IDB3197 - Senior Islamic Finance Specialist

Job Purpose

• Under the supervision of the Center’s Head, to provide advanced level technical and professional expertise in the development of the Islamic Finance industry, products and services, and improvement in the overall industry’s enabling environment.
• To contribute, by providing administrative and technical support, in the application and deployment of Islamic Finance solutions in various developmental programs related to the Islamic Finance initiatives in the Member Countries.
• To manage the portfolio of Islamic Finance projects and TAs within the approved costs, timelines and quality to ensure efficient delivery of the Center’s mandate to support socio-economic development in the relevant Member Countries.
• To provide technical support and contribution in shaping the Center’s strategy by focusing on the given sector in Malaysia and other MCs, including contribution to MCPS, analytical work and programming.
• To contribute to the Center’s operational, financial and procurement policies and guidelines as well as to the knowledge management agenda.
• To act as a subject matter expert in Islamic Finance, regulatory frameworks, governance and compliance issues as well as providing advisory, research and to disseminate knowledge and expertise via training and conducting sessions in conferences and seminars.
• To contribute to the development and structuring of the regulatory and legal framework to meet the needs of the Islamic Financial industry in the Member Countries and non-Member Countries.
• To conduct market analysis, including identifying gaps in the Islamic financial products and services, product development and related processes, and overall enabling environment for the industry, and offering viable solutions to fill-in those gaps. Enabling the environment via helping member countries to establish different organs, institutions that are pivotal for the development of the Islamic financial service industry.
• To seek new partnerships, help mobilizing financial and human resources for the initiatives of KLCoE and finding reverse linkage opportunities.

Key Accountabilities

Islamic Finance

• Contribute to the development of Islamic Finance Initiative Strategy by keeping track of the latest and innovative trends in the field of scientific developments.

• Coordinate for Islamic Finance initiatives between KLCoE and Member Countries to create innovative solutions for development.

• Support in conducting sectoral analysis to identify developmental opportunities for Member Countries.

• Keep track of new Islamic Finance-based projects of the Bank and support in the incubation of innovative initiatives in partnership with the relevant IsDB departments, entities and Regional Hubs.

• Assist in managing the full cycle of initiative portfolios; starting from concept development, concept review and appraisal, implementation, monitoring success, lesson learnt, improvements identified and reporting.

• In coordination with the concerned departments within IsDB, contribute to policy dialogues with the Member Countries for the development of Islamic Finance and promoting intra-regional Islamic financial integration.

• Support in the development of Islamic banking, Islamic capital markets, Islamic insurance (takaful), Islamic microfinance, Islamic social finance and undertake activities (in co-ordination with IsDB’s Member Countries and other stakeholders) required to create an enabling environment for the development of these sectors.

 

Market Research
• Conduct extensive market research. This involves keeping track of marketing strategies, as well as identifying patterns and emerging trends.
• Develops and executes a strategy for discovering and securing new business opportunities either locally, regionally, or globally.
• Develops negotiation strategies by evaluating risks and potentials.
• Lead the development of the knowledge products, reviews, briefs and updates related to Islamic Finance and the projects undertaken by the Center, independently and in coordination with other departments and entities of IsDB.
• Search for innovative Islamic Finance products, solutions and services based on the market and stakeholders' needs, at multilateral, national, institutional or organizational level.

Ideation and Due diligence/Appraisal
• Lead the preparation of proposals to ensure comprehensive coverage of the technical, economic, social, financial, procurement, institutional and environmental aspects of the project proposals are in line with the operations manual and applicable policies/procedures of the Bank.
• Seek inputs from the respective sector teams in IsDB Group to further refine and enhance the project Concept Note / appraisal documents prior to submission for the Head’s approval.
• Ensure all changes identified during project appraisal is incorporated in all the relevant documents for alignment of project design and approach prior to submission for approval.

Partnership Development
• Explore ways and means to expand and deepen partnerships with the Malaysian organizations, international institutions and intergovernmental organizations, as well as regional and to deliver new delivery channels for developmental activities.
• Build a network of collaborative alliances with public and private entities to tap their technical and financial resources for the achievement of the common objectives in member countries.
• Market partnership opportunities with existing as well as prospective development partners for country, regional and thematic operations and programs in-order to support the development and branding of existing/new initiatives and new products.

Partnership Execution
• Assist in the preparation and negotiation of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between international institutions, intergovernmental organizations, as well as regional and local organizations and NGOs and developmental organizations and companies in MC and non-MCs with close co-ordination with the concerned Departments.
• Manage the relationship with IsDB’s resource mobilization partners, i.e., contributors including coordination of activities to mobilize funds from the resource contributors and also inform and report on the developmental operations undertaken through the deployment of the funds.
• Monitor the implementation of the MOUs signed by the Center and IsDB with international institutions and other strategic partnership arrangements (e.g., Cooperation MoUs, Co-financing Agreements) to ensure mainstreaming into daily operations.
• Develop and disseminate partner intelligence reports and inventory of best practices in the area of partnerships in-order to research and conceptualize latest trends in partnership activities and initiatives.

Implementation and Monitoring
• Coordinate with respective internal stakeholders for receiving technical assistance in all aspects across the entire project lifecycle.
• Maintain project plans to ensure ongoing monitoring of project progress, proactive identification of issues and implementation of action plans to resolve issues promptly.
• Liaise with the relevant internal stakeholders during the operational cycle of projects to ensure necessary operational policies and procedures are being followed and suggestions for improvements are implemented.
• Review disbursement requests and advise on clearance to ensure timely resolution of procurement and other related issues.

Closure and Review
• Contribute to the development of project completion reports, on completion of each project, ensuring that all elements of the project charter have been incorporated in the report.
• Provide inputs to the relevant internal stakeholders ensuring that the problems and issues faced, remedial actions taken, and the lessons learned are well documented for reference in the future projects.
• Provide necessary inputs to the relevant internal stakeholders, at the end of the project portfolio cycle, to ensure that the portfolio development effectiveness objectives have been achieved.

Strategic and Operational Planning
• Play a key role in the development and effective implementation of Resource Mobilization strategy to achieve financial sustainability of the Center.
• Contribute to the annual work plans and budget formulation of the Center.
• Contribute to the development of the Center’s KPIs.
• Assist in the development and implementation of the Center’s Mandate and initiatives to raise awareness and increase visibility of partnership and interagency coordination work both internally and externally.

Stakeholders’ relationship management
• Supervise and coordinate the relationships with the external stakeholders such as partners, sponsors and investors to ensure timely and proactive coordination, monitoring and facilitation of the Institute.
• Provide technical support to the Institute to develop new and innovative partnerships, sponsorships and engage investors.
• Coordinate with other teams to develop and plan for the partnership building work at the function level.
• Act as direct entry point for donors, Investors, Sponsors and build institutional relationships.
• Develop and implement a system and measurable metrices to gauge the satisfaction level of the stakeholders.

Academic and Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a suitable field related to Economics, Finance, Business, Statistics and/or Law.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in Islamic financial sector development of which 3 years should be in a multilateral development bank and/or related international organizations (e.g. IMF, IFSB, AAOIFI, etc.).

Skills & Necessary Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge in Islamic Finance, product development and Shari’ah knowledge.
• Advanced understanding of Islamic financial market infrastructure and prerequisites for enabling environment.
• Proficient Knowledge of Research Methodology.
• Effective Project management skills
• Ability to work independently in a high-performance team atmosphere.
• Accurate and methodical.

Languages

• English - Mandatory
• Arabic - Preferred
• French - Preferred