Access to Finance and Catalytic Fund Director

The Director will work with entrepreneurs, producer groups, processors, financial institutions and investors to expand access to financial services required to optimize cashew sector productivity, growth, and catalyze employment for young women and men. The A2F/Catalytic Fund Director will be responsible for building diverse pipeline of micro, small, medium and large cashew producer groups and processing enterprises with bankable business models that are positioned for scaling and growth, attractive to financial institutions and investors, and that are owned by, employ, or serve women and youth in the sector. The A2F/Catalytic Fund Director will deploy Catalytic Fund resources to support business innovations, improve financial inclusion of women and youth, enhance investment readiness of MSMEs, and raise capital for growth-oriented entrepreneurs and businesses.  

Strategic Leadership & Financial Innovation :

• Lead the development and implementation of the project’s access to finance strategy, ensuring alignment with WEECAP’s overall goals and synergies with other pillars.
• Design financial mechanisms, through the Catalyst Fund, that de-risk investment in women- and youth-led cashew enterprises (e.g., credit guarantees, catalytic matching grants, results-based financing).
• Identify and advocate for innovative financial instruments that align market incentives with inclusive business models.

Partnership Development & Engagement :

• Collaborate with the Competitiveness team to identify high potential opportunities offered by end markets and the private sector buyers in the West Africa cashew sector.
• Collaborate with the Competitiveness team to develop a network of lead/anchor firms and micro, small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) and a strategic plan for engaging them.
• Establish and manage partnerships with commercial banks, MFIs, social impact investors, and development finance institutions (DFIs) to increase the availability of affordable and appropriate financial products.
• Collaborate with the Competitiveness team to design and implement integrated interventions that leverage the interconnections between producer groups and processors providing tailored Catalytic Fund resources (grants, results based financing, acceleration) to incentivize business innovations and new local sourcing arrangements.
• Coordinate blended finance approaches that leverage WEECAP resources to crowd in private capital for supply chain actors.
• Build linkages between processors and financial service providers to support co-investment in inclusive sourcing models.

Financial Inclusion for Women and Youth :

• Analyze and enable relationships among actors that translate into shared benefits to incentivize new investment in the cashew sector. Provide incentives to de-risk and strengthen financial institutions capacity to increase the flow of credit to cashew sector entrepreneurs and businesses.
• Oversee the provision of transaction advisory services to a range of cashew sector businesses that demonstrate growth potential, and work through financial intermediaries and with investors to bring new firm and project financing deals to a successful close.
• Facilitate financial literacy, business planning, and investment readiness training in coordination with other pillars.
• Work closely with the Competitiveness and Supply Chains teams to ensure that collective action platforms (e.g., cooperatives, groups) are used as channels for financial service delivery.

Learning, Monitoring, and Adaptive Management :

• Analyze performance of Catalytic Fund financing mechanisms and recommend adjustments based on real-time evidence and feedback.
• Contribute to impact documentation, learning products, and investment cases to influence investors, processors, and policymakers.
• Coordinate with the Operations team to provide technical and management oversight over for distribution of funds to recipients.
• Collaborate with the Policies and Social Safeguarding team regarding private sector policy requirements in the West Africa cashew sector.
• Collaborate with Gender Integration team to ensure integration of GESI considerations.

Education: Degree in finance, business administration, or related field required. 

Experience:  

• Minimum 5 years experience as a Team Leader managing multi-national cross country teams; 
• Minimum 10 years experience managing complex finance, entrepreneurship, or agriculture market systems programs, with demonstrated results in expanding access to finance;
• Experience working within the private sector on cashew nut production and marketing, including trade, production and business linkages;
• Experience applying a market systems development approach to strengthen the inclusivity—with a particular focus on young women and men—in cashew production and marketing systems;
• Technical experience working in West Africa with strong business relationships with West African cashew industry stakeholders and international buyer;
• Experience managing large grant funds, catalytic funds, or impact funds

Source: https://winrock.org/work-with-us/careers/job-openings/?gh_jid=7943954002