Head of Standards and Market Intelligence, Finance for Peace Inititative

About Finance for Peace

Finance for Peace is a new independent initiative that seeks systemic change in how private and public investment supports peace in the world’s developing and fragile contexts. It aims to create multistakeholder approaches that can co-develop critical market frameworks, networks of political support, partnerships and knowledge required to scale Peace Finance – investment that achieves its economic purpose but is done in a way that has an intentional and positive impact on peace. Peace Finance seeks to reduce risks for both investors and communities and bring high levels of additionality. Finance for Peace has been incubated by Interpeace, an International Peacebuilding organisation that has worked on conflict resolution and peacebuilding throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Latin America for over 27 years.

The Initiative seeks to develop new partnerships, market intelligence, political and technical support across a diverse array of actors including DFIs, Donors, researchers, scholars, peacebuilding and civil society organizations, as well as the finance sector to develop supporting market infrastructure and knowledge to scale peace responsive private sector activity. The initiative has four areas of activity: (1) Providing the regulatory enabling environment for peace finance, (2) Providing critical market intelligence for peace finance, (3) Developing supportive policy and partnerships for peace finance, and (4) Develop research workstreams on Ukraine peace finance, digital verification, and mapping of sub-national risk premia.

The initiative will have a finance and investment industry orientation and seek to bridge the gap between the related parts of the finance sector, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, asset managers, Donors and foundations, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), and other financial institutions, with peace and development actors, including practitioners, civil society, governments, and multilateral institutions. The Initiative will create new partnerships, market intelligence, political and technical support across a diverse array of actors to develop supporting market infrastructure and knowledge to scale peace responsive investment activity globally.

The initiative is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and builds on feasibility research supported by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) on a new sustainable investment category called peace bonds.

For more information about Finance for Peace, please visit www.financeforpeace.org.

Today, billions of people and most of the world’s extreme poor live in 57 conflict-affected countries. Because of conflict, instability and violence, none of these countries are on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Development requires investment, but investment requires peace. We know greater investment is possible: the world’s financial resources of almost USD 300 trillion dwarfs the cost of achieving the SDGs. Yet, investment cannot find its way to places of great need because of risks related to peace, whether real or perceived.

This leaves some of the world’s fastest growing markets and greatest investment opportunities untapped. And herein lies the problem: the peace actions that could open these markets for investments are underfunded and poorly aligned; blended finance approaches have promises, but do not currently focus on peace and do not leverage enough finance in the most needy places.

New approaches are needed: we need to fundamentally rethink how peace and development is financed and aligned. This is why the Finance for Peace initiative is currently working with partners from finance, government, and development institutions to create a market for peace enhanced finance which includes the world’s first peace bonds, but also all forms of finance that will help investors better align and embed what are called peace enhancing mechanisms into their investments.

We believe that peace, like climate, is a fundamental building block for economic growth and all other SDGs. Making this work is not easy, but the opportunity of getting it right is enormous: the market for green bonds has grown from zero to over one trillion dollars in 10 years. The objective of the Finance for Peace initiative is to facilitate a similar outcome for peace bonds. We believe that bringing finance and peace together could unlock immense untapped value for sustainable development and peace.

At the same time, it is critical standards, norms and guidance are created so the market is protected from the risk of “peacewashing.” Finance for Peace will also create an industry association to increase awareness, supportive networks, shared understanding and guidance to help grow both the demand and supply sides of the market.

Position within the Finance for Peace Initiative

The Head of Standards and Market Intelligence (“the Head”) will work closely with the to-be-appointed Peace Finance Standards Committee which will provide technical advice, iterative feedback, recommendations and industry/community validation. The Head will curate and manage a network of researchers and consultants, and collaborate closely with the rest of the Finance for Peace team to support the execution of the four key workstreams listed above, with a leading role in the two key pillars of the initiative: (1) Providing the Regulatory Enabling Environment for Peace Finance, and (2) Providing Critical Market Intelligence for Peace Finance.

In this context, the Head will be tasked with overseeing the networked iteration of the Peace Finance Impact Framework (PFIF) and Peace Finance Standards (PFS) as well as curation of key research and market intelligence. The Head will oversee the management and curation of the Peace Finance Standards Committee, shaping membership, developing the agenda and producing key documents for review and iteration. The Head will be responsible for consolidating input and feedback from stakeholders and updating/publishing the PFIF and PFS while identifying and resolving technical issues as they arise. The Standards Committee will be composed of investment professionals as well as experts in development, peacebuilding and academia. It will meet in a hybrid format and be principally responsible for maintaining and improving the use, uptake and efficacy of the PFIF and PFS to enable scaled up peace promotional investment.

Connected to the iterative development and improvement of Standards and Frameworks, the Head will be responsible for market intelligence which involves thematic, sectoral and geographic research and learning on where and how peace finance can be scaled up. Key to this is the development of knowledge and learning related to Peace Enhancing Mechanisms – which are peacebuilding approaches that can be embedded and/or accompany investment approaches in a way that de-risks investments for communities as well as investors. Market intelligence should be publicly available and help other actors in their efforts to originate and design more peace promotional investments.

The Head of Standards and Market Intelligence will report to the Executive Director of the Finance for Peace initiative once that position is filled. The Head of Standards and Market Intelligence will also closely collaborate with actors in the peacebuilding and development sector located internationally and specifically in fragile and conflict-affected settings. The Finance for Peace initiative is hosted by Interpeace in an incubation phase after which it will become a fully independent non-for-profit entity.

Duties and Responsibilities

Guided by the strategic direction defined by the Executive Director and Governing Board of the Finance for Peace initiative, the Head provides critical thought leadership in the following areas:

• The ongoing development of the PFIF and PFS including specific peace bond and equity standards;
• The creation of publicly available market intelligence for Peace Finance at sectoral, geographic and thematic levels, including development of early feasibility pipeline of peace-aligned investments;
• Guidance for public and private investors to align their existing and/or planned investments to the PFIF and PFS; and
• Knowledge products and practice on how to verify peace impacts, measure success and learn from prior experience.

The successful candidate should bring private or development finance industry experience with exposure to emerging and frontier markets, DFI/blended finance, ESG, Impact and SDG investing as well as understanding of traditional development and peacebuilding approaches. They will have strong political acumen and project management skills to engage both finance and development/peacebuilding professionals.

The Head of Standard and Market Intelligence coordinates closely with the Head of Policy and Partnerships, Policy Officers and Communications Adviser to ensure that Pillar 1 and 2 outcomes are rightly reflected, anchored and well-communicated throughout all aspects of the initiative’s implementation.

The Head of Standards and Market Intelligence will carry out the following duties and responsibilities:

• Manage an ongoing agenda for the Peace Finance Standards Committee to iterate and improve the PFIF and PFS;
• Oversee the publishing of key Standards and Framework documents for public/private investors;
• Develop guidance documents for public and private investors to adopt the Peace Finance Standards in their investment approaches;
• Lead the commissioning of thematic research and market intelligence, providing thought leadership on greatest areas of opportunity for Peace Finance;
• Represent the initiative at political and official levels, as well as DFI, donor and multilateral, including participation in conferences, high-level meetings, etc. on issues related to Peace Finance, including climate security, good peacebuilding donorship, ODA financing, conflict sensitivity, and peace responsiveness of investment;
• Ensure consistent engagement with relevant actors to popularize and streamline the body of knowledge and practice produced by the initiative within their workstreams and institutions;
• Coordinate with the Policy, Learning and Advisory Services unit at Interpeace to leverage impact; and
• Contribute to the establishment of political and market support for forms of Peace Finance and engage a critical number of key Investors, Asset managers, Development Finance Institutions, Governments, Multilateral banks, and international organisations and establish them as potential partners for participating or supporting Peace Finance issuance or investments.

Qualifications:

Candidates with relevant qualifications, experience, and fluency in English are invited to apply. Relevant experience and qualifications may include:

Education

• Advanced degree in development economics, finance, business, marketing, international affairs, political science, or other relevant fields.

Experience

• At least 7 years of multi-disciplinary experience working in policy, investment and/or knowledge roles in at least one, or some combination of, private finance, a Development Finance Institution, development/peacebuilding or government donor environment.
• Experience in international policy initiatives involving multistakeholder engagement and demonstrated experience in project management, knowledge product development and/or research.
• Familiarity with technical and political issues associated with sustainable finance, SDG, ESG investing, impact investing, blended finance, and donor policies in development.
• Understanding of peacebuilding/development in the context of fragile conflict affected situations.

Competencies

• Ability to develop and lead highly collaborative, co-creative practices internally and in external partnerships.
• Ability to provide thought leadership and strategically shape knowledge products that appropriately address stakeholder needs.
• Technical competency in public and private investment approaches and attention to detail.
• Advanced planning and project management skills and a proactive problem-solving orientation.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment successfully and to demonstrate gender-responsive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.
• Excellent ability to interact with people respectfully and with tact.
• Excellent social and inter-cultural skills, communication skills to a variety of stakeholders from very different backgrounds.
• Relevant domain knowledge of technical and political issues related to Peace Finance, or ability to quickly learn and adapt knowledge to effectively communicate key concepts of the initiative.
• Excellent spoken and written English, with French as an advantage.
• Desire to work in a dynamic, mission-driven, and collaborative environment.

Assets/desired

• Strong existing network in the financial sector, and ability to leverage on such network.
• Existing network of key policymakers, Governments, Multilateral banks and/or international organisations.
• Demonstrated knowledge of peacebuilding and development approaches and/or country experience in fragile and conflict affected settings.
• Strong track-record of partnership building skills.
• Experience working in, or on fragile contexts.

Success factors

• Ability to communicate effectively with different audiences.
• Commitment to positively changing how private actors can build peace, and to the values and working principles of Interpeace.
• Creative team player with a commitment to inclusiveness and consensus-building.
• Political tact and a high adaptation capacity.

Interpeace Competencies

• Collaboration and Weaving
• Communication
• Drive for results
• Adaptability and Continuous Learning
• Respect for Diversity

How to apply

Qualified candidates are invited to submit their application no later than 18 May 2023, via the following link:

Head of Standards and Market Intelligence