UNCDF Jobs - 59843- Digital Financial (DF) Expert Instant Savings and

Digital Financial (DF) Expert Instant Savings and Loans Retainer Contract for 60 Days

Publié pour le compte de

UNCDF

Lieu :

Home Based with Possible Travel to Benin, Malawi, Laos, Liberia, Nepal, Uganda, Senegal and Zambia

Type de contrat :

Individual Contract

Date de commencement :

30-Oct-2015

Date limite de candidature :

22-Sep-15 (Minuit New York, États-Unis)

Niveau du poste :

International Consultant

Durée du contrat initial

12 Months

Langues requises :

Anglais Français

Durée prévue de la mission :

60 Days

Le PNUD s’engage à recruter un personnel divers en termes de genre, de nationalité et de culture. Nous encourageons de même les personnes issues des minorités ethniques, des communautés autochtones ou handicapées à postuler. Toutes les candidatures seront traitées dans la plus stricte confidentialité. Le PNUD ne tolère pas l’exploitation et / ou les atteintes sexuelles, ni aucune forme de harcèlement, y compris le harcèlement sexuel, et / ou toutes formes de discrimination. Tous/tes les candidats/tes selectectionnes /ées devront ainsi se soumettre à de rigoureuses vérifications relatives aux références fournies ainsi qu’à leurs antécédents.

Historique

UNCDF is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 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 and the Pacific, 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 works to enlarge peoples’ choices: it believes that poor people and communities should take decisions about their own development. Its programmes help to empower women – over 50% of the clients of UNCDF-supported microfinance institutions are women – and its expertise in microfinance and local development is shaping new responses to food insecurity, climate change and other challenges. 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.

Despite the rapid growth of the microfinance industry in the past ten years, it is estimated that between two and three billion people still lack access to a broad range of financial products and services on a sustainable basis. The situation is particularly dire in the LDCs, where often more than 90 per cent of the population is denied access to financial services from the formal financial system. UNCDF focuses its strategy on Financial inclusion, which is universal access, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services, provided by a variety of sound and sustainable institutions. The range of financial services includes savings, short and long-term credit, leasing and factoring, mortgages, insurance, pensions, payments, local money transfers and international remittances.

UNCDF manages a number of initiatives related to digital financial (DF). It is in discussion to consolidate the technical assistance and research aspects of these programmes into a single team. This team will serve UNCDF’s needs in regard to DF, particularly for two programmes: Mobile Money for the Poor and the Better than Cash Alliance, but DF also requires support in a number of UNCDF country and global programmes.

Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P)

With support from Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (“DFAT” formerly AusAid) and by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), UNCDF launched Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P) in March 2012, a global thematic initiative to address the opportunities and challenges of implementing branchless banking and mobile money in challenging markets in Africa and Asia. MM4P’s long-term mission is to help low income and rural households in LDCs increase their financial security through appropriate, affordable and secure means to receive, manage and save money through these “digital financial services” (DFS). To do so, its intermediate goal is to help build inclusive digital financial sectors such that a wide range of digital financial services are provided responsibly, and at reasonable cost, by sustainable institutions in a well-regulated environment. UNCDF’s starts by defining the different stages of a market’s development and the range of interventions needed at different levels (i.e. macro, meso, micro, client) to move it across the stages. This combines a making markets work for the poor approach with UNCDF’s traditional operational model of directly supporting the most crucial level – retail service providers. UNCDF is currently implementing this in eight countries (Laos, Nepal, Liberia, Malawi, Uganda, Senegal, Benin and Zambia).

In all countries, MM4P is providing technical and financial assistance to dedicated financial services providers in order to improve their DF business and operations and to develop new products and services to further reach unbanked.

Several providers in different countries approached MM4P and showed willingness to develop instant savings and loans products & services (similar as M-Shwari of CBAA/Safaricom in Kenya). Furthermore, MM4P is currently signing technical assistance agreements with some providers on this aspect in some countries.

In order to support MM4P team and reinforce MM4P knowledge on the development of instant DF savings and loans product, MM4P is looking for a DF consultant working in several MM4P countries with our partners and the MM4P team. The consultant will benefit from support from the MM4P team based in MM4P countries. The DF expert will report to the Lead Technical Specialist based in Kampala, Uganda.

The DF expert will assist at least 4 providers on launching or improving instant savings and loans product in MM4P countries.

The outcome of this work will be:

Based on MM4P Theory of Change, help and hasten providers in launching savings and loans product & service on top of payment services;
Deliver focused and high quality technical input on instant savings and loans product to our provider.

Devoirs et responsabilités

Under the direct responsibility of the Lead Technical Specialist and the daily direction of MM4P team in countries, the Consultant will specifically:

Train the MM4P teams in countries, on credit scoring based savings and loans product.

The training should include modules on:

Activities and Processes;
Risks assessment;
IT requirements;
Credit scoring, algorithm, etc.).

Support MM4P team in drafting project descriptions and TOR for projects with our potential partners on the development of instant savings and loans product:

Work with local MM4P team and contribute to project descriptions to make sure all activities and deliverables for a successful project on instant savings and loans product are defined;
Support local MM4P team in informing and raising capacity of providers for the development on instant savings and loans product;
Provide high quality technical input on instant savings and loans product (Planning, IT requirement, partnership, credit scoring, algorithm, etc.);
Challenge existing DF ideas and ways of working in order to raise the discussions between stakeholders to more impactful and innovative business models.

Support in the selection of the right consultants to provide technical assistance to our partners:

Support the MM4P team in the selection of the right consultants to provide technical assistance to our partners;
For each partner, identify key areas of support not fully covered by the consultants in their proposal and propose best ways and activities to be fulfilled by you to reinforce proposed approach and value of our technical assistance to providers;
For each partners, propose and plan with local MM4P your involvement on the project and agreed on deliverables. Provide detailed workplan, number of days and deliverables for your involvement at the partner.

Support and advise the MM4P and providers team during the project organization and planning during the project preparation phase.

Based on your experience from previous project, support the local MM4P team and the consultant during the project organization phase in:

Planning the various activities and deliverables;
Set-up the project team and organization;
Identifying the responsibility matrix for each activity;
Assessing the risks and ways to mitigate each of them at each phase of the project;
Set-up the right governance mechanisms, and processes between the providers and the partner bank;
Review estimate timing for all activities;
Provide high quality technical input on instant savings and loans product (Planning, IT requirement, partnership, credit scoring, algorithm, etc.);
Challenge existing DF ideas and ways of working in order to raise the discussions between stakeholders to more impactful and innovative business models.

Support and advise providers in the design and development of the instant savings and loans product during the design and development phase.

Based on the activities agreed in the project preparation phase contribute to the project design and development on specialized areas for instant savings and loans:

Market analysis (market study, segmentation);
Product specification and features, pricing, customer interface, KYC requirement;
Algorithm/credit scoring with the partner bank;
Terms and conditions;
Customer journey;
Marketing and communication approach;
IT architecture and infrastructure: assessment and requirements for the MNO and the partner bank;
Revenue sharing and business models for MNO and partner bank;
Organization and business processes;
Partnership agreement between MNO and bank;
Go to market strategy;
Provide high quality technical input on instant savings and loans product (Planning, IT requirement, partnership, credit scoring, algorithm, etc.);
Challenge existing DF ideas and ways of working in order to raise the discussions between stakeholders to more impactful and innovative business models.

Support and advise MM4P team and providers in collecting lessons learned from pilot and adapt design before national roll-out.

Based on the activities agreed in the project preparation phase, contribute to the project pilot phase on specialized areas for instant savings and loans:

Focus on lessons learned from pilot and review design to improve product before national roll-out;
Provide high quality technical input on instant savings and loans product (Planning, IT requirement, partnership, credit scoring, algorithm, etc.);
Challenge existing DF ideas and ways of working in order to raise the discussions between stakeholders to more impactful and innovative business models.

Perform other related tasks as required by the Lead Technical Specialist.

Compétences

Functional Competencies:

Professional:

Takes on innovation and new approaches and fosters innovation in others;
Creates an environment that fosters innovation and innovative thinking;
Conceptualizes more effective approaches to programme development and implementation and to mobilizing and using resources.

Management/Client Orientation:

Anticipates constraints in the delivery of services and identifies solutions or alternatives;
Proactively identifies, develops and discusses solutions for internal and external clients, and persuades management to undertake new projects or services;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities, and resolve problems;
Focus on impact and results for clients and stakeholders;
Builds trust in interactions with others, facilitates partnerships;
Approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude and responds positively to feedback;
Committed to team work, working with other stakeholders.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

A Master’s degree in technology, economics, public/business administration, social sciences, or related discipline or the equivalent experience.

Experience:

A minimum of five years’ experience in progressively more responsible positions in the financial services and/or telecommunications field;
Relevant experience in credit scoring in the financial sector;
Relevant experience working with branchless banking and mobile financial services;
Relevant experience in the design and development of an instant savings and loans product with a MNO and Bank;
Recognized experience in the design and implementation of credit scoring for instant savings and loans product;
Experience in working with the implementation of branchless banking and mobile financial services projects;
Experience in project management;
Experience in Africa, Asia is a plus.

Language:

Fluency in English, French is a plus.

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

Timeline: October 30th, 2015 up to October 30th, 2016 Renewable;
Expected places of travel: Benin, Malawi, Laos, Liberia, Nepal, Uganda, Senegal and Zambia;
Total number of working days for assignment: Estimated total Number of Working Days - 60.

Consulting fees, standards travel costs and living expenses.

Applicants should note that the maximum daily rate under UNCDF policy is US$1000 for individual consultants.

Occasional travel may be required and will be compensated according to UN polices.

All applications must contain the following information:

CV. Please use the format at http://sas.undp.org/documents/p11_personal_history_form.doc

Financial proposal, pleaase use the form available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916) outlining:

Total professional fee for 60 days on a retainer bases (including professional fees);
Other professional expenses (such as insurance, taxes, etc.).

Both individual consultants and individual employed by a company or institution are welcome to apply.

Retainer contract

A retainer contract may be used to engage Individual Consultants/Contractors where feasible. It specifies the unit price and schedule of services to be rendered. The retainer contract creates a firm commitment on both parties; UNDP provides a financial commitment while the consultant/contractor provides a commitment of availability for satisfactory and timely completion of deliverables. Therefore as a retainer contract implies a financial commitment, UNDP must issue a contract with maximum expenditure level.

The duration of this Individual Contract (IC) will be one year on retainer basis, renewable for another two years according to the supervisor recommendation and as needs arise. The selected contractor will be contracted on a needs basis. Payment will be calculated based on working days of the contractor.