Financing and Costing Specialist

Financing and Costing Specialist (international; 1.5 person-months)

The international financing and costing specialist will support the Team Lead prepare a strategic roadmap for business operations for the SEIB. Lead the preparation of the initial financial model and provide inputs related to financial risks and their mitigation, financing options under SEIB and closely coordinate with other national and international specialists to develop the SEIB program implementation plan. The consultant will: (i) provide support to GoS, and the TA consultants team; (ii) gather and analyse all required financial data and documents; (iii) develop a financial forecast for the SEIB and prepare all related inputs for the strategic roadmap for business operations; Risk Mitigation Plan; Indicative Budget; Financial Model (iv) liaise with relevant counterparts; (v) provide inputs to relevant TA reports; and (viii) help prepare presentations for workshops and meetings, as required.

Minimum Qualification

1. Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Financial Engineering, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics or a related field; or a professional accounting qualification such as CFA, ACCA, or CA, or its relevant global equivalent;
2. At least 10 years of relevant working experience in financial modelling, financial analysis and planning, including at least 3 years of experience in Venture Capital, Impact Investing, Blended Finance in developed and/or developing countries;
3. Excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
4. Experience in and knowledge of Pakistan’s financing/banking sector is a plus;
5. Prior experience in designing of or working for an IFI is a plus;
6. Able to work proactively and communicate well among various stakeholders.

Scope of Work

1. Towards validation and assessment of the business case, perform a value-formoney analysis of the proposed procurement of services through impact bond transaction by GoS;
2. Support the Team Lead develop a case for introduction of Impact Bonds transaction vis-à-vis standard state/public procurement methodologies in the context of operationalising SEIB in coordination with other project specialists;
3. Lead the development of a comprehensive financial forecast model towards the preparation of the strategic roadmap for business operations for the proposed SEIB. To include: an initial financial forecast (including project profit & loss statement and cash flows for the life-cycle of the SEIB) to guide GoS on the transaction and bring about broad agreement among key stakeholders; Detailing the initial financing requirements, recommendations on capital structure and potential financing sources; and, development of an indicative budget for the proposed suite of services to be managed through the Impact Bond transaction;
4. Support the Team lead in identifying possible design options for the proposed impact bond transaction, develop a rationale for key design choices, including evidence and lessons learned from comparable projects in South Asia in the education sector;
5. Support the team leader in providing recommendations regarding initial capitalisation of the IFIV, potential financing options and expected terms and conditions of the same; and
6. Evaluate providing commercial financing support to participating service providers through commercial investors including ADB's PSOD coming in the SEIB as possible risk-investors;
7. Assess the risks associated with the financing of delivery of education sector projects of GoS through an Impact Bond transaction and suggest appropriate risk mitigations options;
8. Device strategies to improving the affordability and cost-effectiveness of the SEIB and analyse the need for credit enhancement mechanisms for the Project;
9. Support the Team Lead in discussions with Investors and Financers;
10. Contribute to the overall SEIB program implementation plan preparation;
11. Participate in the organising of a workshop(s) to discuss and confirm the interim findings and recommendations of the program implementation plan and as required in the finalisation of the SEIB program implementation plan; and
12. To provide other relevant support to ADB as required.