Applications for the following three positions are invited from the Nationals of SAARC Member States (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) for an appointment at SAARC Development Fund, the umbrella financial institution of the SAARC, which is located in Thimphu, Bhutan:
Position: Assistant Director, Economic & Infrastructure Window
Job responsibilities:
He/she will actively seek and solicit investment projects in the SAARC Member States and initiate with the Directors’ guidance and approval discussions with Local, National/Regional and International Banks/Funding/Development Institutions to explore and identify models to fund projects in the region.
Project execution, documentation, work breakdown structure, monitoring and controlling, and project control systems.
He/she will help the Director in setting up the credit business of SDF and in particular, operationalize the two investment windows namely Economic and Infrastructure Windows of the Fund, prepare and update the Credit policy including limits, set up and document the SDF Pricing and Risk policy, standardize documentation for project loans, credit guarantees, term sheets etc , formulate, document and update the funding strategy for SDF, initiate discussions with reputed Rating Agencies for future fund generation and explore different models to achieve SDF objectives for funding projects
Develop and execute project e-management systems, portfolio management, virtual Project Management/Development/ and closing procedures.
Project reporting structures and mechanism i.e. weekly, monthly, bi-annually and annually.
Development and Management of programme and project plans (sometimes multiple plans) reviewing the plans regularly to ensure tasks and milestones are being achieved in a timely manner and Preparation of governance reports, project status reports, presentations, agendas, etc.
Take an active part in the project issue/risk management process, by contributing to the identification and prioritization of existing and potential issues and risks, and helping to develop strategies and controls to mitigate these. Use sound judgment to identify which issues and risks should be escalated to governance groups, and prepare relevant reports/documentation.
Provide a skilled facilitation service to support the project teams in achieving these expectations. This means employing effective organisational and administrative processes, together with their knowledge and/or experience of Project Management/Development/ smart practices, to facilitate the successful achievement of the project objectives.
provide inputs at the time of project preparation within extant guidelines and the directives of the SDF Board,
Responsible for operational aspects of the Economic and Infrastructure Window projects including compliances, implementation of the projects as per guidelines, disbursements, reporting, follow-up, end-use of funds, etc. and
Ensure that the Economic and Infrastructure Window projects are implemented as per the requirements of the SDF and the Member States and
Carry out any other responsibilities assigned by the CEO. Report to Director E & I Windows and the CEO.
Qualification, Skills, and experience required: Interested candidates must be
A post-graduate degree in Engineering/Development/Economics/Project Management/Investment/ Fund Management/Finance/Business Administration from an Institution of International repute/recognition (Professional degree like PMP/CFA/CA/CPA/CAIA etc. would be an added advantage) and
Have a minimum of 10 years of practical experience in core investment/credit operations. Experience in MDBs or IFIs would be preferred.
Be between 30-40 years of age.
Must be a bona-fide citizen of a SAARC Member State i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Strong written and spoken communication skills in English.
Remuneration:
Net (tax-free) monthly salary of US$ 2,860 per month
Accommodation allowance of US$ 475 per month
Education allowance for two children up to class 12 or equivalent
Medical reimbursements for self and family
One time furnishing/ settlement allowance of US$ 2,000,
Home leave a passage for self & family once in 18 months and other admissible joining expenses reimbursements.
Duty-free purchase/import privileges in Bhutan.
The Terms of Reference (TORs) and prescribed Application Form for the above-mentioned positions are available on the SDF website click here to apply. Application Form, CV, copies of educational and experience certificates should be sent by email to info@sdfsec.org and admin@sdfsec.org latest by April 23, 2021.
In 1996, a first funding mechanism was created in SAARC, ‘South Asian Development Fund (SADF), merging the SAARC Fund for Regional Projects (SFRP) and the SAARC Regional Fund. SADF objectives were to support industrial development, poverty alleviation, protection of environment, institutional/human resource development and promotion of social and infrastructure development projects in the SAARC region. SADF started with a resource base of US$5 million (contributed on pro-rata basis by SAARC Member States), and till its closure in June 2008, had funds amounting to approx. US$ 7.0 million. Till its closure, SADF completed techno-economic feasibility studies for sixteen project studies.
During 2002-2005, SAARC Member States considered instituting various sectoral funding mechanisms e.g. Poverty Alleviation Fund, Infrastructure Fund, South Asian Development Bank, Media Development Fund, Voluntary Fund for the Differently Able Persons. A primary reason was that the existing South Asian Development Fund (SADF) was found to be inadequate i.e. in terms of required quantum of funds and its limited scope of work. In order to avoid proliferation of funds, the SAARC Financial Experts (September 2005) looked at the entire gamut of issues relating to funding of SAARC projects and programmes; and, amongst others, agreed that in lieu of proliferating sectoral financing mechanisms, the SADF be reconstituted into the SAARC Development Fund (SDF). And, SDF would have a permanent Secretariat, with three Windows (Social, Economic, Infrastructure). The Thirteenth SAARC Summit (Dhaka, 12-13 November 2005) finally decided to reconstitute the SADF into SDF to serve as the “umbrella financial mechanism” for all SAARC projects and programmes.
The Social Window would primarily focus poverty alleviation and social development projects. The Infrastructure Window would cover projects in the areas namely energy, power, transportation, telecommunications, environment, tourism and other infrastructure areas. The Economic Window would primarily be devoted to non-infrastructural funding.