Innovative Finance Manager

Position Overview

About Rare 

Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive. For 50 years, across 60 countries, we have inspired and empowered millions of people and their communities to shift their behaviors and practices to protect our shared planet. We are a global leader in driving social change for people and nature and believe that the cumulative power of individual and community action is a vital pathway to safeguarding and restoring our shared waters, lands, and climate.  Rare’s organizational culture is results-oriented, and entrepreneurial, and our global programs cover the thematic areas of climate change, fisheries and marine conservation, sustainable agriculture food security, and Green Recovery.   

Rare Brazil is a Brazilian non-profit established in 2014 under an Affiliate Agreement with Rare Inc. Rare's behavior adoption campaigns have reached +6,000 small-scale fishers and +12,000 community members across 77 communities in 8 states. Since 2019, Rare Brazil has concentrated efforts in Pará, working with local, state, and national partners to strengthen coastal fisheries governance through three pillars: (1) community-based fisheries management; (2) access to citizenship rights and public policies for artisanal marine-coastal fishers; and (3) financial inclusion and fair markets. The organization operates in 12 coastal municipalities within Marine Extractive Reserves (Resex), reaching +28,000 people, including +960 women and +70 youth. 

Project Overview   

Rare's Innovative Finance (IF) Team develops and scales financial solutions that mobilize capital for conservation and sustainable development. Working with governments, investors, insurers, philanthropies, and local communities, the team designs innovative financial mechanisms, including impact bonds, blended finance vehicles, parametric insurance products, and outcome-based financing models, that improve livelihoods while protecting nature.   

Through Innovative Finance, Rare aims to unlock public, philanthropic, and private capital to sustain community-led conservation and de-risk investment in coastal ecosystems. For this mandate, the program focuses on: 

• Designing and structuring outcome-based finance instruments (for example, impact bonds or similar results-based mechanisms) that channel capital to community-led mangrove conservation and resilience on the Brazilian coast. 

• Adoption of nature-based and behavior-driven finance strategies to aid in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, reinforcing the management of community-based resources and ecosystems 

• Structuring blended capital (public, philanthropic, and private) within Brazilian and international regulatory frameworks, overcoming the institutional and market barriers that currently limit the flow of finance into coastal conservation. 

• Aligning outcome metrics, monitoring, and verification with Brazil's existing environmental monitoring systems (for example, ICMBio's MONITORA program) and with community governance arrangements grounded in free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) 

The Manager will lead the project for the design and structuring of an outcome-based finance (OBF) mechanism for mangrove protection on the Brazilian coast. Working alongside the Rare Brazil team and specialized external partners (a technical and financial design firm and international and Brazilian legal counsel), the Manager will coordinate the development of the intervention model, outcomes framework, monitoring and verification architecture, financial and capital structure, and the legal and regulatory pathway required to bring the mechanism to capitalization.   

Position Overview 

The Innovative Finance Manager will report to the Brazil VP, and to the Innovative Finance Director for Latin America, this position provides support to the Innovative Finance programs in Brazil. This is a full-time position based in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, or Belem; Brazil and will require regular domestic field travel to coastal mangrove communities, as well as occasional international travel. The ideal candidate is highly organized, proactive, intellectually curious, and enjoys anticipating needs before they arise. They thrive in dynamic environments, are comfortable managing multiple priorities simultaneously, and enjoy connecting information across projects, partners, and teams to improve decision-making and organizational effectiveness. 

Essential Functions  

1. Program Management (50%).  

Report to the Brazilian VP and support the IF Director for Latin America and IF Director for Blue Carbon to ensure all projects are delivered on time, within scope and within budget, aligned with the country priorities. IF Directors provide technical direction and ensure alignment with the global Innovative Finance program. 

Supporting the design of financial instruments to drive capital towards community-led mangrove conservation, and community resilience  

Regularly updating Brazil, Innovative Finance teams and leaderships ensuring alignment between teams and with the broader organizational strategy.  

Preparing and managing workplans, contracts, and sub-agreements regarding the IF scope. 

Collaborating with the Rare Brazil team, external consultants, and partners to implement project initiatives, including feasibility studies, landscape analyses, sector formalization, and enhancing access to social protection for local communities. 

Ensuring compliance with donor reporting requirements and timelines, including the preparation of progress and financial reports, and monitoring project risks to adapt plans as necessary 

Traveling to local communities to build and maintain relationships with local governments, MSME owners, and coastal community members, fostering strong partnerships that support the implementation of the program’s goals 

Facilitating capacity-building efforts within local communities to enhance resilience and ensure long-term sustainability of the financial initiatives. 

Coordinate specialized external partners, including the technical and financial design partner and the international and Brazilian legal counsel, integrating their outputs into one coherent mechanism. 

Prepare and manage workplans, contracts, and sub-agreements, and maintain the project schedule, risk log, and mitigation plans. 

Ensure compliance with funder reporting requirements and timelines, including progress and financial reports, and adapt plans as risks emerge. 

2. Stakeholder Engagement (10%).  

In collaboration with the Rare Brazil Team, work closely with relevant local and national government agencies and support the convening of high-level working group meetings between relevant government agencies and Rare. 

Explore and support collaborative opportunities with relevant partners, i.e., development finance institutions, multilateral banks, and international organizations.  

Analyze legal and policy frameworks to identify opportunities for innovative finance and strategically tap into existing pools of capital.  

 3. Community Engagement and Site Selection (10%).  

Lead community consultations and workshops with coastal and traditional communities, ensuring FPIC processes are properly conducted, documented, and reflected in the mechanism's design. 

Coordinate the selection of two to four candidate mangrove geographies based on governance readiness, FPIC conditions, and implementation feasibility, and secure the required community agreements. 

Facilitate capacity-building with local communities and ecosystem management groups to support the long-term sustainability of the mechanism.  

4. Government Engagement (10%) 

In collaboration with the Rare Brazil team, engage relevant government agencies (for example, ICMBio, state environmental secretariats such as SEMA/AP and SEMA/PA, SEPAQ, and MMA) and support high-level working group meetings. 

Align outcome indicators and verification processes with Brazil's monitoring systems, using and draw on Rare Brazil's network to identify and shortlist independent evaluators. 

Explore collaboration with development finance institutions, multilateral banks, environmental funds, and international organizations relevant to the mechanism 

 5. Fundraising Support (15%) 

Support the identification of fundraising opportunities for innovative finance solutions. 

Assist in the process of preparation and design of project concepts and full-fledged proposals.  

Support the identification of investors and outcome funders, both domestic and international. 

Contribute to investor-facing and outcome-funder-facing materials and proposals. 

6. Communications (5%) 

Promote internal and external communications with relevant audiences, establishing thought leadership in appropriate venues according to Rare Brazil process.  

Represent IF in speaking engagements or related workshops/events to promote IF projects and Rare as an organization aligned with Communications team of Rare Brazil.   

Experience & Education  

The successful candidate will be highly organized, proactive, and comfortable working in a fast-paced international environment with multiple competing priorities. They will possess exceptional judgment, attention to detail, and interpersonal skills, while demonstrating the initiative to solve problems independently and continuously improve how work gets done. 

Required Qualifications 

• Fluent in Portuguese and professionally fluent in English – both written and oral.  

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field required such as economics, finance, or banking, law. Master’s degree preferred  

• Experience in development finance, international or government relations, and engagements with bilateral, multilateral, and international organizations, with a strong background in finance or economics 

• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills and the ability to effectively communicate across all levels within a culturally diverse organization;  

• Experience working with multilateral, development and finance institutions  

• Understanding of Brazil legal systems, policies and regulations relevant to investment and finance. 

• Excellent organizational capacity in managing tasks, people, and government relationships. 

• Excellent ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team with proven success in being able to thrive in a fast paced, high expectation, project environment. 

• Working knowledge on conservation issues and working with relevant government and NGO agencies  

• Experience in solving problems and ability to apply conflict resolution and negotiation techniques to achieve results. 

• Network development and alliance-building skills to collaborate across boundaries and build consensus. Ability to self-manage, balance competing priorities, and allocate time effectively to complete work. 

• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate across a culturally diverse, multi-time zone organization. 

Preferred qualifications:  

• Understanding of Brazilian legal and regulatory frameworks relevant to environmental and climate finance and financial structuring, including familiarity with the regulated carbon market (Law 15.042/2024) and blended finance vehicles. 

• Familiarity with biodiversity monitoring and MRV frameworks (Measurement or Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification), such as ICMBio's MONITORA program, and with outcome measurement is a plus. 

• Familiarity with Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes and experience working with traditional, artisanal, or coastal communities, preferably on the Amazon Coast. 

• Strong project management skills, ideally aligned with recognized standards such as PMI/PMBOK 

Rare is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic.