Catalytic Finance Specialist (India)

Job Highlight

Support the scoping of ecosystem enablers, key stakeholders and partners in the financing and investment ecosystem for menstrual health for providing catalytic financing (see overview below) including gaps and needs for enhancement in India

In collaboration with the technical team, support the identification and development of approaches for catalysing pipeline targets with identified partners

The role will support the scoping of key ecosystem enablers, stakeholders and partners within the menstrual health financing and investment ecosystem in India. It will also support the identification of gaps, needs and approaches to catalyse a pipeline of investment opportunities with selected partners.

About The Project Office

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) is a global fund dedicated to achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation, hygiene and menstrual health for all, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. Capital M is SHF’s global initiative to build and strengthen the menstrual health (MH) market, fostering sustainable, market-based solutions that provide access to safe, quality, affordable menstrual products and empower women and girls across low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). By doing this, SHF contributes to a wide range of SDGs related to education, health, gender equality, the environment and economic growth.

To achieve this, SHF works with national and local governments, the private sector, investors and financiers and other market stakeholders to improve the enabling environment, strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and facilitate access to finance to bring market-based approaches to scale. For a market segment that falls within women’s health and -hygiene, improving access to finance is critical. Enterprises in this space are structurally underfunded, posing a significant barrier to scale. SHF’s presence is critical to bridge the financing and investment gap, working with partners to showcase the market potential, derisk financing and investment in MH enterprises and connect public and private funders, financiers and investors to a growing pipeline of investable opportunities.

Our approach supports an Africa-led ecosystem for access to finance and investment, where we collaborate with existing public and private funders, financiers and investors, connecting them to enterprises with novel technologies and business models. We focus on enterprises with the potential to scale product categories’ availability at national and regional level, supporting efforts to maximize efficiency and minimise costs for low-income users by leveraging economies of scale. This ultimately contributes to structurally improving market access and significantly reducing environmental impacts. To achieve this, we believe there is an important role for south-to-south knowledge transfer and investment to accelerate market development.

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) is a project of UNOPS.

About The Group

From Geneva, UNOPS facilitates the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners by providing quality servces, integrated solutions and management support through strategic, cost-effective and results-oriented approches. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade. UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range of global initiatives, as well as operational support to partner organizations.

Role Purpose

Reporting to the MH Markets Specialist, and working closely with the wider team, the role will support SHF’s Capital M initiative and its goal of advancing country pipeline opportunities for catalytic financing in the menstrual health (MH) market by identifying and analysing high-impact enterprises and strategic partners to unlock additional investment.

The role of the Catalytic Finance Specialist will be to assist the SHF technical team with scoping of potential pipeline opportunities/targets and partners for catalytic financing in India by drawing on relevant experience in the private sector, impact investing and/or development finance space.

The Catalytic Finance Specialist will help map out key private sector players, potential SHF/Capital M partners, investors and other relevant organisations in the market. The role also includes meeting with enterprises and potential partners to explore opportunities, understand challenges and assess financing needs - supporting strategy and efforts to unlock more investment through catalytic finance.

The role will support Capital M to identify, assess and advance catalytic financing opportunities for market-based menstrual health solutions.

Functions / Key Results Expected

Market and pipeline assessment

Identify and assess enterprises, financial institutions, investors and strategic partners that could support catalytic financing for market-based menstrual health solutions in India.Assess enterprises across the menstrual health value chain, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers and e-commerce platforms.Leveraging on-going market landscaping work, review their development stage, geographic presence, business model, market position, financial performance, fundraising status, financing needs and investment readiness, subject to data availability.Identify relevant incubation and acceleration programmes supporting menstrual health enterprises.

Financing ecosystem mapping

Map local financial institutions and intermediaries that provide, or could provide, local-currency financing for menstrual health enterprises.Identify relevant blended finance funds, impact investors, development finance institutions and other financing partners.Assess their mandates, investment criteria, financing instruments, sector priorities and alignment with Capital M.

Pipeline analysis and prioritisation

Develop and apply criteria to screen and prioritise direct and indirect pipeline opportunities, including enterprises, financial institutions and investment vehicles.Assess opportunities based on their potential impact, feasibility, scalability, financing needs and alignment with SHF objectives.Recommend priority opportunities for technical assistance, catalytic financing, partnership development or further assessment.Support the development of suitable catalytic financing instruments, structures and partnership models.

Stakeholder engagement and partnerships

Contribute market intelligence and technical content to Capital M’s engagement strategy.Build and maintain relationships with potential Capital M partners and pipeline opportunities.Prepare technical briefs, presentations, assessment profiles and other agreed outputs.Represent SHF at selected meetings, conferences and sector events, as agreed with the technical team.

Key Deliverables

The detailed work packages and timelines will be agreed during onboarding. Key deliverables include but may not be limited to the following:

Desk Review & Inception Report: A baseline synthesis of existing SHF work and tools including the MH Market Maturity Assessment Tool and the India MH Market Landscaping, setting out the agreed methodology, activities, timelines, and expected outputs.Financing Ecosystem Map: A detailed mapping report analyzing the financing needs of enterprises across the MH value chain (manufacturers, distributors, retailers, e-commerce platforms), the identification of enterprise support programmes (e.g. incubators / accelerators, along with local-currency financial institutions, blended finance funds, impact investors, and DFIs who are or could potentially finance MH enterprises. and the factors that inhibit financing actors from engaging in the MH market.Prioritised Pipeline Database & Screening Tool: Using SHFs MH pipeline database, regularly evaluate and update the direct/indirect pipeline opportunities (enterprises, financial institutions, investment vehicles) on impact, feasibility, scalability, fundraising status, investment readiness, and financing needs.Strategic & Catalytic Financing Recommendations: A comprehensive final report outlining the current challenges and opportunities in the financing ecosystem for the MH Market in India, , delivering recommendations and priority actions to consider for Capital M’s development of the MH Market strategy for India.

Required

Education Requirements

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in development finance, corporate finance, economics, business administration or a related fieldA Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline in combination with additional 2 years of relevant work experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree

Required

Experience Requirements

Minimum of 5 years work experience in the impact investing / venture capital / development finance/corporate finance, fundraising for private sector entities or related areas in India is required.Experience in programme financing (related to development finance/impact investing in India) is required

Desired

Experience working in financing or investment for women’s health, menstrual health (MH), FMCG or related markets is desirable.Experience mapping and engaging local financial institutions, DFIs, impact investors, and enterprise accelerators, including drafting technical briefs, investment profiles, or strategic engagement materials.