Individual Consultant

United Nations Development Programme -UNDP

Individual Consultant – Senior Technical Expert_Digital Finance Initiative - Bangalore, Karnataka India
Location :	Bangalore, INDIA, INDIA
Application Deadline :	28-Jan-21 (Midnight New York, USA)
Time left :	15d 0h 46m
Type of Contract :	Individual Contract
Post Level :	National Consultant
Languages Required :	English
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)	01-Feb-2021
Duration of Initial Contract :	One Year

 

Background

The DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission) is the flagship program of Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India relaunched in 2016 for promoting poverty reduction by building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women. The programme creates and enables community owned institutions of women to empower and make them economically self-reliant by improving their agency to access a range of livelihood and financial services and maximize their resources for creating sustainable livelihood opportunities.  The state governments are mandated to set up dedicated Mission Management Units at the state, district and village/community level for the effective implementation of the NRLM scheme.  The mission provides regular hand-holding support to SHG/federations for a period of 5-7 years.  At the end of a fully implementation cycle the SHGs/federations are well prepared to become resource institutions at the community level for providing evidence and support to other social initiatives.  Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS) The State Government is implementing DAY-NRLM scheme in phases through Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society in the name of “Sanjeevini”. The mission statement of KSRLPS is: “To reduce rural poverty by providing gainful wage and self-employment opportunities through community institutions resulting in sustainable improvement in their livelihoods”. Sanjeevini is a community driven and process-oriented programme. The processes include different activities such as awareness building, social mobilization, development of Community Resource persons (CRPs). Formation of CBOs, strengthening SHGs/ CBOs/federations/Livelihood Collectives, establishment of linkages and promotion of livelihoods. The conventional methods of monitoring focuses on physical, financial and logistic aspects of projects, but do not capture the processes of community perception, satisfaction with project services, inclusion and institutional dynamics. As the community processes do not conform to pre-set rules, deadlines, targets or blue print approaches, a responsive and adaptive implementation is necessary. It is in this context that the State government of Karnataka has partnered with UNDP to implement The National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) in Karnataka. NRETP proposes to implement higher order economic activities which are cross cutting in nature, for instance, the project design envisages that there will be an organic link between the model Cluster Level Federation (CLFs) and financial inclusion strategies, insurance and pension schemes, producer groups and organisations, product marketing and enterprise development. The financial inclusion strategy will also have a key role in financing of farm and non-farm enterprises. UNDP will be uniquely positioned to quickly transfer the technical know-how gained at the national and state level working across the country.  The state SMMU will be fully synchronized with the National level team working at the centre, important for better alignment of state priorities with those of the national programme while formulating the State specific poverty reduction action plans. Under the scheme, UNDP is looking for a Senior Technical Expert_Digital Finance Initiative to undertake the activities as provided below. The incumbent will be based at KSRLPS and will perform duties under the direct supervision of the Mission Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Mission Director the incumbent will focus on achievement of the following results: ·        Support in strengthening of Digital Finance Initiatives ·        Support in the development of mechanisms, structures and systems, for Induction and Capacity Building of state, district, block and field teams, Community Cadres and Community Institutions ·        Develop pool of community cadre/master trainers-training, deployment and management ·        Customized modules and protocols shared by NMMU and if required develop state specific modules and materials ·        Mentor/monitor/guide staff at state, district and block team to ensure effective rollout of the activities ·        Represent at different forums and liaison with different line departments and NMMU related to the mission activities and reports ·        Facilitate planning, managing and budgeting at various levels ·        Provide support in programme, systems, data and fund management activities in the state ·        Coordinate with Corporate BC and Banks for data sharing for monitoring of Digital Finance initiatives Any other task assigned by reporting officer.

Competencies

·        Experience in Social Mobilization, Community Development Institution Building and Capacity building of community members, Leaders, community Cadres and Professionals. ·        Proven track record in working government/non-government organization. Well versed with working in MS Office ·        Should have managed a team of 10 members. ·        High level of proficiency in the use of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, SPSS etc.)  Time management and organizational skills required.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications: Post Graduate degree or diploma (equivalent) preferably in Rural Development Management, master’s in social work, Financial Management. Experience: Minimum 7+ years of relevant experience in related sector with experience of design, planning and working in large scale projects of government/non-government organisation at state/national Level. Duration of The Work: The contract will be awarded for one year initially. Working days will be as per the State Government policy. Official Travel In case of official journey within/outside the state, candidates will be entitled to reimbursement from KSRLPS. All official travel must be authorised and certified in advance by KSRLPS.  Languages Required: Fluency in English spoken, read and write for all official communication is essential and Kannada preferable. SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS Consolidated annual consultancy fees (Remuneration) of INR 13,20,000/- payable in equal monthly instalments of INR 1,10,000/- upon submission of monthly progress report certified by the reporting officer. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT: ·         Contract will be administered by UNDP on behalf of the KSRLPS, Government of Karnataka. ·        The consultant should report to CEO/Add. CEO/Any Other Official designated by CEO. ·        All the logistic support related official travel will be borne by the KSRLPS ·        Consultant will be entitled for 2 days leave per month (non encashable). The accumulated leaves will be forfeited on the termination/further extension of the contract period.  Documentation Required Personal CV indicating all past experiences from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and atleast 3 professional references. Evaluation Method and criteria Preliminary shortlisting would be done based on the following criteria: ·        Educational Qualification 30 marks. ·        Relevant Experience 40 marks. ·        Interview for 30 marks Those who obtain a minimum 70% of total 70 marks (Educational Qualification & Relevant Experience) will be eligible to appear for the interview.  Interview for the shortlisted candidates would be either conducted face to face in Bangalore or by telephone/over skype. The contract shall be awarded on the merit basis. For more information and online application click here