Senior Fund Management Specialist

Job Title: Senior Fund Management Specialist

Administrative Unit: Office of the Chief Strategy Officer

Report to: Chief Finance Officer

Tasks

Strategic Fund Stewardship & Capital Deployment

• Lead oversight of fund allocation, utilisation, and performance across portfolios, facilities, programmes, and projects.
• Optimise deployment of financial resources to maximise developmental, environmental, and financial returns.
• Shape long-term capital deployment strategies that strengthen institutional sustainability and climate impact.
• Support development of forward-looking financial scenarios and funding pathways aligned with the Fund's strategic ambitions through 2030 and beyond.
• Contribute to organisational decisions on portfolio prioritisation, resource allocation, and investment readiness.

Climate Finance Innovation & Emerging Funding Models

• Design and evaluate innovative financing approaches including blended finance, results-based financing, catalytic capital, performance-linked disbursements, and impact-based funding mechanisms.
• Monitor emerging trends in climate finance, carbon markets, green bonds, sustainability-linked financing, and nature-based investment models.
• Advise leadership on opportunities arising from evolving international climate finance architecture and funding ecosystems.
• Support experimentation with innovative financial structures that improve accessibility, scalability, and impact of climate investments.
• Contribute to the development of future financing paradigms that position Rwanda as a regional leader in climate finance innovation

Portfolio Oversight & Financial Performance Analytics

• Lead advanced financial analysis of project and portfolio performance, identifying opportunities to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and impact.
• Develop financial dashboards, predictive models, and portfolio intelligence tools to support evidence-based decision-making.
• Generate strategic insights on fund utilisation, portfolio risk, capital efficiency, and funding performance.
• Provide recommendations that strengthen portfolio resilience under varying economic, climate, and market conditions.
• Support integration of financial and non-financial performance indicators into investment and funding decisions.

Fund Governance, Fiduciary Risk & Accountability

• Strengthen fiduciary oversight frameworks that safeguard public, donor, and institutional resources.
• Lead assessment and mitigation of financial, operational, and market risks associated with projects, programmes, facilities, and implementing partners.
• Evaluate financial viability and sustainability of proposed and ongoing projects prior to and during funding.
• Ensure robust compliance with Government of Rwanda regulations, donor agreements, funding conditions, and international standards (IFRS/IPSAS).
• Enhance accountability systems through improved controls, monitoring frameworks, and assurance processes.
• Promote transparency, ethical fund management, and responsible stewardship throughout the funding lifecycle.

Financial Planning, Forecasting & Sustainability

• Lead development of long-term financial forecasts, liquidity strategies, and capital planning models.
• Support multi-year resource planning that enables effective management of future commitments and investment pipelines.
• Analyse funding sustainability scenarios and recommend strategies to strengthen long-term institutional resilience.
• Contribute to development of sustainable financing strategies that reduce dependency on single funding sources, in collaboration with resource mobilisation teams.
• Support strategic resource mobilisation efforts through financial modelling and funding analytics.

Implementing Partner Financial Assurance & Capacity Strengthening

• Lead financial due diligence assessments of prospective implementing partners, grantees, and funding recipients prior to Fund disbursement.
• Provide technical and financial assistance to implementing partners in preparing project proposals and designing sound project financial systems.
• Strengthen financial management capabilities across partner institutions through targeted technical support and capacity-building initiatives.
• Promote adoption of best-practice financial governance, accountability, and reporting systems among partners.
• Analyse quarterly reports submitted by funded projects; conduct periodic spot-checks to affirm spending and guide further disbursements.
• Monitor and manage the financial performance of funded projects and variances between budgets and actual spending.
• Coordinate and facilitate external audit exercises as organised by relevant parties.

Fund Monitoring, Reporting & Budget Management

• Coordinate the preparation of annual, quarterly, and monthly cash plans for projects in collaboration with other units.
• Monitor the Fund's project budget execution and ensure timely preparation of periodic budget execution and financial statement reports.
• Maintain ledgers of all funded projects to facilitate timely financial reports, budgets, and accountabilities.
• Prepare and submit periodic financial reports in line with Government of Rwanda (GoR) and donor reporting guidelines.
• Develop dashboards reflecting disbursement status, pipeline commitments, and fund balances for senior management.
• Participate in budget revision processes and verify and sign off payments under projects.
• Administer draw requests for any funding source operating through a draw-down or reimbursement process.

Systems Transformation & Digital Fund Management

• Champion adoption of next-generation fund management systems, automation tools, and advanced analytics platforms.
• Design and maintain an effective project financial management system within the Fund, ensuring accounting and bookkeeping records are maintained in accordance with project requirements, statutory policies, and international accounting standards.
• Support development and optimisation of integrated Fund Management Information Systems (FMIS) and ERP platforms.
• Drive improvements in data quality, accessibility, transparency, and real-time financial visibility.
• Leverage emerging technologies to enhance monitoring, compliance, forecasting, and decision support.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Strategic Integration

• Collaborate closely with Programme Design, Climate Finance, MERL, Corporate Finance, Procurement, Risk, Legal, and IT teams to strengthen integrated decision-making.
• Provide strategic financial inputs into project design, facility development, investment structuring, and programme implementation.
• Support alignment between funding decisions, impact objectives, safeguards requirements, and sustainability outcomes.
• Provide technical support to the resource mobilisation team with financial data for project design and proposals.
• Contribute financial expertise to institutional strategy development and performance management processes.

Knowledge Leadership & Institutional Learning

• Build institutional knowledge on climate finance, sustainable investment, and fund management innovation.
• Lead development of fund management thought leadership products, lessons learned, and best-practice frameworks.
• Monitor international developments in fund management, climate finance, and public investment management.
• Facilitate organisational learning by translating emerging trends into actionable recommendations.
• Position the Fund as a recognised leader in innovative and sustainable fund management practices.

Job Specifications/Profile

Relevant Qualifications

• Master’s degree in finance, Accounting, Economics, Development Finance, Investment Management, Public Financial Management, Business Administration (MBA), Climate Finance, Sustainable Finance, or related field. A bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting with significant relevant experience may also be considered.
• Professional accounting qualifications such as CPA, ACCA, or equivalent is required.
• Additional certifications such as CFA, FRM, Development Finance, Climate Finance, Sustainable Finance, ESG Investing, Impact Investing, Public Financial Management, or Public Sector Accounting are an added advantage.

Required Experience                       

• Minimum 6–7 years of progressive experience in fund management, development finance, climate finance, investment management, public financial management, or donor-funded programmes.
• Demonstrated experience managing large-scale funds, grant facilities, investment portfolios, or multi-donor financing programmes.
• Experience in financial planning, forecasting, budgeting, fund flow management, and financial reporting.
• Proven track record in financial due diligence, risk assessment, compliance, fiduciary oversight, and portfolio performance analysis.
• Experience working with government institutions, development partners, multilateral organizations, and donor-funded programmes.
• Experience developing and implementing financial control, accountability, and governance frameworks.
• Experience in climate finance, green finance, carbon markets, blended finance, green bonds, impact investing, or environmental investment programs is highly desirable.
• Experience using Fund Management Information Systems (FMIS), ERP platforms, and financial analytics tools is an advantage.

Required Competencies

• Strong financial analysis, forecasting, budgeting, and portfolio management skills.
• Sound understanding of financial regulations, donor requirements, and international accounting standards (IPSAS/IFRS).
• Knowledge of climate finance, sustainable finance, and innovative financing mechanisms.
• Strong risk management, compliance, and fiduciary oversight capabilities.
• Ability to develop and implement financial controls and accountability systems.
• Excellent analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills.
• Ability to work effectively across multiple funding frameworks, partners, and jurisdictions.
• Strong communication, reporting, and presentation skills.
• High levels of integrity, accountability, and professional judgment.