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.

In Zambia, 40% of the population is financially excluded, with 44% adult account usage of digital financial services. There has been a rapid rise in the availablility and use of digital financial services as well as its enabling infrastructure, like agents. From 2017 to 2018, the number of agents has risen from approximately 23,000 agents to 47,000 agents. Despite the growth of the industry, there is still a strong need for digital finance products to address the needs of those traditionally underserved (e.g., women, youth, rural populations). UNCDF’s estimate based on their DFS State of the Industry Market Report is that DFS providers, on average, have 20-30% of their customer base as women, despite women being approximately 50% of the population.

UNCDF has a strong history of and belief in the economic empowerment of women. In Zambia, UNCDF launched last year a report: Labor Pains: The Financial Lives of Zambian mothers, which described the economic lifecyles of Zambian mothers across geographies and incomes. Not surprisingly several challenges were cross cutting, regardless of geography or income. These challenges represent not only the needs of Zambian women, but those that are underserved across Zambia.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the Assignment

UNCDF is looking for a Design Consultant with strong expertise in design and improvement of design of DFS products. The Consultant’s work will inform a design sprint competition, and support the resulting winner, increasing the number of women who have access to financial services in Zambia.

Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Technical Specialist, the Design Consultant will be responsible for undertaking and delivering the following deliverables:

  1. Constructing and Implementing a Design Sprint Competition focused on increasing access to Digital Financial Services for women customers, with the objective to increase the number of women who have access to financial services by 20,000. 
  2. Providing Product Design & Product Marketing Technical Assistance to the final Winner of the above Design Sprint to scale the product or service, focused on increasing the number of customers by 30,000.
  3. Providing Training and Technical assistance on product design and/or marketing of DFS products to 5 FinTechs.

Expected Deliverables and Proposed Payment Schedule

The consultant will deliver the following final products:

Target Completion – Estimated at this point

Activities

Description of Outputs / Deliverables

Estimated Payment Schedule (In % of Contract Price)

Week 0

Signing of Contract

Submission and acceptance of draft workplan with timelines

5%

Week 1

(offsite – 1 day;

onsite 2 days)

Conducting Vision of Perfect Workshop #1

  • Vision of Perfect Presentation Conducted with UNCDF/Zambia team/Notes Submitted and Accepted;
  • Workshop with DFS Providers who have expressed Interest designed, managed and conducted
  • Implementation of Workshop (workshop materials, notes from workshop) submitted and accepted

15%

Week 2-3

(offsite - 7-9 days)

Designing Sprint Architecture; Competition Application

  • Submission and Acceptance of Design Sprint Competition Architecture Document, which should include the timeline, measurement plan, logistics, location and requirements from DFS provider participants, UNCDF, and any other relevant stakeholders
  • Submission and Acceptance of Competition Application
  • Provision of support to UNCDF Communications Consultant in the creation of a Communications & Knowledge Management Strategy Design Sprint Competition project

17.5%

Week 5-7

(offsite – 2 days;

onsite 7 days)

 

*Preparation with Competition Candidates; *Preparation for Design Sprint Logistics Competition
*Conducting Workshop #2

  • Supported the Selection of Candidates for Competition
  • One workshop (workshop #2) conducted with all competitors describing the rules of the competition (workshop materials, notes and reflections from workshop);
  • Individual sessions conducted with each competitor to prepare them for the competition (notes from each of session)
  • Ensuring all Logistics are sufficiently prepared for Design Sprint Competition in the geography selected, judges invited and sufficiently briefed, invitations to relevant stakeholders made

15%

Week 8

(offsite – 1 day;

onsite - 5 days)

Conducting Design Sprint Competition in Market

  • Implementation of 3-5 day Design Sprint competition in a non-Lusaka based market

17.5%

Week 10-12

(onsite - 10 days)

Supporting Winner of Design Sprint

  • Provision of 5-10 days of intensive technical assistance to the winner of design sprint using HCD methods to improve and help scale the uptake of product

15%

Week 10-12

(onsite - 6 days)

Supporting 5 FinTechs to improve their product design or marketing of product

  • Existing curriculum designed and updated to support 5 FinTechs to improve the design or marketing of existing products that will help to increase the uptake of their products
  • One training conducted for all 5 FinTechs on Human Centered Design
  • Five individual 1:1 trainings conducted for each of the FinTechs on improving design or marketing of their product

15%

Total

 

 

100.0%

 

Duration of Assignment, Duty Station and Expected Places of Travel

Number of working days:               Up to 50 working days spread within five months, with a possibility of an extension for an additional two months.

Duration of assignment:                 September 9, 2019 – January 31, 2020

Duty station:                                     When required to report in the office, the consultant shall be co-located in the UNCDF Zambia offices.

Travel:                                                 Travel to Zambia and within Zambia should be incorporated into the Financial proposal.

Please note that UNCDF cannot guarantee residence permits or visas for consultants.  Consultants are responsible for securing their work documentation. In case of national consultants, applicants that are not nationals of the duty station requested will have to prove their residence status. 

Provision of Monitoring and Progress Controls 

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the UNCDF Regional Technical Specialist based in Lusaka and in close collaboration with other relevant colleagues, experts and/or institutions designated by the Regional Technical Specialist. The Consultant(s) is responsible for providing his/her own laptop during the course of his/her engagement with UNCDF.

The consultant will have weekly communication with the Regional Technical Specialist either in person, via email and/or skype, for coordination and guidance purposes, ensuring consultants’ output quality and targets.

Payments will be made on periodical basis upon satisfactorily achieved deliverables under each assignment and as per certification and evaluation of the direct supervisor. Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

The following supporting documents will serve as conditions for payments to an Individual Contractor:

(i) submission of an invoice and Certificate of Payment (COP); (ii) review, approval and written acceptance of each deliverable by the Regional Technical Specialist (RTS) and any other Project/Programme Manager designated by RTS; (iii) submission of a time-sheet and expenses with relevant supporting documentation; and (iv) an authorization of payment disbursement from a direct supervisor.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

  • Understanding and/or background in financial inclusion, microfinance, or access to finance or similar field focused on “innovation for good”;
  • Proven ability to engage DFS providers;
  • Understanding of need for sensitivity and confidentially of information involved in dealing with DFS competitors;
  • Analytical and problem-solving skills of a high order, including the ability to formulate recommendations and advice;
  • Ability to translate complex technical ideas to a non-technical audience in verbally and in writing;
  • Excellent writing skills.

Corporate Competencies

  • Strong ability to communicate and function effectively in local/international/multicultural environment;
  • Excellent networking with a demonstrated ability to build and maintain professional relationships;
  • Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
  • Project management skills;
  • Excellent Writing Skills
  • Excellent PowerPoint and excel skills;
  • Excellent presentation skills.
  • 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, including central banks;
  • Strong analytical, reporting and writing skills;
  • Pro-active, constructive attitude, open to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant must provide evidence of the technical capacity to undertake this assignment. This includes capacity to deliver the results in the timeframe provided as well as indication of prior experience (relevant financial inclusion/capabilities and experience, training, programme development).

Education:

  • Master’s degree in Economics, Finance, Banking, International Development, Product Design, Business Management, Education or related fields;

Experience:

  • At least five years in progressive roles working in design thinking/designing products and/or marketing for low-income segments;
  • Demonstrated experience designing and implementing design sprints for financial service products;
  • Demonstrated experience in working with Digital Financial service providers in at least 2 markets;
  • Previous work in Zambia is preferred;
  • Previous work in Southern Africa is mandatory;

Language Requirements:

  • Spoken and written fluency in English is mandatory.

Application Process

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. (Note: the system does not allow multiple uploads of documents. Applicants must make sure to upload all documents in one PDF file).

All applications must contain the following information:

The following documents are requested:

  • Cover letter with a summary statement of competencies in relation to the Terms of Reference (TOR), specifically focusing on the extent of compliance with the qualification requirements;
  • Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experiences from similar projects, as well as contact details (e-mail and telephone number) of at least three (3) professional references;
  • Two (2) Design Sprint Architecture documents (or equivalent) where candidate is the primary author
  • Earliest availability and proposed schedule for consultancy (can also be included in the Cover Letter);
  • Signed Financial proposal for the assignment outlining: All-inclusive fee (including professional fees and other professional expenses, such as housing, insurance, taxes, etc.). Available at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=29916).

If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNCDF under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNCDF. 

Failure to submit all the below mentioned documents may result in rejection of the application.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be rated on both technical and financial submissions. The following selection method will be used: Highest rated proposal using the combined scoring method, which assigns the weight distribution between the technical and financial proposals. The overall combined score will be 100 points, where weight distribution shall be 70% technical (30% desk review + 40% interview) and 30% financial.

Step I: Screening

Applications will be screened and only applicants meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

  • Master’s degree in Economics, Finance, Banking, International Development, Product Design, Business Management, Education or related fields;
  • At least five years in progressive roles working in design thinking/designing products and/or marketing for low-income segments
  • Submission of the requested two (2) Design Sprint Architecture documents (or equivalent) where candidate is the primary author

Step II: Shortlisting by Desk Review (100 points)

UNCDF will conduct a desk review to produce a shortlist of candidates and technically evaluate candidates as follows:

  • Master’s degree in Economics, Finance, Banking, International Development, Product Design, Business Management, Education or related fields; (10 points)
  • At least five years in progressive roles working in design thinking/designing products and/or marketing for low-income segments (30 points)
  • Demonstrated experience in working with Digital Financial service providers in at least 2 markets (30 points);
  • Demonstrated experience designing and implementing design sprints for financial service products ; (30 points)

Only the top three candidates scoring the highest in the desk review and achieving minimum 80 points shall be invited for an interview.

Step III: Interview

A competency-based Interview shall be conducted with the to top three candidates who score the highest in Step II (minimum of 80 points). Candidates will be tested on the following:

  • Relevant experience, including but not limited to:
    • Experience working with confidential and sensitive information of Digital Finance Service Providers;
    • Experience formulating complex recommendations and advice to executive level staff in digital financial service providers
  • Sector Knowledge 
  • Communication Skills
  • Design Skills/Samples (based on earlier submitted Design Sprint Architecture document samples)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% on the total of Step II + Step III will be considered as technically qualified and will be reviewed further for financial evaluation.

Step IV: Financial Evaluation:

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

Lowest priced proposal/price of the proposal being evaluated x 30%.

Award Criteria

The contract shall be awarded to the applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined

  • (i) Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
  • (ii) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

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

Any individual employed by a company or institution who would like to submit an offer in response to a Procurement Notice for IC must do so in their individual capacity (providing a CV so that their qualifications may be judged accordingly). Women candidates or women-owned businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.

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.

 Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when traveling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org.  If the consultant is over 65 years old, UNCDF reserves the right to require full medical certification and clearance from the consultant’s physician prior to commencing the travel.

Please include all documents into one file while submitting your application.

If you are experiencing difficulties with online job applications, please contact jobs.help@undp.org.

References

UNDP’s Individual Consultant’s General Terms and Conditions are provided here:
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf

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