Climate Finance Advisor– West Africa job in Senegal

Position description

Background 

The World Council of Credit Unions ("WOCCU") is the global apex association and development organization for the world's credit unions and financial cooperatives. WOCCU's financial inclusion programs reach rural and remote areas through its unparalleled global footprint - a network of over 67,000 institutions owned by 413 million members in 101 countries. The World Council engages in advocacy, development and education to champion and grow credit unions and cooperative finance worldwide, under the belief that all people should have access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable financial services. 

WOCCU is launching a new project to enhance the adaptive capacity and climate resilience of vulnerable communities in Benin and Senegal to address localized climate risks through increased access to gender-responsive climate adaption finance. It aims to redefine how financial cooperatives networks assess borrower climate risk and deliver climate adaptation finance. It targets 4,000 green loans and 61,000 loans assessed for climate risk (45% women).

This project will be delivered through:

Capacity building, digital tools, and performance-based incentives: The initiative will pilot with six financial cooperatives affiliated with two prominent financial cooperative networks. Through training, policy guidance and user-friendly digital tools WOCCU will equip them with the skills and resources to address evolving climate vulnerabilities in the communities they serve.

Knowledge sharing: The systematic documentation and dissemination of gender-responsive, data-driven lessons will create a foundation for scaling and replication across West Africa and globally.

Location 

Senegal and Benin

Position Summary 

WOCCU is seeking a Climate Finance Advisor to oversee implementation of the project in Benin and Senegal. The Climate Finance Advisor will be responsible for implementing in-country activities, including delivery of capacity building and sustained operational engagement with WOCCU, participating financial cooperative networks and their members, service providers, and other stakeholders.

In this capacity, the Advisor will deliver trainings, strengthen institutional capacity, and ensure that project digital tools, approaches, and processes are adopted and replicated. The role requires close, hands-on engagement to address implementation challenges and maintain progress against agreed milestones and targets. They will also manage monitoring and reporting, including collection and validation of project documentation and data, and contribute to ongoing learning and adaptation based on implementation experience and data analysis.

In addition, the Advisor will ensure engagement with relevant local stakeholders, including government agencies, climate and climate finance initiatives, donors, investors, and other actors with complementary projects, to strengthen alignment and coordination within the broader climate finance ecosystem. They will serve as the primary in-country operational and technical liaison among WOCCU, the project’s digital service provider, partner networks, and pilot financial cooperatives.

This is an 18-month assignment.

Responsibilities 

Engage with participating financial cooperative networks, pilot institutions, and key stakeholders to establish buy-in, clarify expectations, and ensure alignment on project objectives and approach.

Facilitate discussions on roles, responsibilities, and performance targets across participating networks, institutions, and partners.

Coordinate project start-up activities, including scheduling, consolidation of baseline materials, and adaptation of core tools and approaches to the country context to support market assessments and development of climate adaptation finance taxonomies.

Ensure gender action plan is implemented according to its milestones and reaches intended impact.

Maintain structured engagement with financial cooperative networks to ensure progress against timelines for system integration, policy adjustments, product design and approval, pilot testing, and ongoing monitoring.

Drive the development and operationalization of a vetted vendor database aligned with project taxonomies for use by participating institutions.

Deliver trainings and provide ongoing capacity building to ensure that project tools, approaches, and processes are understood, adopted, and replicated within participating institutions.

Ensure representation of the project in relevant national and regional forums on climate and climate finance, and facilitate engagement with government agencies, donors, investors, and other initiatives to strengthen coordination and share learning.

Oversee project monitoring and reporting against the workplan and gender action plan, including collection, validation, and consolidation of project data and documentation.

Contribute to knowledge generation, including development of success stories and documentation of lessons learned to inform replication and scale.

Deliverables 

Implementation of project activities in line with the approved workplan, including timely execution of start-up, capacity building, pilot, and follow-on activities.

Inputs to project inception, including contributions to inception reports, memorandums of understanding, and other start-up documentation.

Establishment of baseline data and consolidation of required project documentation during the start-up phase.

Ongoing tracking of partner performance against agreed targets, including identification of bottlenecks and implementation adjustments to maintain progress.

Sustained engagement with participating financial cooperative networks and pilot institutions to maintain progress toward agreed milestones, including follow-up on timelines, systems integration, policy adjustments, product development, and pilot implementation.

Monthly and quarterly reporting, including validated project data and documentation aligned with project requirements and the gender action plan.

Inputs to semi-annual and annual donor reporting, including synthesis of implementation progress, results, and lessons learned.

Development of case studies and knowledge products, including documentation of project results through written materials, photos, and/or videos.

Period of Performance 

Estimated to start in June 2026 for a period of 18 months

Qualifications

Minimum 10 years of experience in financial inclusion, with direct working experience with financial cooperative networks.

Demonstrated experience supporting the design, testing, and rollout of financial products, policies, and systems within cooperative financial institutions.

Proven ability to deliver impactful technical support and capacity building under tight timelines.

Established relationships across financial cooperative networks, government stakeholders, and relevant sector actors in at least one country (Benin or Senegal), preferably both.

Experience with gender-lens financial inclusion is required.

Strong facilitation and training skills, including the ability to translate technical concepts into practical application within financial institutions.

At least 3 years experience leading/managing multi-country West Africa programs.

Bachelor’s degree or higher in business, finance, marketing or related field.

Fluency in French and English

Background in climate finance and/or engagement in national climate discourse preferred.

Selection Criteria 

Selection will be made on a best-value basis. The number of points assigned to each criterion represents its weight in the evaluation process. While service rates are required as part of the submission, they are not evaluated against the selection criteria requirements. 

No.	Requirements	Weight
1.	Minimum 10 years of experience in financial inclusion. Demonstrated experience supporting the design, testing, and rollout of financial products, policies, and systems within financial institutions, incorporating unique member preferences by gender and age. Proven ability and at least 5 years of senior management experience to deliver impactful technical support and capacity building under tight timelines. Strong facilitation and training skills, including the ability to translate technical concepts into practical application within financial institutions.	35
2.	Established relationships across financial cooperative networks, government stakeholders, and relevant sector actors in at least one country (Benin or Senegal), preferably both. Direct experience supporting financial cooperative networks. At least 3 years experience leading/managing multi-country West Africa programs. Background in climate finance and/or engagement in national climate discourse preferred.	40
3.	Bachelor’s degree or higher in business, finance, marketing or related field.  Fluency in French and English	25
	Total	100

Application instructions

Submission Requirements 

Qualified candidates must submit the following information per the instructions below. Only complete applications will be considered: 

A CV and cover letter, in English, that detail candidates relevant work experience and qualifications.

If the applicant is a business entity, please submit a presentation of company qualifications and the CVs of the proposed consultants.

Candidate’s cover letter must be maximum of three pages, and include:

a. Address the responsibilities and qualifications within this posting

b. Relevant experience  

c. Proposed daily and monthly rate

2. Three professional references: name, phone(s), and email  

Should your application be selected for consideration, WOCCU will contact the references provided within the submission. Applications missing references, will have the opportunity to provide references on a case-by-case basis.  

Submission Instructions 

Application materials should be submitted in English via email with the subject line “Climate Finance Advisor- West Africa_2026” to [email protected]. Bidders must include all relevant materials within their proposals. Failure to do so may result in the disqualification of your proposal.

Deadline to Submit Questions: May 4, 2026, 5 pm EST 

Deadline to Submit Application: May 14, 2026, 5 pm EST 

Disclaimer 

This bid solicitation in no way obligates the World Council of Credit Unions to award a contract, nor does it commit the World Council of Credit Unions to pay any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of the application. World Council of Credit Unions reserves the right to vary any part of this bid solicitation at the time of award if it becomes necessary. World Council of Credit Unions may cancel this solicitation or may reject any and all responses received. The issuance of this solicitation does not constitute award commitment by the World Council of Credit Unions. 