Lead Expert (Insurance and Risk Finance) – Costa Rica

Aninver Development Partners SL (www.aninver.com) is looking for a Lead Expert (Insurance and Risk Finance) for a environment consultancy assignment financed by UNDP in Costa Rica.

Aninver Development Partners is currently preparing a proposal for an upcoming environmental consultancy initiative funded by the UNDP in Costa Rica. The overarching program aims to develop and scale integrated financial solutions that support the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of forest landscapes and agroforestry livelihoods by bridging structural gaps in green financing and risk transfer mechanisms.

We are seeking a qualified Lead Expert in Insurance and Risk Finance to spearhead the country-level diagnostic of risk exposure, insurance market readiness, institutional capacity, and enabling conditions. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in shaping risk transfer solutions, conducting regulatory assessments, and designing strategic roadmaps to integrate insurance into the broader sustainable finance architecture in the country.

Aninver is preparing a proposal for this assignment. The selected expert will be part of the proposed team; the engagement is conditional on the contract being awarded to Aninver. The full Terms of Reference for the position are shared with shortlisted candidates.

Objectives of the assignment

• Assess current risk exposure, climate vulnerability, and resilience capacities of forest conservation efforts and agroforestry-based livelihoods.
• Evaluate insurance market readiness, penetration, product offerings, distribution systems, regulatory frameworks, and institutional arrangements in Costa Rica.
• Identify critical gaps and synergies between existing public financial incentives and private risk transfer mechanisms.
• Formulate a comprehensive strategic pathway and action plan outlining priority actions, implementation milestones, and indicative investment needs.
• Facilitate multi-stakeholder consultations, interviews, and validation workshops with relevant public and private sector partners.

Scope of work

• Conduct a thorough desk review of existing environmental policies, forest governance frameworks, climate risk profiles, and financial architectures.
• Map baseline risk exposure for forest landscapes, smallholder agroforestry systems, and micro, small, and medium enterprises.
• Evaluate the readiness and capacity of local insurance and reinsurance markets to support forest conservation and agroforestry resilience.
• Analyse current insurance product offerings, inclusive insurance models, distribution channels, and regulatory and supervisory frameworks.
• Design a conceptual framework integrating insurance and risk transfer solutions with existing financial mechanisms such as green credit and public incentives.
• Formulate a multi-year strategic roadmap detailing priority interventions, technical assistance needs, and indicative investments.
• Execute field missions to engage key stakeholders, conduct interviews, and host national validation workshops.
• Synthesize diagnostic findings into comprehensive country reports and contribute to regional synthesis documents.

Your role as Lead Expert (Insurance and Risk Finance)

• Lead the overall design and execution of the insurance market and regulatory diagnostics in Costa Rica.
• Oversee the assessment of current risk exposure, vulnerability, and resilience capacities related to forest and agroforestry ecosystems.
• Evaluate local insurance and reinsurance market readiness, product availability, and regulatory frameworks.
• Lead the development of the conceptual framework integrating risk transfer mechanisms with broader financial architectures.
• Draft the comprehensive strategic roadmap and action plan outlining priority interventions and technical assistance needs.
• Coordinate field missions and lead multi-stakeholder consultations and validation workshops with key public and private entities.
• Collaborate closely with team members, the donor, and local stakeholders to ensure high-quality, timely deliverables.
• Deliver comprehensive country diagnostic reports and contribute to synthesis deliverables.

Requirements

• Education: Master's degree (or equivalent) in international affairs, insurance, actuarial science, finance, economics, risk management, or another relevant discipline
• Languages: Proficiency in both English and Spanish is required

Desirable

• Minimum 10 years of professional experience in inclusive finance preferably insurance and risk finance, including insurance market research, regulatory and institutional assessments, and insurance ecosystem development
• Previous professional experience working on UNDP or similar international donor-funded environmental and sustainable finance initiatives in Latin America.
• Familiarity with parametric insurance and climate risk insurance products tailored for agricultural or forestry value chains.

An experienced insurance and risk finance professional with a strong background in regulatory assessments, inclusive finance, and climate risk solutions, fully fluent in both English and Spanish.

Assignment details

• Location: Costa Rica
• Financed by: UNDP
• Sector: Environment
• Estimated duration: 5 months
• Contract: individual consultancy (conditional on award)

About Aninver Development Partners

Aninver is an international development consulting firm headquartered in Spain. It supports governments, development banks, UN agencies and bilateral donors with feasibility studies, technical assistance, evaluations and capacity building across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Asia-Pacific, working with a network of international and national experts.

Why apply

• Join a multidisciplinary team on a UNDP-financed project in Costa Rica.
• Individual consultancy: flexible, output-based engagement with an experienced proposal team.
• Your CV stays in Aninver's expert network for future assignments that match your profile.

How to apply

Sign in (or create a free account) and upload your CV in English. Add your LinkedIn profile, indicative daily rate and availability to speed up the assessment. Aninver will contact the shortlisted candidates.

Frequently asked questions

Is the position confirmed? The engagement depends on the contract being awarded to Aninver. Shortlisted experts are included in the proposal with their consent.

Can I apply if I am not based in the country? Yes, unless the requirements say otherwise; relevant regional experience is an asset.

What happens with my CV? It is used to assess your fit for this and future positions and is not shared with third parties without your consent.