latin america and the caribbean

Job Title: Regional Director – Latin America and Caribbean

Position: Whole Planet Foundation – Independent Contractor

Instructions:

Using the link below, interested candidates can upload their resume and initiate the remote interview as the first step in the application process. Please note: September 2, 2019 is the closing date for this post.

https://wholefoodsmarket.hirevue.com/signup/g5ndBwRj2W2MAWyU4tnwUj/

Team:                          Whole Planet Foundation (WPF)                                 

                                      Location: Major city in Latin America, TBD

                                

Summary:

Whole Planet Foundation (WPF) is a US 501c3 private foundation established by Whole Foods Market (WFM) in 2005.  WPF was born from the WFM core value, Caring About Our Communities and Our Environment, an idea of shared fate with WFM’s global communities.  The mission of WPF is to provide financial support to Microfinance Institutions (MFI) to alleviate poverty through expansion of microcredit services in communities that supply Whole Foods Market with product.  Partner MFIs deliver financial services that are tailored to the realities of the people living in poverty while maintaining efficient operations in a financially sustainable manner.

  • Visit wholeplanetfoundation.org
  • WPF was created and is funded by Whole Foods Market with the mission of supporting microcredit in the around the world where WFM sources products
  • WPF’s first microfinance projects were launched in 2005 in partnership with Dr. Yunus and Grameen Trust
  • WPF fundraises to provide exclusively no cost capital to best practice MFIs around the world, specifically those targeting entry-level clients and the very poor, helping these institutions to expand their reach.
  • WPF currently supports microfinance projects in 77 countries globally and 18 countries in Latin America & the Caribbean with plans to expand further in the region.

The Regional Director for LAC will create a pipeline for potential new projects, conduct due diligence for new partnerships and oversee M&E for the existing portfolio of projects. Additionally, the successful candidate will be assisting the Global Program team with improved monitoring of advances, changes and challenges in the micro-credit and social enterprise sectors as part of the Foundation’s global learning efforts. It is imperative that this person have significant experience working in rural Latin America with an understanding of the reality facing the poor – particularly in relation to rural business and economic systems.  Knowledge of microfinance and an ability to independently represent the Foundation in project countries will be important.

The ability to speak Spanish fluently (FSI 4.0 or better) is imperative to being successful in this position.

The successful candidate must have a passion for supporting local development through micro-credit and other social enterprises that enable the poor to start and grow their own businesses on a large scale, creating new and increased sources of income locally to support their needs and the needs of their dependents. This requires significant experience assessing and understanding this sector, evaluating the financial viability of partners the Foundation works with and monitoring the effectiveness of the Foundation’s partners in offering pro-poor social finance and enterprise support services.

As well, extensive regional travel around 50% will be required in order to visit all active partners annually, as security and logistics permit.  This will typically be independent self-led travel to conduct due diligence with local microfinance organizations the Foundation has provided loan capital to or considering partnering with.

This is not a Whole Foods Market position.  This person will be hired as an independent contractor and responsible for settling in the region, obtaining all work permits, paying taxes, and any other aspect of working abroad.

Although this position will be hired as an Independent Contractor, this position will need to be filled as long as WPF continues to operate in this project area.

Job Objectives:

  1. Assist Whole Planet Foundation to expand and oversee the portfolio of microfinance projects in LAC region
  2. Build and maintain relationships with Foundation microfinance partners in the region, keeping the management team informed of project progress.
  3. Tell the story of Microfinance Institutions (MFI), clients, and the realities of poverty through various mediums including photography, blogs and documentation of individual microcredit clients. Entrepreneurs

Job Activities and Responsibilities:

  1. Project Management (60%)–
    1. Conduct desk due diligence of potential MFIs that may qualify as a partner through desk due diligence and other forms of remote research.
    2. Develop project proposals for WPF Board of Director’s approval.
    3. Manage funding, reporting and monitoring requirements for a portfolio of currently funded projects across the LAC region, this will include remote tracking of funding and quarterly outreach metrics as well annual on-site visits to partner MFIs resulting in substantive recommendations and feedback to partners and the Foundation management team.
    4. Assess MFIs abilities to grow loan portfolios in an efficient and sustainable manner to maximize Foundation support and impact
    5. Analyze MFIs approach and objectives to delivering microfinance services to the poor
  1. Global Learning Support (10%)– Improve processes for collecting and disseminating to the Program Team vital information on advances, changes and challenges facing the global financial inclusion and social enterprise sectors, particularly in WPF active countries, through desk research, networking and engagement with field implementation partners. Help leverage WPF field visits generally with this research and information.
  2. Outreach and Media (15%)– Coordinate and carry out the strategy for outreach, media and guided site visits by Whole Planet Foundation representatives and stakeholders for the project portfolio.
  3. Project Logistics (15%)– The position will require independent management of all living, travel and communication logistics required to carry out the job. Travel to countries where the Foundation has partners will often require advance logistical planning for the successful execution of site visits and evaluations

Work Environment

  1. Work location is based out of a regional flight hub, like Mexico City, or Bogota but the Foundation is flexible to a preferred base station, as the post requires extensive travel throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
  2. Most of the work will be carried out independently at home or on assignment in project countries. Meetings will often be conducted via skype or other remote means. However, in-person meet-ups with management will be organized throughout the year.
  3. Position involves exposure to conditions found in the developing-world and requires complete immunization as recommended by the CDC.
  4. Additional job demands include a wide-range of adaptability to move between extreme poverty and professional environments 

Other Requirements – Education / specific degree / special skills:

  1. Bachelor’s degree in international development, business, economics or related studies.
  2. Fully fluent in English and Spanish. Portuguese is a plus.
  3. At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in a relevant position, including minimum 2 years of experience working in a grassroots/community-based position in LAC. Experience managing a regional portfolio a plus.
  4. Experience with business systems and rural economies in developing countries, with a proven interest in microfinance. Experience with grassroots financial services, impact investment and social enterprise development a plus.
  5. Experience with producing basic media content for a wide audience, including social media, high quality photo/video, etc.
  6. Understanding of financial statements and basic accounting
  7. Strong analytical skills to assess potential MFI partners
  8. Ability to interview MFI clients in the field
  9. Strong writing skills.
  10. Self-learner and independent worker

Instructions:

Using the link below, interested candidates can upload their resume and initiate the remote interview as the first step in the application process. Please note: September 2, 2019 is the closing date for this post.

https://wholefoodsmarket.hirevue.com/signup/g5ndBwRj2W2MAWyU4tnwUj/