Principal Consultant - Climate Finance & Agricultural Risk Management

About the role

SkyQuest Technology Consulting is recruiting an experienced climate-finance specialist for a 24-month technical assistance programme supporting a national agricultural development finance institution in Nigeria. You will lead the climate-finance and credit-integration workstream, combining climate-fund readiness and funding proposal development with the integration of climate considerations into credit appraisal, portfolio monitoring, risk management and agricultural financial products. The role is based in India with extended travel to Nigeria.

Key responsibilities

• Assess the Institution's climate-finance readiness and identify priority institutional improvements.
• Develop a climate-finance strategy and a pipeline of funding opportunities aligned with the Institution's agricultural-finance priorities.
• Prepare funding proposals and support accreditation or engagement with multilateral climate funds and development-finance partners.
• Design climate-smart and adaptation-focused financial products for smallholder-oriented agricultural value chains.
• Integrate climate-risk screening, assessment and monitoring into credit appraisal, risk management and portfolio processes.
• Strengthen environmental and social safeguards and climate-related reporting standards.
• Work with credit, risk and technology specialists to embed climate data and risk-assessment tools into institutional processes.
• Pilot and refine frameworks, train Institution teams and facilitate the transfer of ownership to designated counterparts.

Required profile

• Master's degree in Climate Finance, Environmental Economics, Development Finance, Agricultural Economics or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in climate finance, sustainable finance or climate-risk management, including within or alongside banks or DFIs.
• Demonstrated experience preparing funding proposals or supporting accreditation for multilateral climate funds such as the GCF, GEF or Adaptation Fund.
• Hands-on experience integrating climate risk into credit appraisal, risk management or portfolio monitoring.
• Strong understanding of environmental and social safeguards and climate-related reporting standards.
• Desirable: experience in climate-smart agriculture, agricultural adaptation or index-based insurance in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria; familiarity with climate data, geospatial analysis and climate-risk modelling; experience on development-partner-funded programmes.