Mennonite Economic Development Associates ,Financial Services Specialist Jobs in Canada

Job
description

Mennonite Economic
Development Associates of Canada (MEDA) invites applications for the overseas
post of Financial Services Specialist for a large scale, long term women’s
economic development project in (“the Project”) in Burma. Conditional
upon MEDA sign

ing a contract for recently awarded funding, the successful
candidate will ideally be able to assume duties in June/July 2015. MEDA is an
association of Christians who invest in people living in poverty around the
world so they can unleash their potential to earn a livelihood to provide for
their families and enrich their communities. To learn more about MEDA and our
work, please visit www.meda.org.

The project will
address women’s agriculture and economic development challenges in Burma to: a)
strengthen select value chain markets and regional trade; b) improve
agricultural practices and value added processing; and c) improve agriculture
inputs and sector services.

Financial
Services Specialist, Burma (1 year contract, renewable up to 3 years)

The Financial
Services Specialist will:

  • Serve
    as the principal liaison between MEDA and the local financial service
    partners, including banks, micro-finance institutions and other financial
    service providers;
  • Improve
    access to finance for women in selected value chains, and/or women’s
    organizations and their members through advising and assisting financial
    service providers to design and implement new financial services and
    products;
  • Conduct
    and design an initial financial sector assessment and strategy for the
    project;
  • Support
    the development of larger Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) loan offerings
    to reach women;
  • Advise
    the MFIs to develop new lending products in the agriculture sector and in
    Southern Shan and Kayin states;
  • Provide
    ongoing support to the MFIs to promote MFI capacity development;
  • Write
    scopes of work and support short term technical experts delivering
    technical assistance and training for MFIs;
  • Draft
    sections of program reports, identify, and report on program successes and
    achievements
  • The
    duty station for this position is likely to be in, or in the vicinity of,
    Yangon and involves frequent travel to project locations country-wide.

Qualifications

  • A
    minimum of five years’ experience in banking or financial services with
    specific experience developing products for the agriculture and
    agri-processing sectors
  • University
    degree (ideally Master’s) in economics, international development, or an
    MBA, or other related field required
  • Strong
    interpersonal, communication, and training skills desired
  • Understanding
    and experience in women’s economic empowerment programming is preferred
  • Strong
    understanding of competitive market environments & inclusive financial
    services
  • Strong
    understanding of marketing, business planning, business growth advisory
    service or related areas.
  • Fluency
    in English is required.
  • Prior
    work experience in Burma or Southeast Asia is desirable
  • Appreciation
    and support of MEDA’s faith, values, mission and purpose


Please send your
resume by no later than Friday, April 17, 2015 to:
jobs@meda.org

Project
Quick Facts

  • Budget
    $17 million over 5 years
  • Sectors:
    agriculture/agribusiness, with a focus on women’s economic empowerment
  • Geographic
    Scope: Shan and Karen States, Yangon. .

The project will
support 25,000 women in the Burmese ethnic states of Shan and Karen grasp the
opportunities offered by the changing environment and become active, respected
and empowered economic actors and leaders. Over 5 years, the project will work
primarily within agricultural markets where women are active participants.
Early field research indicated that strawberries, rice and horticultural
products (vegetable gardens) would be appropriate target value chains. In-depth
research at the inception mission will confirm and deepen this analyses. The
ultimate outcomes are to improve women’s incomes and agricultural productivity
and increase the number of women assuming leadership roles as economic actors
in their communities. The project also wil facilitate and strengthen the
provision of goods and services to women small scale producers by Burmese
public and private sector actors, thereby improving the enabling environment
within which these producers operate. Finally, the project will improve the
standard of living and the business environment for at least 125,000 indirect
clients who will directly benefit from women small producer’s improved incomes
(household) or enhanced goods and services provided by stronger MSMEs.

How
to apply

Please send your CV
by email to jobs@meda.org

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