International Consultant - Access to Finance Cross-Portfolio Coordination

Result of Service

The consultant is expected to maintain a weekly activity log tracking time and deliverables per project. The consultant will deliver the following outputs over the six-month period: Output 1 (by 31 July 2026): • WLBs access to finance Pipeline Mapping Tool populated with initial data across all active projects and WLBs classified by readiness tier and business size. • At least three introductory meetings or calls held with a priority financial institution partner. • First engagement report submitted covering pipeline mapping status, financial institution outreach, and activity log. Output 2 (by 31 August 2026): • Gender-disaggregated WLB data package submitted to the STFF team to inform country ecosystem assessments. • Partnership outreach materials finalised for at least two priority financial institution partners. • At least one formal partnership meeting held with a financial institution. Output 3 (by 30 September 2026): • At least two financial institution partnership concept notes drafted and submitted for internal approval. • Standardised selection criteria and intervention decision tools for the access to finance project design drafted. Output 4 (by 31 October 2026): • WLB pipeline mapping updated following STFF country field visits (June–August); new WLBs classified and added to the register. • All active financial institution and investor partnership leads followed up and next steps documented with clear timeline. • Background materials and talking points prepared and used for at least one scheduled bilateral financial institution discussion. Output 5 (by 30 November 2026): • At least three financial institution partnerships formalised or in advanced discussion; partnership tracker updated. • At least one additional concept note or partnership framework developed. Output 6 — Final (by 31 December 2026): • Final implementation report covering achievements, partnerships secured, matchmaking outcomes, training sessions delivered, concept notes developed, and recommendations. • Final WLB Access to Finance Pipeline Mapping Tool (consolidated, handover-ready). • Final financial institution and investor partnership pipeline tracker. • Consolidated repository of tools, templates, use cases, and guidance developed during the consultancy.

Work Location

home-based

Expected duration

01.07.26 - 31.12.26

Duties and Responsibilities

The International Trade Centre (ITC) is a joint agency of the United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO), based in Geneva. ITC's mission is to enable small business export success in developing and transition-economy countries by providing sustainable and inclusive development solutions to the private sector, trade support institutions, and policymakers. ITC's work on access to finance has grown significantly, with recognition from member states and partners of the need to provide concrete solutions to the financing gap that SMEs, and in particular, women-led businesses (WLBs), continue to face. In line with ITC's Strategic Plan 2026–2030 and its growing access to finance agenda, ITC works to ensure that women entrepreneurs can access the financial resources needed to grow, upgrade in value chains, and compete internationally. Within the SheTrades Initiative, access to finance has been established as a priority area. The 2026 effort is anchored around three flagship projects — SheTrades, the SME Trade Finance Facility (STFF), and the WEIDE Fund — and extends across a wider portfolio of programmes that carry access to finance components or pipeline entry points requiring coordination and activation. In this context, ITC seeks to engage an international consultant for access to finance cross-portfolio coordination. The primary objective of the consultancy is to establish a coordinated and scalable access-to-finance ecosystem across ITC's women entrepreneurship portfolio, ensuring that women-led businesses are systematically identified, profiled, connected to appropriate financial instruments, and supported through partnerships with financial institutions and investors. DESCRIPTION OF RESPONSIBILITIES Under the supervision of the Head, SheTrades Initiative, DSIT/WYVC, the responsibilities of the consultant consist of the following: 1. WLB Pipeline Mapping and Classification • Lead and consolidate WLB access to finance pipeline mapping and profiling exercise across all active projects, classifying WLBs by readiness tier, and matching WLBs to the appropriate instrument and channel by business size. • Maintain and update the WLB Access to Finance Pipeline Mapping Tool as a living register across the SheTrades Initiative, STFF, the WEIDE Fund, MARKUP II, TRANSFORM, Uganda Creative Economy Programme, READY Salone, ECoWYERT, and ACP business-friendly, as well as additional projects confirmed through the mapping exercise. • Develop a WLB Dealbook that consolidates the profiles and investment asks of Tier 1 and 2 businesses. The Dealbook will be developed for digital and print use. • Provide gender disaggregated WLB data from the pipeline to the STFF team to inform country ecosystem assessments. 2. Financial Institution Partnerships • Support the implementation and scale up of the Gender Lens Toolkit, a gender strategy, and staff training tool for FIs designed to improve their capacity to serve WLBs. • Identify and profile at least 5 gender lens capital providers across each continent of ITC’s operations • Initiate and foster partnerships with identified gender lens capital providers. • Develop and maintain an updated FI database for WLB, documenting financial products available for women, engagement status and next steps for each lead. 3. Cross-Portfolio Coordination and Strategy Implementation • Serve as the SheTrades access to finance focal point ensuring alignment, avoiding duplication, and identifying synergies. • Liaise with relevant ITC teams to ensure alignment between WLB access to finance initiatives and broader trade competitiveness, enterprise development, and market systems objectives. • Lead the implementation of access to finance activities for WLBs across relevant ITC projects • Support the preparation of internal reports, briefings, and updates on access to finance strategy implementation progress for SheTrades management and project teams. 4. Tools, Templates, and Knowledge Management • Consolidate results and insights from ongoing access to finance programmes across ITC projects. • Develop a learning agenda and data collection tools to be used by teams in gathering data on WLB opportunities and challenges in accessing finance. Convert data into insights and possible knowledge products for public use. • Maintain a consolidated repository of tools, templates, and guidance, and prepare a final handover note with recommended next steps. • An engagement report and activity log shall be submitted at the end of each output period throughout the consultancy. Copyright Clause: The consultant must secure all necessary intellectual property rights and permissions required to perform their services and enable ITC's unrestricted dissemination of the work. Documented proof of these rights must be submitted to ITC, and the consultant must obtain prior written approval before incurring any third-party copyright or licensing fees. ITC champions workforce diversity, inclusion, and gender parity, ensuring equal consideration for all qualified individuals. All candidates, including persons with disabilities, are evaluated fairly without discrimination or prejudice of any kind.

Qualifications/special skills

• Advanced university degree (Master's or equivalent) in finance, business administration, economics, development studies, or a related field is required. • A first-level university degree in combination with an additional seven years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree. • A minimum of five years of experience in banking, impact finance, or development finance is required. • Experience designing, structuring, and implementing access to finance interventions for SMEs in developing countries is required. • Experience working on gender-lens investment or women's financial inclusion programmes is required. • Experience developing partnerships with financial institutions in the public or private sector, including commercial banks, development finance institutions, impact investors, or guarantee providers, is required. Skills: • Strong self-organisation and planning, ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams across different teams. • Excellent written and oral communication, ability to translate complex financial and strategic content into clear, audience-appropriate materials. • Strong analytical skills: capacity to understand, assess, and summarise financial, business, and regulatory information. • Collaborative working style, comfortable operating in a coordination role without direct authority over project teams.

Languages

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required. • Working knowledge of French is a strong asset, given the geographic scope of the portfolio (West and Central Africa, Caribbean).

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.