Overview
The role supports the design, development, and piloting of irrigation finance options and optimizes centralized irrigation in investments. It aims to facilitate knowledge exchange, innovation, and translate global knowledge into operational practice.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the design, development, and piloting of irrigation finance options for privately led irrigation and optimizing centralized irrigation.
- Guide development of blended finance models to catalyze private investment and address affordability for smallholders.
- Provide expertise in FLID approaches, including asset ownership and Irrigation-as-a-Service models, farmer segmentation, and market analysis.
- Support the design of incentive structures, eligibility criteria, and capacity-building programs to enable smallholder adoption of certified irrigation equipment and practices.
- Lead development and implementation of irrigation-related results-based financing mechanisms.
- Work across the World Bank Group to advise on structuring blended finance instruments, guarantee facilities, and repurposing subsidies.
- Oversee integration of digital tools for farmer targeting, advisory services, monitoring, and risk mitigation.
- Support institutional capacity building for government counterparts to manage results-based financing and farmer-led irrigation development programs.
- Support policy dialogue, regulatory reform, and stakeholder engagement to strengthen enabling environments for irrigation finance and service delivery.
Required Experience
Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in irrigation operations, management, policy development, and service delivery. Demonstrated expertise in irrigation system design, institutional strengthening, and high-quality service delivery to smallholders farmers. Strong understanding of digital platforms, data analytics, and advisory for smallholder agriculture. Proven track record in institutional capacity building, policy dialogue, stakeholder engagement, and partnership development across public and private actors. Demonstrated experience working across at least two regions, or a combination of regional, global, and corporate assignments in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment. Substantial experience in Africa preferred.
Qualifications
Master’s degree (or higher) in agricultural engineering, irrigation engineering, public policy, water resources engineering, or a closely related field.
