A Job Opportunity for a Project Officer – Financial Inclusion Officer, Habitat for Humanity Kenya

Habitat for Humanity Kenya (HFH Kenya) is a national non-profit organization that begun its operations in 1982 as an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. The affiliation is guided by a National Affiliation Agreement (NAA) and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). HFH Kenya’s vision is: “A nation where every family has a decent place to live.” Mission: “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity Kenya brings people together to build homes, communities and hope”. Our overarching goal is: “Enabling low income families access decent and affordable shelter”.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Senior Program Manager, the Project Officer – Financial Inclusion will be responsible for assisting in the implementation and support of facilitation projects that make beneficial housing products and services accessible to households within the geographic focus of the program. The position holder will have an exciting opportunity to utilize his/her strong knowledge of microfinance to partner with financial service organizations and institutions or similar networks to promote and further advance the Housing Finance & Market Development program to help address shelter needs of low-income people in Kenya.

Key Responsibilities

• Undertake institutional technical assistance assessments and housing microfinance readiness assessments of potential partner financial service providers, microcredit organizations, institutions, or other local market actors
• Develop terms of reference for various studies and technical assistance and/or financing proposals for partner institutions and arrange technical assistance agreements relevant to housing microfinance models for low-income people.
• Arrange, coordinate and/or provide training, orientation, reference materials and tools on housing microfinance matters to partner institutions and other stakeholders.
• Participate in, coordinate and/or lead housing microfinance market research, product development and validation processes for partner institutions.
• In Coordination with the MEAL specialist, lead the analysis, monitoring and evaluation of the performance of housing microfinance partnership programs implemented by HFHK, financial service providers and/or other partners.
• Coordinate and prepare quarterly, bi-annual, and annual reports and portfolio performance quality reports.
• Support the production of learning outputs such as toolkits, training materials, case studies, articles and research, best practices around market research
• Development of housing microfinance products, institutional technical assistance to partner, linking construction technical assistance and other non-financial services to housing microfinance services, linkages with government subsidy programs, HFHK partners, financial service providers and relevant network organizations.
• Assist in developing, piloting, and implementing technical support strategies, policies and scalable housing microfinance models for low-income people and contribute to HFHK strategy development.
• Collaborate with program operations teams to support and steward the strategic integration of housing microfinance models and partnerships within HFHK work.
• Network with organizations and associations working in the housing microfinance sector, to access latest knowledge, industry trends, news, publications, and developments, and to promote HFHK housing microfinance program.
• In general, support the program team, in various initiatives related to housing microfinance matters.
• Support the ND and Snr Program Manager to identify potential housing finance market development donors, investors, partner financial service providers, and other partnering market actors.
• Collaborate interdepartmentally in the development of competitive proposals for market development, housing microfinance and expanding access to client-responsive services, products, and financing in the market that address shelter needs of low-income people in Kenya.

Key Performance Measures/Indicators

• Quality oversight and implementation of financial inclusion initiatives within HFHK.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Microfinance, Commerce, Business Administration, or similar field.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required

• Negotiation and influence skills.
• Strong analytical, research and report writing skills as well as excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Independent, self-starter and creative
• Ability to work under minimum or no supervision
• Must be a team player and ready to work in and contribute to team building environment
• Team builder, appreciates cultural diversity and inclusion, safeguarding/ protection issues etc
• Computer literate with good presentation skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Experience

• 3+ years of relevant work experience in finance or microfinance product development, project evaluations, project management and related research or studies.
• Conversant with the microfinance industry in Kenya.
• Experience designing and implementing loan or financial products focusing on decent and affordable housing.

Other Information

• Ability to work long and odd hours, including weekends
• Confidentiality
• Honesty
• High levels of integrity