UNCDF Jobs - 54376- Technical Specialist, Digital Finance (UNCDF)

Technical Specialist, Digital Finance (UNCDF)

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

Brussels, BELGIUM

Type of Contract :

FTA International

Starting Date :

01-May-2015

Application Deadline :

16-Mar-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

P-4

Duration of Initial Contract :

One year (renewable)

Languages Required :

English French

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. 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):

Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P)

With support from Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (“DFAT” formerly AusAid), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the MasterCard Foundation (MCF), UNCDF manages Mobile Money for the Poor (MM4P), a global thematic initiative that addresses 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 finance” (DF). 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.

MM4P is currently implementing this programme in eight countries (Benin, Laos, Nepal, Liberia, Malawi, Senegal, Uganda and Zambia).

Better Than Cash Alliance

UNCDF is the host to the secretariat of the Better Than Cash Alliance, an alliance of governments, private sector and development organizations committed to accelerating the shift from cash to electronic payments.

The Better Than Cash Alliance seeks to leverage the leadership of governments, the networks of development organizations and the expertise of the private sector in payment technologies to replace the use of cash in their programming and payment streams with electronic payments, where appropriate. It also seeks to build the financial capability of low-income clients who will benefit from electronic payments and a wider range of financial services. It does so by:

advocates for the use of all forms of electronic payments where they provide a preferable payment option to cash;
collaborates with program partners to mobilize available technical expertise and resources to identify and
implement the most effective approach to make the transition from cash to electronic payments; and
conducts research, documents good practices and produces knowledge products to address the barriers to adoption and drive the effective shift from cash to electronic payments globally.

BTCA is in the early days of its technical assistance facility implementation. These two UNCDF programmes are together more frequently. UNCDF has recently concluded an agreement with USAID for joint funding of BTCA and MM4P for work in Malawi.

MM4P wishes to hire a Technical Specialist to coordinate DF technical work across UNCDF with a heavy focus on key macro and meso level issues that are common to MM4P and BTCA. The specialist will also provide support to the growing DF technical team in field, working across countries on global initiatives. This position will also act the primary support for other UNCDF programmes engaged in DF, including playing a quality assurance function for DF projects globally.

The Technical Specialist will report to the MM4P Programme Manager, based in Brussels, Belgium and will work under the guidance of the MM4P Lead Technical Specialist, based in Kampala, Uganda, for DF project quality assurance.

Duties and Responsibilities

Summary of key functions

In close coordination with BTCA, leads MM4P efforts on macro (policy/regulation) and meso (financial infrastructure) globally, designing strategies and developing plans and activities for country level work;
Supports the MM4P Programme Manager with all assigned global projects and initiatives, representing MM4P as needed;
Designs and helps implement DF quality assurance strategy, ensuring that all DF projects across UNCDF conform to best practices and reflect UNCDF’s global experience;
Supports the MM4P Lead Technical Specialist and DF Technical Team with cross-country projects and initiatives, providing back up to the specialists in the field;
Contributes to knowledge generation and sharing activities of MM4P.

Leads efforts on macro (policy/regulatory) and meso (financial and payments infrastructure) technical assistance (20%) for digital finance for MM4P:

Acts as MM4P’s primary resource on DF policy, regulation, financial infrastructure and payment systems issues;
Working closely with MM4P and BTCA, help develop, design and lead on global efforts linked to payment systems and regulatory changes required for DF to be successful;
Manages partnerships with other organizations engaged in similar DF issues, including the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, CGAP and the GSMA Mobile Money for the Unbanked programme;
Works with MM4P and other UNCDF programmes to develop to identify approach to macro and meso work in countries to support DF, developing clear strategies, objectives, work plans and activities;
Helps design macro and meso technical assistance projects and other activities for UNCDF;
Manages global and cross-country activities related to macro and meso issues, initiates new projects to support programme goals;
Supports all UNCDF staff in relations with policy makers and regulators in regard to DFS;
Organizes regular policy maker and regulatory exchanges and study tours, as planned by UNCDF;
Ensures that gender issues are addressed in all policy and regulatory activities.

Manages UNCDF´s DF quality assurance role, providing review and support to UNCDF DF projects globally (25%):

For other UNCDF programmes and under the direction of the Programme Manager:

Helps establishes a process through which non-MM4P DF projects are assisted, reviewed and endorsed by MM4P;
Acts as primary liaison for non-MM4P staff seeking support on DF projects, conducts desk reviews and consultations to identify necessary steps, resources and recommended involvement by the MM4P team during the project life cycle;
With the Lead Technical Specialist, Digital Finance, identifies MM4P human resources that could be used to assist;
Identifies ways to better integrate DF work across programmes

For all DF projects as assigned and under the direction of the Lead Technical Specialist:

For technical assistance, provides technical review of project descriptions, terms of reference and agreements with partners;
For financial assistance, conducts short assessments and full appraisals of proposed partners, including on-site appraisals for large projects as needed;
Drafts technical evaluations and endorsements from MM4P;
Recommends performance targets;
Reviews outputs from consultants and partners, providing feedback, edits and suggestions for improvements;
Reviews submissions from current and potential partners, including business plans, pilot plans, etc.
Assists the MM4P team in the revision of the lessons learned and updating policies, procedures, planning and reporting tools.

Supports the MM4P Team with global and cross-country DF projects and initiatives, providing back up to the specialists in the field (20%):

Oversees existing global or multi-country DF activities as assigned, initiates new activities to support country level work;
Identify opportunities for multi-country initiatives related to DF, within MM4P and also with other UNCDF programmes;
Develop project descriptions and terms of reference for global activities and projects, to be used to procure consultants or grantees;
Works closely with Research and Results Measurement Manager for development of results measurement framework for activities at the global level;
Monitor progress on global activities and projects against plans and KPIs;
With the Programme Manager and LTS, help organize regular contact and semi-annual meetings of the DF technical team.

Support global DF activities, including learning, sharing, policy and coordination (15%):

Contributes to technical content to all DF research activities, reviewing TORs and outputs, with a focus on cross-country (or multi-country efforts);
Assists in technical review and editing of research, providing technical feedback;
Provides technical input and editing to knowledge products, contributing to blogs, focus notes, the website and social media;
Helps design and facilitate exposure visits, trainings for partners globally with a focus on policy makers and regulators;
Represents UNCDF at events, as facilitator and presenter;
Seeks opportunities for coordinating and co-funding projects with other funders, ensure the programme’s efforts;
As requested, assists in UNCDF fundraising and relationship management with donors, including proposal writing.

Provide programme and corporate support (20%):

Acts as officer-in-charge for Programme Manager and Lead Technical Specialist (LTS) when on leave;
With Programme Manager, develops MM4P’s global annual work plan and budget;
With Programme Manager, leads annual programme strategic review effort, soliciting input from MM4P team, partners, consultants and funders;
Drafts semi-annual and annual reports;
Supports annual and cumulative UNCDF results analyses and substantive inputs work plan and UNCDF and FIPA Business Plans;
Assists in implementation of mid-term and final evaluations of the programme.

Impact of Results:

The key result expected is the successful technical implementation of MM4P, and all DF projects assigned to the DF team;
All MM4P countries are firmly in the expansion phase of DF development;
Macro and meso strategies and activities are fully implemented in all MM4P countries and done so in cooperation with BTCA;
MM4P is responding quickly and professionally to support all non-MM4P DF initiatives;
Synergies across UNCDF countries and programmes are maximized;
MM4P is providing quality research and knowledge products that are communicated professionally.

Competencies

Technical:

Comfortable advocating and advancing an agenda, including with high level counterparts and other stakeholders;
Strong knowledge on the strategy, business case and implantation of DF;
Familiarity with the concepts of financial inclusion, a broad knowledge of related disciplines, as well as an in-depth knowledge of relevant organizational policies and procedures;
Working knowledge of international donor organizations and preferably experience in preparing proposals for funding.

Professional:

Accustomed to working across countries and across departments to achieve results;
Strong client orientation, recognizing the importance of providing appropriate, user-friendly and affordable services;
Familiarity with low income households in developing countries, comfortable working in very low income areas;
Understands how to build strategic partnerships and alliances, within and across organizations;
Takes on innovation and new approaches and fosters innovative thinking;
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;
Approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude and responds positively to feedback;
Comfortable forming, leading or being part of teams, working with other stakeholders to achieve common goals;
Excellent writing, verbal communication skills;
Excellent analytical skills.

Core Competencies:

Demonstrates ethics and integrity;
Demonstrates political acumen and calculated risk-taking;
Builds confidence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
Builds and promotes 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;
Treats all persons fairly without favoritism;
Shows strong corporate commitment.
Ability to address gender equality and empowerment of women considerations in strategic and operational activities of UNCDF.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

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

Experience:

A minimum of seven (7) years’ experience in progressively more responsible positions in the financial services and/or telecommunications field;
Of which a minimum of two (3) years’ experience working with Digital Finance services;
Experience in DF policy and regulation, working directly with central banks and other policy makers;
Experience and knowledge in the payment systems and financial infrastructure, strong understanding of how payment systems influence the potential outreach and impact of DFS;
Experience managing projects and activities across countries, related to DF;
Experience in managing teams, including staff and consultants, including recruiting, hiring and evaluating;
Experience in developing procedures and templates for project management cycle;
Experience in developing and monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs);
Experience in working with the development and implementation of DF support projects;
Proven ability to manage projects;
Strong general IT skills, including ability to work regularly with MS Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
Proven cross-cultural communication, able to function effectively in an international, multicultural environment and manage a team consisting of multiple nationalities.

Language Requirements:

Fluent English (excellent speaking and writing necessary);
Understanding (reading, oral) of French, preferable with some ability to write.

Note:

Applicants are strongly encouraged to upload (as a *pdf attachment) the completed and signed UNDP Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded fromhttp://sas.undp.org/Documents/P11_Personal_history_form.docx Completion of all the fields is required.

Please group all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.