Project Coordinator, Financial Inclusion at Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with both governments and businesses, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver more nutritious food for all people. In particular, we aim to make healthier food choices more desirable, more available, and more affordable. GAIN’s mission is to advance nutrition outcomes by improving consumption of nutritious and safe food for all people, especially the most vulnerable to malnutrition.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Project Coordinator, Financial Inclusion

Location: Abuja
Job type: Full-time (Hybrid)
Travel required: 40%
Direct reports: 1 - 5

Overall Purpose

• The Project Coordinator, Financial Inclusion drives access to affordable and inclusive finance, credit, and digital payment systems for youth and women agribusiness under the programme.
• The role facilitates partnerships with banks, FinTechs, and insurers to design tailored financial products, credit guarantee, blended finance, de-risk youth lending, and promote financial literacy across cooperatives and MSMEs.
• By integrating savings, insurance, and digital payment systems within agrifood operations, the coordinator ensures that programme participants transition from subsistence to sustainable enterprise.
• The position directly links financial empowerment to dignified work creation, improving capital flow, resilience, and profitability within rural economies while advancing.

Tasks and Responsibilities
Project Coordination, Planning and Implementation:

• Coordinate planning and execute the Financial Inclusion component of the programme in alignment with programme goals, budgets, and quality standards.
• Facilitate the design and rollout of inclusive financial products (e.g., youth-friendly credit, input financing, micro-insurance, and digital savings platforms).
• Coordinate the delivery of financial literacy and business management training to cooperatives, MSMEs, and youth entrepreneurs.
• Support development of de-risking mechanisms such as credit guarantees or blended finance schemes in collaboration with financial institutions.
• Promote integration of digital payment solutions and mobile money into agricultural value chain transactions.
• Track access to finance indicators (loans disbursed, repayment rates, insurance uptake, savings group performance, etc.) through digital monitoring systems.
• Strengthen financial governance within youth cooperatives to improve transparency, accountability, and creditworthiness.

Stakeholder and Partnership Management:

• Build partnerships with commercial banks, microfinance institutions, fintech companies, and insurance providers to expand rural financial access.
• Engage Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), and state-level financial inclusion desks to align programme with national initiatives.
• Collaborate with private investors, impact funds, and development finance institutions to crowd-in capital for youth agribusinesses.
• Coordinate cross-learning sessions between financial partners, cooperatives, and other programme components (e.g., Processing, Marketing).
• Represent the Financial Inclusion component in multi-stakeholder platforms, donor meetings, and policy dialogues.

Resource and Financial Management:

• Support preparation of financial forecasts, activity budgets, and procurement plans for financial inclusion initiatives.
• Ensure transparent and compliant use of funds in line with GAIN and donor standards.
• Maintain a centralized database of financial service providers, products, and beneficiary access profiles.
• Contribute to preparation of donor and management reports, providing insights on financial inclusion outcomes and systemic shifts.

People and Team Management:

• Supervise Financial Inclusion Officers and cooperative support teams to ensure quality delivery of financial inclusion interventions.
• Mentor field teams and implementing partners on financial literacy, inclusion standards, and monitoring tools.
• Foster a culture of innovation, inclusion, and accountability within the financial inclusion workstream.

Monitoring, Learning, and Quality Assurance:

• Collaborate with the Programme Monitoring Improvement and Quality teams to track performance indicators related to access to finance, insurance coverage, digital transactions, and enterprise profitability.
• Facilitate impact assessments to document financial access barriers, gender gaps, and digital adoption trends.
• Support implementation of safeguarding and gender-responsive financial inclusion approaches. 
• Capture and share success stories, lessons learned, and models of scalable financial inclusion within the programme and partner networks.

Key Organisational Relationships

• Reports to the Technical Integration Manager.
• Close collaboration with the other projects and operational staff.
• Liaises regularly with GAIN Programmes and Knowledge Leadership teams.
• Government, Donors, NGOs, Private Sector, Academia and others

Requirements
Educational Qualification:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Economics, Banking, Agribusiness, Development Studies, or related field.
• Postgraduate qualification in Financial Inclusion, Development Finance, or Business Administration (desirable).

Experience:

• Experience in financial inclusion, microfinance, or agricultural finance programme implementation.
• Proven track record in partnership development with banks, fintechs, or insurers.
• Experience in youth or women economic empowerment initiatives is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with digital finance ecosystems and financial technology tools.
• Experience in financial inclusion platforms management e.g VSLAs, and Cooperatives
• Prior experience in donor-funded projects and financial reporting.

Competencies:

• Strong technical understanding of financial inclusion, agricultural finance, microfinance, and digital financial services.
• Clear and systematic thinking, demonstrating sound judgment, problem-solving ability, and creativity.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and influencing skills for engaging banks, MFIs, fintechs, insurers, and cooperatives.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to interpret financial data, enterprise performance, and digital transaction patterns.
• Solid understanding of gender, disability inclusion, and protection considerations within financial ecosystems and rural markets.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate partnerships, negotiate value propositions, and support product design with financial service providers.
• Strong training and facilitation skills for delivering financial literacy, loan management, and digital finance capacity-building sessions.
• Ability to adapt to dynamic field realities, provide practical solutions, and maintain programme objectives in challenging environments.
• Competence in working with diverse stakeholders including youth cooperatives, private sector actors, government institutions, and community groups.
• High computer literacy, particularly in Excel, MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and digital/mobile financial platforms.
• Commitment to principles of equity, diversity, safeguarding, and ethical programme delivery.

Other requirements:

• Must be willing and able to travel
• Fluent written and verbal English
• Knowledge of second language within GAIN’s regional offices (desirable)
• Proficiency in Excel, financial management tools, and digital finance platforms.

What GAIN Offers

• NGN 14,550,552 / Annum (Gross), depending on experience.
• Flexible working hours through hybrid working opportunities
• Friendly working environment
• Professional development opportunities
• The chance to make a lasting contribution to reducing global malnutrition

Application Closing Date
20th March, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note: Please note that job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, and the post-holder may be required to undertake other duties, which are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.