UNCDF Jobs - 51762- Technical Writer

Technical Writer

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

Home-based

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

05-Dec-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

3 Months

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 48 least developed countries. It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital. UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis. It provides seed capital – grants and loans – and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments – water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes – that will improve poor peoples’ lives. UNCDF programmes help to empower women, and are designed to catalyze larger capital flows from the private sector, national governments and development partners, for maximum impact toward the Millennium Development Goals.

YouthStart is a $12 million project supported by The MasterCard Foundation in partnership with UNCDF launched in 2010 to spur innovation and delivery of financial services youth in Africa and mainstream them into inclusive financial sectors. YouthStart has three main objectives: 1) Catalyze efforts by financial institutions to innovate financial services for at least 200,000 poor youth (at least half female); 2) Build capacity to offer youth sustainable, quality financial services; and 3) Share learning with a range of stakeholders to mainstream youth into financial sectors. The YouthStart program works with 10 Financial Service Providers (FSPs) across 8 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve its objectives of building capacity of financial institutions to effectively and sustainably, innovate and deliver quality financial services to low-income young people. The FSPs are: ACSI (Ethiopia), FCPB (Burkina Faso), FINCA (Uganda), FINCA (DRC), Finance Trust Bank (Uganda), FUCEC (Togo), OIBM (Malawi), PAMECAS (Senegal), PEACE (Ethiopia), and UCU (Rwanda). As of September 2014, these FSPs have provided access to savings for 442,399 youth, access to loans to 64,954 youth and have provided financial literacy and other non-financial services (NFS) to 437,574 youth. As of September 2014, all 10 FSPs had mobilized close to US $13 million in savings and had a gross loan portfolio of US $6.1 million.

Information on YouthStart may be found at http://www.uncdf.org/en/youthstart.

Duties and Responsibilities

The MasterCard Foundation conducted an in-depth profitability analysis of 3 of 10 FSP partners of YouthStart to deepen an understanding of the revenue and cost drivers that affect the profitability of serving the youth segment, including a disaggregated analysis of the costs associated with providing non-financial services. As such, we are seeking a consultant to support YouthStart in writing a paper using the data and analyses collected in the field.

Scope of work

The consultant will be expected to:

Task 1: Conduct Literature Review

The consultant will conduct a review of materials, data, and analyses already completed from the profitability analysis. The consultant will synthesize the information and triangulate the data as necessary.

Task 2: Draft technical paper on building the business case for youth services

Using the synthesized data, the consultant will develop a first draft of technical paper. S/he will identify relevant sources of information to support findings and develop recommendations for building the business case for youth service

Task 3: Address and incorporate comments from peer review

The consultant will be responsible for incorporating comments of peer reviewers, technical feedback of the YouthStart Programme Manager, and address the queries of the copy editor. The paper will be sent to at least 5 external and internal peer reviewers. The technical writer will ensure all the comments of the reviewers are address in the paper and if they cannot be incorporated in the paper, s/he will explain why in a detailed summary table.

Task 4: Ensure final version of the technical paper is ready for dissemination

The consultant will work with the copy editor and the graphic designer to ensure the final version of the product is ready for the graphic designer.

Timeline, duration of assignment, duty station and expected places of travel

Timeline:

Starting Date: 19th January 2015;
End date: April 2015. Exact days will be agreed with consultants based on availability.

Location(s):

Home based.

Total number of working days for assignment::

Estimated days: 20.

Final products and deliverables:

The consultant will deliver the following:

Deliverable 1: Draft technical paper on building the business case (in MS word);
Deliverable 2: Second version of the paper addressing the comments of peer reviewers (in MS word);
Deliverable 3: Finalized version of the paper addressing the comments of copy editor and graphic designer (in PDF).

Provision of monitoring and progress controls:

Payment to consultants will be linked to the satisfactory completion of deliverables detailed in section above.

The consultant will report to the YouthStart Programme Manager. For managing the production process of the publications and their dissemination, the consultant will liaise and coordinate activities with the YouthStart Technical Specialist and the Knowledge Management Associate.

Competencies

Functional competencies:

Analytical and problem solving skills of a high order, including the ability to formulate recommendations and advice;
Demonstrated excellent written and oral communication skills in English;
Ability to work independently, manage time, scheduling and logistical issues;
Strong ability to communicate and function effectively in international/multicultural environment;
High level planning, organizational and time management skills, including flexibility, attention to detail and the ability to work under pressure to meet changing deadlines;
Well-developed interpersonal skills, including the ability to liaise effectively at senior levels;
High level of communication and interpersonal skills and experience in working effectively in a multi cultural environment;
Sensitivity to diverse opinions and difficulties arising from differing social and cultural perceptions.

Corporate competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters degree finance, economics, business or public administration or related field.

Experience:

Minimum 10 years of experience in inclusive finance/microfinance, with a strong preference for experience at a managerial level;
Extensive experience conducting research, analysis, and writing (at least 2 writing samples is requested);
Deep technical knowledge about key factors that determine FSPs providing services to vulnerable groups (i.e. poor, youth) in a sustainable basis that are responsive to their needs;
Experiences with similar assignments in developing countries;
Good track record of publications in financial inclusion.

Language:

Fluency in English, both written and verbal;
Working knowledge of French an advantage.

Application and Evaluation:

Interest candidates must submit through the UNDP website a completed P11 form (instead of the CV) available here;
Only qualified applicants will be contacted to continue with the hiring process. Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions, providing a weight of 70% to the technical offer and 30% to the financial offer.

UNCDF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.