationship with its Regional Anchor(s) and Cornerstone Banks and coordinating with them on the Alliance’s activities; and

•  Assisting the Head of the Secretariat with addressing procedural enquiries received from Regional Anchor(s), current and prospective Candidates, Members and Cornerstone Banks.

•  Supporting the communications activities for the Alliance, including on the website, through press releases, policy documents and via general market updates; and

•  Ensuring the website is current, easily accessible and fully functional, and overseeing the work of IT consultants to support the same.

•  Providing assistance and support for the preparation of the annual report for the Alliance and its posting on the Alliance website with respect to the Alliance’s performance, targets and use of resources;

•  Coordinating the production and updating of the form of questionnaire for the Members’ annual disclosure; and

•  Assisting in the administration and tracking of the Alliance’s fee policy and budget, subject to IFC’s internal policies and procedures for financial reporting and approval.

•  Providing assistance in organizing Advisory Board meetings, including preparation of the agenda, appropriate documentation and minutes for Advisory Board meetings and associated working groups;

•  Setting up meeting dates, overseeing the timely notification of meeting dates and times to the Advisory Board and working group members, and coordinating the delivery of any materials or presentations to be given at the meetings; and

•  Managing the documentation produced in these meetings, ensuring that concept papers, minutes, agreements, and any other relevant documents produced during the meetings are properly catalogued, stored, and channeled to appropriate touch points for follow up.

•  Assisting the Head of the Secretariat with coordination of activities between the Secretariat, FIG’s regional and global climate teams and relevant IFC departmental functions linked to climate finance (e.g., the Climate Business Department) in order to drive synergies, ensure strategic alignment and leverage available knowledge and resources.

•  Master’s degree in a related field and at least 5–8 years of relevant experience. Related fields of education include business, finance, climate finance or economics. Relevant experience could include a proven track record in business consulting or investment banking, or operational experience in climate and sustainability finance.

•  Capacity to understand, enable, and participate in climate finance market creation opportunities for multiple countries by demonstrating long-term perspective, open-mindedness, persistence, innovation, and ability to leverage all available tools (including de-risking tools for climate finance); good understanding of the roles and value-add of IFC and WBG in climate finance markets.

•  Has a reputation for listening carefully to clients and stakeholders and asking targeted questions to understand their needs.

•  Build long-term engagement with multiple stakeholders and credibility by demonstrating knowledge of their businesses, sectors, and cultures; maintain an ongoing dialogue on their business needs, operations, and strategies as well as opportunities, particularly in climate and sustainability finance.

•  Ability to maintain client engagement to identify growth opportunities for climate finance, address emerging markets problems, and focus on actions that promote sustainability and ensure that overall development impact objectives are met.

•  Build and maintain extensive networks in the financial sector, across countries, and the Asia Pacific region to bring new engagements, members and climate thought leadership to the Alliance.

•  Ability to interact effectively with working level WBG staff and participate in collaborative interventions or /projects that support and grow the work of the Alliance by exercising sensitivity to differences in corporate cultures, priorities, and operating practices and /requirements.

•  Public Sector: Ability to participate and constructively contribute to meetings with mid-level government officials on constraints impacting climate commitments in their countries.

•  Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to describe complex issues, approaches, and lessons in a manner that is relevant and understandable to clients/stakeholders.

•  Ability to comment effectively on documents, oversee consultants as writers, and lead the writing process of Alliance specific documents.

•  Ensure final products are aligned with the needs and expectations of intended audiences.

•  Able to clearly articulate IFC’s requirements, value-add, financial and nonfinancial risks, development impact, and sustainability measurement in a way that is relevant to, and understandable by clients and stakeholders.

•  Ability to communicate technical information in an understandable and concise way to a nontechnical audience.

•  Ability to orally present and confidently defend a sound rationale for proposals in a compelling way that is appropriate to the audience and engenders their support.

•  A broad understanding of the economy, sectors, regulatory and industry fundamentals and drivers, industry and market benchmarks, the latest trends and changes, and industry standards; or market, including policies and regulations affecting climate business growth.

•  Ability to integrate divergent viewpoints of multiple external and internal stakeholders into a coherent project, program, or strategy.

•  Proactively seeks input from peers and leaders to deliver objectives and identify where to eliminate delivery roadblocks.

•  Demonstrated success as a key influencer in bringing integrated solutions to complex projects where there are significant challenges and competing interests.