Digital Payments Consultant Business-to-People (B2P) wages

Consultant

Contract

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Background

ABOUT UNCDF

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the world’s 47 least developed countries. With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

About the Better Than Cash Alliance

Hosted by UNCDF, the Better Than Cash Alliance’s mission is to catalyze a global movement from cash to digital payments to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Specific benefits include efficiency, transparency, women’s economic participation and financial inclusion, helping build economies that are digital and inclusive.

The Alliance has 75 members, including national governments from Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, companies and international organizations which have committed to digitizing payments.

The Secretariat works with the Alliance members on their journey to digitize payments by:

• Providing advisory services based on member priorities.
• Sharing action-oriented research and fostering peer learning.
• Conducting advocacy at national, regional and global level.

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. The problems with these cash payments include a lack of transparency, accountability and security, as well as inefficiency. Individuals who receive cash payments are often part of the 1.7 billion excluded from the formal financial sector, the majority of whom are women. 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 Team’s Core Values are the following:

• Achieving together
• Striving for excellence
• Service oriented
• Results oriented

From a private sector perspective, payments completed in the value chain of businesses represent some of the most significant payment flows of national economies. As highlighted in the Alliance’s report on “The Future of Supply Chains: Why Companies are Digitizing Payments,”companies in different business sectors have benefited from the transition to digital payments in their supply chains and have thus played an important role in building an inclusive digital payments ecosystem. As part of catalyzing the global movement from cash to digital with the private sector, the Better Than Cash Alliance is committed to supporting digitization of companies’ payment flows in different business sectors across the corporate payment grid: Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-People (B2P), and People-to-Business (P2B).

BTCA is looking to hire a Digital Payments consultant based in Jordan, with expertise in Business-to-People (B2P) payments such as digital wages For more information on BTCA, please visit the website: http://www.betterthancash.org/

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision and direction of the Middle East & West Africa Lead, in collaboration with the Head of Private Sector Digital Payment Innovation, this assignment will ensure the technical and coordination support to the implementation of the overall strategy for the Better Than Cash Alliance in Jordan, with a special focus on business payments in companies supply chains, such as Business to People (B2P) or digital wage payment. Key responsibilities are as follows:

Provide high quality technical assistance and coordination support for overall execution of Alliance advisory services in Jordan to Government of Jordan, Garment Brand / International Buyers, , as well as international organisations, which are members of the Alliance, in accordance with agreed yearly country strategy and member priorities

Provide technical support for the delivery of the Alliance services to members.

1. Project management support to help Alliance government and corporate members increase the uptake of digital payments in Jordan, especially potential public private collaborations to scale digital wages in the garment sector.
2. Research support to capture digital payments learnings/experiences of Alliance members to share across members and countries, in Jordan and globally.
3. Support the organization of working groups, taskforces, and peer learning exchanges on key learnings emerging in wage digitization.
4. Support the periodical tracking/reporting of Alliance activities with members, to ensure documenting of information and on-time implementation of agreed workplans
5. Provide project management support alongside 3rd party consultants / consultancy firms contracted by BTCA to deliver services to members as part of country strategy.

Support for in-country government and corporate advisory in Jordan with a special focus on business payments in companies supply chains, such as Business to People (B2P) wages payments:

1. Mission support to Middle East & West Africa Lead, Head of Private Sector Digital Payments Innovation, and other members of the BTCA Secretariat
2. Support the ongoing liaison and relationship building on digital wages initiatives with members and partner organizations working on sustainable practices for the garment sector in Jordan, in particular Garment Brand / International Buyers, as well as the International Labour Organisation, which are members of the Alliance.
3. Support with background notes for missions, meetings and/or presentations for conferences and workshops on the digitization of payments.
4. Co-design and draft project concept notes, members’ workplan and seek input from relevant team members and experts, as needed;
5. Track progress of in-country initiatives and ensure liaison with management and procurement teams to ensure delivery of project milestones;
6. Work closely with the Middle East & West Africa Lead and Head of Private Sector Digital Payment Innovation to prepare quarterly portfolio reporting; mid-year and annual progress report and others as directed by the Managing Director.
7. Monitor key indicators to track activities to feed into donor and internal reports;

Stakeholder Engagement

1. Map the critical stakeholders for the project scale up, set up and coordinate meetings and engagements with all potential partners on implementation of digital financial solutions within, but not limited to, the garment sector.
2. As part of the consultation with various partners and stakeholders the consultant will be expected to engage with additional FSPs that may also have potential to scale a digital payment solution
3. Help identify partnerships with key national/regional platforms and initiatives for BTCA to work with to scale up the digital wages payments agenda

Provide regular up-to-date analysis of digital payments in the Ready Made Garments sector’s ecosystem development in Jordan through desktop research, stakeholder discussions, and providing these inputs into Alliance work on the overall country strategy.

1. Prepare detailed analysis, including background research on Alliance members, funders and other various organizations’ work on the digitization of payments and digital financial inclusion, especially in the topic of wage digitization in the garment sector
2. Conduct in-depth research on topics related to digital payments, digital financial services and financial inclusion in wage digitization to inform the country strategy and the drafting of concept notes for in-country initiatives with members
3. Conduct thorough background research on the whole sector in a country (other stakeholders, donors) work on the digitization of payments

Advocacy, Communications and events:

1. Collaborate closely with the Middle East & West Africa Lead, Head of Private Sector Digital Payment Innovations and the advocacy, media and communications teams to monitor and identify advocacy opportunities for the Alliance, including potential targets, conferences, UN, regional and corporate events in Jordan and the organization of such events.
2. Working closely with the Middle East & West Africa Lead and the Private Sector Digital Innovation Lead, monitor and identify advocacy opportunities for the Alliance, including potential targets, conferences, UN, regional and corporate events in country.
3. Collaborate closely with the advocacy, media and communications teams for the organization of events, conferences and specialized workshops;
4. Share news and stories from Alliance member countries for social media and other communications channels, as needed
5. Other activities, as requested

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

• The format of the quarterly deliverables will be agreed by the supervisors at the beginning of every quarter.
• Payment will be made against each satisfactorily achieved deliverable, upon the clearance and approval of the supervisors. Final payment shall require a signed performance evaluation of the consultant.

Month 11. Workplan submitted and approved by UNCDF/Better Than Cash Alliance team

30%

Month 4

2. First draft of the stakeholders initiatives report: mapping of stakeholders actions for advancing wages digitization in Jordan - approved by UNCDF/Better Than Cash Alliance team

20%

Month 8

3. Final draft of the stakeholder’s initiatives report incorporating latest updates on wages digitization initiatives and identification of opportunities for collaboration - approved by UNCDF/Better Than Cash Alliance team

30%

Month 12

4. Lessons learned report including latest development on wages digitization initiatives and recommendations for incentivizing further digitization - approved by UNCDF/Better Than Cash Alliance team

20%

TOTAL

100%

Any delay in the completion of the outputs, if not attributed to the performance of the consultant, shall be addressed through a no-cost time extension.

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Better Than Cash Alliance’s Middle East & West Africa Lead, working closely with other key colleagues across the globe, with supervision support from the Private Sector Digital Innovations Lead on corporate initiatives.

Duration of the Work

This is an assignment that will have an initial duration of twelve (12) months. Any extension of another one (1) year is possible depending on performance, continued need for the services and availability of funds. The performance control/monitoring mechanism will be applied from the start date.

Duty Station

1. The duty station/location for the contract duration is Amman, Jordan;
2. If there is any approved travel, UNCDF will pay separately travel expenses (economy airfare, terminal expenses and per diems which include hotel and food expenses) according to standard UN rates based on the submission of F10 claim supported by the evidence of approved and actual travel.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates ethics and integrity;
• Demonstrates political acumen and calculated risk taking;
• Impeccable diplomatic skills and knowledge of protocol; essential
• Demonstrated excellent writing, editing and communications skills to an international standard including correspondence, reports, talking points and briefing material; essential
• Builds own competence, creating an environment of creativity and innovation;
• 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 Competencies:

Professional

• Project management lifecycle
• Ensures the full implementation of a project 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;

Technical:

• Working knowledge of current developments in payment technologies, including innovative payment methods (e.g., digital government, mobile financial services, pre-paid/reloadable/other cards, etc.);
• Solid skills in market assessments, business case/strategy development and data analysis/management (spreadsheets, data visualization tools like Tableau, etc.)
• Understanding of key issues and international good practice relating to financial inclusion and digital payments
• 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

1. Advanced university degree (Master’s level) in public/business administration, finance, engineering, economics, international affairs, development, political science, or other relevant fields.
2. Or Bachelor’s degree in combination with at least nine additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in digital payments, financial services, financial inclusion, ICT4D, economic development or digital government is required
• Minimum 7 years of experience in effectively supporting the provision of services to a very diverse group of clients or members and maintaining positive relationships with peers is essential
• Minimum 7 years of experience in dealing with high level governments officials and senior level management in companies, particularly in emerging economies; essential
• Expert knowledge of current developments in digital financial services including innovative payment methods (e.g., mobile financial services, pre-paid cards, etc.) essential;
• Expert knowledge of policy, legal and regulatory issues related to inclusive payment technologies and digital government; desirable
• Minimum 7 years of experience in organization of high-level meetings with senior government officials and senior business leaders in Jordan; desirable.
• Experience engaging with the garment sector, essential

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Arabic, both oral and written, is required;
• Working proficiency in other languages is desirable.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Payments will be made based on the percentage of contract price corresponding to the deliverables stated in Section D above, and upon confirmation of UNCDF that the individual has delivered on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

The following documents are requested:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability.
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive Daily Fee price. 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.

The system will not allow you to submit your financial proposal separately from the other documents, therefore, all proposers are requested to submit their financial offers upon the request of UNCDF. Upon the completion of technical assessment, UNCDF will reach the successful candidates requesting them to submit their financial offers

Incomplete applications may not be considered

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Consultants will be evaluated based on UNDP’s cumulative analysis method. The evaluation criteria will be as follow:

• Technical evaluation which encompasses a review of a profile through desk review (30%) + Technical Interview (40%) = 70%
• Financial Evaluation = 30%

Step I: Review of a profile “through Desk Review” : 30%

The Better Than Cash Alliance will conduct a review of a profile (technical evaluation) that matches applicants experience and expertise to the key tasks outlined in the consultancy. These are detailed under each of the following Key work areas noted above:

• Programme Development and Management (40 points);
• Technical expertise of digital financial services in Jordan (20 points);
• Stakeholder and Partner Consultation (40 points).

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points in the review of profile will be considered for Step II.

Step II: Technical Interviews (40%)

Technical interviews will explore the same key work areas, in greater depth, with the same weighting.

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

Step III: Financial Evaluation: (30%)

The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:

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

The award of the contract shall be made to the consultant whose offer has evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable vis-à-vis the requirements of the TOR and the project operating environment
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical (70%) and financial (30%) criteria.

/ma

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Added 3 years ago - Updated 3 years ago - Source: jobs.undp.org