Loan/Grant Officer – Lebanon

Loan/Grant Officer – Lebanon

Corus International is seeking a Loan/Grant Officer to implement a forthcoming project focused on women entrepreneurs in Lebanon.  The position will be based in Beirut, for which Lutheran World Relief (LWR) will have up to $450,000 to finance women entrepreneurs or enterprises owned by women and employing a significant number of women.  The key role of the Loan/Grant Officer will be to work with LWR partner Micro-Finance Institution (MFI) to assess, identify and evaluate the enterprises of women program participants to determine their eligibility and capacity to receive a loan and/or a grant to support their enterprises and help them grow and create jobs.  The Loan/Grant Officer will be responsible for liaising between the LWR program team and the MFI, following up on the loan portfolio in conjunction with the MFI, monitoring and reporting on the progress of the loan/grant component of the project.

DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:     

• Liaise with the MFI to identify and evaluate potential women entrepreneurs and businesses employing women for financing, including assessing their businesses in terms of product, market, cash flow, uniqueness, longevity, etc.  This will NOT consist of a checklist approach; the Loan/Grant/Loan officer will be expected to use the LWR business assessment and re-assessment tool and evaluate the businesses from a variety of angles, identifying strengths and opportunities, weaknesses and mitigating factors, capacity, competition, bottlenecks, etc.
• Coordinate with the LWR partner MFI on visiting the Women Program Participants at their enterprises, explaining to them the objectives of the program and the eligibility conditions to apply for a loan/grant to support their enterprises.
• Train other LWR team members when needed to conduct the re-assessment of enterprises and collect the information that is needed to discuss with the MFI the eligibility of the enterprise to receive a loan/grant from the MFI and/or LWR.
• Report to the Country Representative and coordinate with relevant teams and team members within the LWR Lebanon office to ensure that project objectives are met.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

The ideal candidate will be an entrepreneurial self-starter, adept at social networking and evaluating borrowers’ creditworthiness, businesses and character.  The candidate should be creative and have a keen eye for market opportunities.  Some background in banking will be useful, but not necessary.  Fluent English, ability to write reports containing factual and anecdotal impact information required. 

• A degree in finance or a relevant field from an accredited institution.

• A minimum of 5-8 years related experience.

Internal interactions:

Lebanon programs team and MFI team.

Interested applicants are requested submit an updated CV and cover letter by July 15, 2022 to jobslebanon@lwr.org with subject line “Loan/Grant Officer - Lebanon.”

Corus International Loan/Grant Officer implement project focused on women entrepreneurs in for which LWR will have up to $450,000 to finance women entrepreneurs or enterprises employing a significant number of women. Identify and evaluate potential medium-sized enterprise borrowers and/or grant recipients and develop strategies.