Position Overview
Position Summary
Women's World Banking is seeking a Senior Principal, Country Lead – Vietnam to establish and lead our presence in Vietnam. This is a new and entrepreneurial role: the first person to be based in-country, with a mandate to build WWB's reputation, deepen program impact, and generate the partnerships and funding needed to sustain and grow our work.
Vietnam represents a significant and underdeveloped market for women's economic opportunity. The country has a rapidly growing digital economy, a large and active informal MSME sector, and a financial system in transition — yet women-led enterprises and low-income women workers remain systematically underserved by formal finance. This role exists to change that.
The Senior Principal will serve as WWB's primary representative in Vietnam: the lead advisor to financial services providers and partners, the lead voice with policy makers and regulators, and the lead relationship manager with funders and development finance institutions. Across all of these, the role carries genuine fundraising responsibility — this is not a delivery-only position but a business-building one.
The role sits within the SEA regional team and carries a regional dimension: the Senior Principal will contribute meaningfully to programs in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Cambodia, bringing a cross-market perspective and supporting regional knowledge synthesis, product development, and advisory engagements as relevant. Vietnam, however, is the primary geographic mandate. The Senior Principal reports directly to the Regional Head of Southeast Asia and works in close coordination with the Advisory Director and Policy Director for technical guidance and quality assurance across their respective domains.
The ideal candidate is commercially fluent, politically astute, and has deep roots in the Vietnamese financial sector — whether through banking, fintech, insurance, or development finance. They understand how to work inside institutions to drive change, how to translate evidence into funder commitments, and how to represent a global organization with credibility in local markets.
Roles and Responsibilities
FSP Advisory
- Serve as WWB's primary in-country advisor to financial services providers — including banks, microfinance institutions, fintechs, and insurers — guiding the integration of gender-intelligent product design, alternative data-based underwriting, and women-centered customer experience.
- Lead and manage WWB's program portfolio in Vietnam across active partnerships (including VPBank) and pipeline engagements, ensuring high-quality delivery, strong institutional relationships, and measurable outcomes.
- Drive the full advisory lifecycle — from business case development and diagnostic scoping through to implementation support, M&E, and knowledge documentation — with a focus on replicable, scalable models.
- Contribute to the design and execution of blended finance structures, first-loss facilities, and other financial instruments that de-risk FSP engagement with underserved women's segments.
- Represent WWB in regional and global knowledge-sharing with peer organizations, FSP networks, and research partners, integrating Vietnam evidence into cross-market learning.
Policy Scoping and Regulatory Engagement
- Map and monitor Vietnam's regulatory landscape as it relates to financial inclusion, digital finance, microinsurance, MSME lending, and gender-responsive data — maintaining an active intelligence base that informs both program design and funder positioning.
- Build trusted relationships with the State Bank of Vietnam, Ministry of Finance, and other relevant authorities; identify strategic entry points for policy dialogue and position WWB as a credible, evidence-grounded voice.
- Track legislative and regulatory developments (including fintech licensing, open finance, credit registry reform, and climate finance) that may create or foreclose opportunity for women's financial inclusion.
- Produce high-quality policy briefs, regulatory analysis, and landscape reviews that support both internal strategy and external influence — in collaboration with regional research partners and WWB's global policy team.
- Liaise with multilateral institutions (ADB, IFC, World Bank, UN agencies), bilateral donors (DFAT, USAID, GIZ), and local civil society organizations active in Vietnam's inclusive finance ecosystem.
Fundraising and Business Development
- Own and execute WWB's fundraising strategy for Vietnam — identifying, cultivating, and closing funding from foundations, bilateral donors, development finance institutions, corporate partners, and impact investors.
- Contribute to compelling funding proposals, concept notes, and investment cases that translate WWB's Vietnam programs into commercially and mission-aligned opportunities for funders.
- Contribute to existing funder relationships in-country, ensuring strong reporting, transparent communication, and proactive stewardship that supports grant renewals and relationship expansion.
- Contribute a robust pipeline of Vietnam-based funding opportunities, with clear ownership, timelines, and conversion targets; contribute to the regional pipeline as needed.
- Represent WWB at relevant funder convenings, industry conferences, and network events in Vietnam and regionally — building the organizational profile and personal credibility that attract inbound interest.
Regional Contribution and Cross-Country Collaboration
- Participate actively as a member of the SEA regional team, contributing to program design, knowledge synthesis, and advisory engagements in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Cambodia — particularly on areas of Vietnamese-market relevance (e.g., supply chain finance, climate-health risk, factory worker segments).
- Contribute Vietnam-sourced evidence, case studies, and learning to regional research agendas and cross-market analytical products.
- Support the Regional Director and regional team with regional strategy development, funder presentations, board materials, and partner engagement as required.
- Help build WWB's institutional knowledge on operating in Vietnam — legal, regulatory, and partnership infrastructure.
Required Qualifications
Skills & Attributes
- Commercially fluent and commercially ambitious — able to articulate the market case for women's financial inclusion in language that resonates with FSPs, investors, and development finance institutions, not just development sector audiences.
- Entrepreneurial and self-directed, with a demonstrated capacity to build programs and partnerships from the ground up in ambiguous or resource-constrained environments.
- Policy-literate and regulatory-savvy — comfortable engaging with government counterparts, interpreting regulatory developments, and translating policy context into program implications.
- Evidence-grounded — values data, is rigorous about claims, and uses research and proof points to build credibility with skeptical stakeholders.
- Strong writer and communicator, with the ability to tailor voice and framing for multiple audiences: FSP leadership, government officials, funders, and internal team.
- Highly collaborative — able to work effectively across a dispersed regional team, contribute to shared workstreams, and operate without a local team around them.
- Culturally intelligent and locally rooted — understands the Vietnamese business culture, relationship norms, and institutional landscape, and can represent a global organization with authenticity in-country.
- Comfortable with complexity and ambiguity — able to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously and make sound judgments in dynamic, fast-paced environments.
Required Qualifications
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- Master's degree in finance, economics, public policy, development studies, or a related field; MBA welcome.
- Minimum 12 years of professional experience across financial services, development finance, financial inclusion, or related fields — with a significant portion of that experience in Vietnam.
- Demonstrated track record in fundraising or business development — including proposal writing, funder relationship management, and grant or contract conversion.
- Substantial experience in FSP advisory, product development, or financial sector consulting — including direct engagement with FSP leadership and boards.
- Experience engaging with government and regulatory stakeholders in Vietnam; existing relationships with SBV, MOF, or relevant authorities strongly preferred.
- Strong analytical and writing skills; ability to produce high-quality documents (proposals, briefs, program reports) independently and under time pressure.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a remote, geographically distributed team.
- Fluency in Vietnamese and English (written and spoken) — both are required.
- Willingness to travel within Vietnam and regionally across the SEA footprint (Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia) as required.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience with international NGOs, impact investment vehicles, or bilateral/multilateral development programs in Vietnam.
- Familiarity with blended finance structures, de-risking facilities, or development finance instruments (IFC, ADB, DFI-type engagements).
- Experience with gender-lens investing, women's economic empowerment programming, or financial inclusion for low-income segments.
- Networks within Vietnam's fintech, digital finance, or insurance sectors.
Measure of Success
- Build strong ownership of WWB's existing financial services provider partnerships in Vietnam, in coordination with the Director Advisory, ensuring continuity across active programs and opening direct relationships with each partner institution
- Deliver a first independent regulatory and policy landscape review for Vietnam's financial inclusion ecosystem, in coordination with the Director Policy, and define a collaboration approach with relevant government and regulatory bodies, establishing a working relationship with at least one of them
- Publish a positioning op-ed establishing WWB's voice on women's financial inclusion in Vietnam, in coordination with the Comms Lead
- Build a business development pipeline of new FSP partnerships aligned to Vietnam's program delivery agenda
- Build a separate funding opportunity pipeline of prospective funders, with realistic conversion timelines
- Draft and contribute to at least one funder-facing proposal, concept note, or update
- Define a growth strategy for establishing WWB's formal in-country presence in Vietnam, with clear next steps and a realistic timeline
- Embrace and demonstrate Women's World Banking's values – Think Big, Own It and Commit to It, Smarter Together – in how you build the role from the ground up
We offer comprehensive benefits including:
- Competitive salary & top tier benefits
- 15+ paid time off days in addition to paid sick days and holidays
- Company closes for two paid Mental Health and Rejuvenation Weeks per year (July & December)
- 401(k) with employer match / pension contributions where applicable
- Company paid professional development opportunities
- Flexible work options available, including work from home options (outside of fieldwork)
About Women's World Banking
We believe in being a force for the greater good, devoted to accelerating and growing the financial inclusion of women. With rapidly changing markets, influenced by technology and social behavioral expectations, we are embarking on a new chapter to transform the way we design and implement solutions.
For over 40 years, Women’s World Banking has partnered with financial institutions, showing them the benefit of investing in women as customers. We equip these institutions with in-depth research and data driven insights to develop financial products and educational programs. While our clients are financial service providers, our mission is to engage consumers – women who are marginalized by financial systems.
Women’s World Banking and WWB Asset Management is an equal employment opportunity for all regardless of race, color, citizenship, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran or reservist status or any other category protected by federal, state or local law.
