UNCDF Jobs - 59181- Programme Manager (Better Than Cash Alliance)

Programme Manager (Better Than Cash Alliance)

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

01-Sep-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

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

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). It creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to inclusive finance and investment capital. UNCDF focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia and the Pacific, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis. It can provide seed capital both grants and loans as well as technical support that will improve poor peoples’ lives.

UNCDF works to enlarge peoples’ choices: it believes that poor people and communities should take decisions about their own development. UNCDF works in challenging environments – remote rural areas, countries emerging from conflict – and paves the way for others to follow. Its programmes are designed to catalyze larger investment flows from the private sector, development partners and national governments, for significant impact on the Millennium Development Goals, especially Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women, and Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability.
Established by the General Assembly in 1966 and with headquarters in New York, UNCDF is an autonomous UN organization affiliated with UNDP.

The Better Than Cash Alliance is a partnership of governments, companies and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth.

Billions of dollars in cash payments and transfers are made daily in emerging and developing economies, including payment of salaries, social welfare and relief, payments to suppliers, remittances, etc. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability and security, as well as inefficiency. Furthermore, the individuals who receive the cash payments are often part of the 2 billion excluded from the formal financial sector. This means they are excluded from access to a range of appropriate and affordable financial services to help them save safely, take advantage of economic opportunities and reduce their vulnerability to risk.

Shifting these payments from cash to digital has the potential to improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women, while giving governments, the development community and the private sector a more transparent, time and cost efficient, and often safer means of disbursing payments.

The Better Than Cash Alliance partners with governments, companies, and international organizations that are the key drivers behind the transition to make digital payments widely available by:

Advocating for the transition from cash to digital payments in a way that advances financial inclusion and promotes responsible digital finance.
Conducting research and sharing the experiences of our members to inform strategies for making the transition.

Catalyzing the development of inclusive digital payments ecosystems in member countries to reduce costs, increase transparency, advance financial inclusion-- particularly for women-- and drive inclusive growth.
The Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) is looking to hire a Programme Manager to manage all its services to members. For more information on BTCA, please visit the website:

http://www.betterthancash.org/

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions

Strategy:

Provide the strategic direction for services to members of the Better Than Cash Alliance including governments, private sector and development organizations within available resources.

Operations Management:

Manage the Better Than Cash Alliance Member Services Team and Sub-Committee, ensuring that Member Services are efficiently-implemented, managed, monitored and evaluated, meeting or exceeding all targets;

Knowledge Management:

In collaboration with the Knowledge and Research Specialist and Communications Specialist integrate knowledge sharing into all aspects of Member Services;

Advocacy and Representation:

Under direction of the Managing Director, contribute to advocacy and representation efforts for the Better Than Cash Alliance to build support from funders, policy makers and other stakeholders;

Backstop Managing Director:

Backstop the Managing Director of the Better Than Cash Alliance as needed.

Strategic Advice:

Provide strategic direction for Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) Member Services to deliver demand-driven technical and other services to governments, private companies, and development organizations that increases their capacity to move from cash to digital payments:

Build on the strategic direction provided by the BTCA Executive Committee and Member Services Sub-Committee into a strategy and workplan for Member Services;
Develop the policies and procedures for Member Services in accordance with the agreed strategy;
Prepare annual work plans with performance targets and budgets;
Develop Terms of Reference, organize, coordinate, supervise and administer the Member Services resources to catalyze effective action by the BTCA members;

Operations Management:

Manage BTCA Member Services team and resources to achieve BTCA goals and comply with UNCDF protocols. Establish an efficiently operated, monitored and evaluated services, meeting or exceeding all targets including complete and transparent reporting:

Determine the approach to Member Services according to BTCA strategy and available resources;
Develop pipeline of potential members to benefit from member services to help the BTCA achieve its outcomes with available resources;
Manage the team of Member Relationship Managers to achieve agreed outcomes;
Develop and implement processes for managing delivery of all types of member services, managing consultants to support delivery, and ensuring members are applying learning to their shift, and assessing member satisfaction;
With the Managing Director, prepare and present recommendations to appropriate Member Services Sub-Committee for award of grants and/or technical assistance;
With the Managing Director, prepare, negotiate and finalize performance-based agreements (PBAs) and / or contracts as appropriate, with members;
Seek opportunities for coordinating and co-funding projects with other funders, ensure the programme’s efforts complete those of other initiatives with shared focus;
As part of the BTCA team, develop and manage quantitative and qualitative monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements for members.
Prepare progress reports, narrative as well as financial reports on progress and results achieved
Report project achievements, delivery and other areas of accountability to FIPA, for input to regular UNCDF performance monitoring and reporting.

Knowledge Management:

In collaboration with the Better Than Cash Alliance team and particularly the Knowledge and Research Specialist, manage Member Services to contribute to the BTCA knowledge hub about the shift from cash to electronic payments and integrate knowledge sharing into all aspects of Member Services:

Develop and roll out processes and tools to support the collection and consolidation of members’ performance, including indicators and lessons learned;
In collaboration with the Knowledge and Research Specialist, ensure that easily accessible knowledge products are generated from BTCA member services that demonstrate the benefits and challenges to implementing digital payment solutions;
In collaboration with the Knowledge and Research Specialist, design and implement a peer learning agenda and a knowledge sharing strategy among Alliance members;
In collaboration with the Knowledge and Research Specialist, maximize the development of knowledge products generated through Alliance members to support the capacity building of the Alliance and the wider sector;

Advocacy and Representation:

Manage the high level relationships with members and with the Advocacy Specialist, undertake advocacy and representation to ensure the programme has the support of stakeholders:

Manage high- level relationships with government members, C-suite relationships with private sector members and senior relationships with technical partners both diplomatically and effectively.
Undertake speaking and representation engagements for the Better Than Cash Alliance and UNCDF as directed.
Develop strategies as part of the team to mobilize additional resources to fully implement the Member Services strategy and annual work plans;
As part of a team, contribute to effective and efficient partnerships at the operational level with major donor agencies to coordinate BTCA related activities globally and in host countries;
Ensure financial and performance reports are issued to development partners on time as per Cost-Sharing Agreement requirements with funding partners.

Backstoping the Managing Director:

Act as a backstop to the Managing Director, and other duties and tasks as assigned:

Undertake duties to backstop the Managing Director of the Better Than Cash Alliance as needed and as directed by the Managing Director and/or UNCDF FIPA.

Impact of Results:

The key result expected is the successful implementation and attainment of targets of the Better Than Cash Alliance Member Services, including coordination with/reporting to all stakeholders, the Financial Inclusion Practice Area (FIPA) in UNCDF and the funders of the programme. The Programme Manager, Member Services will pursue the following key results of the programme:

Delivery of a range of member services to governments, private companies and development organizations that increases their capacity to deliver end user-focused digital payment technologies replacing cash;

BTCA members make a significant improvement globally in the number of low-income and poor people served by innovative payment technologies, including those that were previously unbanked;

Easily accessible knowledge products generated from BTCA member services activities that demonstrate how to implement digital payment solutions so that:

Digital payments to the mass market can be offered on a profitable and thus sustained basis by financial service providers;
Digital payments are an affordable means for governments, development agencies, and other mass payment providers to distribute funds;
Poor recipients benefit from increased options for financial inclusion afforded by the transition from cash to digital payment solutions.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates ethics and integrity;
Demonstrates political acumen and calculated risk taking;
Builds own and staff competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
Builds and promotes effective teams and partnerships;
Creates and promotes open communication;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Conducts fair and transparent decision making;
Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability;
Shows strong corporate commitment.

Functional:

Professional

Proven ability to manage projects, teams and global policy efforts;
Starts up new programmes, able to act quickly to create necessary structures;
Ensures the full implementation of a project and the financial resources to obtain results;
Conceptualizes more effective approaches to programme development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources;
Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
Makes effective use of UNCDF’s and other BTCA member resources and comparative advantage to strengthen partnerships;
Creates networks and promotes initiatives with partner organizations;
Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;
Promotes the Member Services as a learning/knowledge sharing programme;
Proactively identifies, develops and discusses solutions for internal and external clients, and persuades management to undertake new projects or services.

Technical:

Working knowledge of current developments in payment technologies, including innovative payment methods (e.g., mobile financial services, pre-paid/reloadable/other cards, etc.);
Working knowledge in policy, legal and regulatory issues related to inclusive payment technologies;
Working knowledge of international donor organizations;
Understanding of key issues and international good practice relating to financial inclusion;
Effective spokesperson, engaging stakeholders and groupings, both government ministers and private sector senior corporate leaders, to advance the development of non-cash payments and transfers;
Excellent presentation and representation skills in multicultural contexts;
Ability to translate complex technical ideas to a non-technical audience in both verbally and in writing.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters degree (or equivalent) in economics, finance, public/business administration, social sciences, or a related field;
A Bachelors degree with an additional two years of experience would also meet this requirement.

Experience:

Minimum of 7 years of professional experience in progressively responsible positions in digital payments, financial services, financial inclusion or a related field;
Of which a minimum of 2 years private sector experience;
Experience in managing projects and corresponding budgets essential;
Experience in gender analysis and using the analysis for programme planning and implementation;
Experience in managing technical services or equivalent to achieve goals;
Experience in working with the highest levels of government;
Experience in effectively leading or managing services to a very diverse group of clients or members and maintaining positive relationships with peers;
Working knowledge of current developments in including innovative payment methods (e.g., mobile financial services, pre-paid cards, etc.) essential;
Working knowledge of policy, legal and regulatory issues related to inclusive payment technologies desirable.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in spoken and written English is required;
Professional competency in French and/or Spanish desirable.