Financial Inclusion Specialist (FIS)

Nepal SBI Bank Limited

Details / requirements:

Rolling Plans Pvt. Ltd (RPPL) announces the vacancy for Rural Enterprises and Remittance Project (RERP) . SAMRIDDHI is a seven-year project funded by International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and executed by the Ministry of Industry (MOI). Government of Nepal (GON) that aims at providing sustainable sources of income to poor households, migrant families and returnees in the Eastern and Central Regions of Nepal, by supporting the creation and expansion of family, micro, small and medium rural enterprises, both in the farming and off farming sectors. The goal of the project is reducing poverty and achieving sustainable peace through employment-focused, equitable and inclusive economic development.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Application should include a cover letter, updated Bio-data and self-verified copies of necessary documents that qualify the CV. The application through email and/or by post should mention the job position and vacancy code in the subject line or in the envelope respectively. 

Fill the Application Form online from the link: www.rollingplans.com.np/samriddhi

The TOR may be revised at the time of employment agreement.

The organization reserves the right to reject any/all applications without assigning any reason whatsoever. Canvassing at any stage of the process shall lead to automatic disqualification.

DEADLINE:

The application needs to be received latest by 17:00Hrs, October 30, 2016 (Kartik 14, 2073) 

Financial Inclusion Specialist

Position’s Key Features

Job Title: Financial Inclusion Specialist (FIS)

Duty Station: PMO Itahari, Sunsari with frequent travel the project areas (about 50% of the time)

Mode of Contract: Annual, with six-month’ probation period, and extendable up to the Project period based on satisfactory performance

Report to:  Project Manager

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Rural Enterprises and Remittances (RER) - SAMRIDDHI is a seven years’ project signed between the Government of Nepal (GON) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on 10 December 2015 covering 16 hills and Terai districts. It aims at providing sustainable sources of income to poor households, migrant families and returnees in the Eastern and Central Regions of Nepal, by supporting the creation and expansion of family, micro, small and medium rural enterprises, both in the farming and off-farming sectors. Ministry of Industry (MOI) is the Executing Agency. Agro Enterprise Center (AEC) under Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Helvetas Nepal, selected financial institutions and the business development service providers extending services to the rural areas are the key implanting partners. The Project comprises three inter-linked components encompassing the full set of interventions required to support RMSEs’ profitable and sustainable growth:

  • Component 1: Promotion of RMSEs aims at (i) strengthening micro and small entrepreneurs, migrants and their families with sustainable access to adapted Business Development Services (BDS), i.e. non-financial services in support to enterprise creation and/or expansion; and (ii) vocational training and apprenticeship to poor households to build their skills and to secure gainful wage employment in RMSEs. Activities will be driven by an assessment of markets, business opportunities and available services and by an inventory and classification of existing RMSEs through a validation process.
  • Component 2: Productive Investment builds on results of component 1 and aims at (i) facilitating RMSEs/migrants/remittance recipient households’ access to financial services at an affordable cost by sustainable financial institutions; and (ii) mobilizing migrants’ resources and skills for creating assets and promoting profitable rural enterprises. It will develop innovative financial instruments designed to offset major constraints faced by RMSEs in accessing investment loans at an affordable cost and to stimulate migrants’ savings and investment in profitable business development.
  • Component 3: Institutional Support and Project Management aims at promoting a favorable policy and institutional environment supporting the development of RMSEs at a national scale and the contribution of migration to sustainable development.

Implementation Arrangements

The MOI is overall responsible for coordination and oversight. A Project Management Office(PMO), located at Itahari is responsible for day-to-day implementation of project activities with support from two Corridor Teams providing technical and management support to Enterprise Service Centers (ESCs) and migration-related activities at the district level. Technical partners - Helvetas Nepal and South Asia will support to implement of vocational training and knowledge management aspects. Besides, selected financial institutions and business development service providers’ are expected to support the implementation. A Project Steering Committee headed by MOI Secretary at the national level will provide oversight and guidance.

Expected Results

The development objective of the Project is that viable RMSEs, in both farming and off-farming sectors, provide sustainable sources of income to poor households, migrant families and returnees. Main indicators are: (i) 60,000 RER supported rural entrepreneurs expand their existing business or create a new one; (ii) 30,000 rural youth access job placement services; (iii) 30,000 RER-supported enterprises are still in business after 3 years, of which 33% owned by women/30% owned by migrant returnees; and (iv) 21,000 RER supported vocational trainees and apprentices, of which 33% of women, are in gainful employment over at least 6 months

Scope of Assignment

The FIS is responsible for all financial inclusion activities of the Project. S/he is mainly responsible for capacity building of the rural non-banking financial institutions such as SCCs and SFACLs to offer various financial products in order to ensure inclusion of the entrepreneurs including poor households, migrants and their families. S/he works closely with a number of financial institutions to promote various financial instruments to reduce financial burden and risks of the enterprises and financial institutions at the early stages and embark to equity financing at a later stage. The FIs also facilitates the integration of rural non-bank financial institutions to refinancing schemes developed by the financial institutions in order to increase the outreach of financing facilities. S/he also works closely with the Nepal Rastra Bank, Department of Cooperatives and Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, and other relevant central level agencies in developing a conducing environment of financial inclusion to the poorer segment of the society. The FIS works closely with the Rural Finance Specialist to deliver expected outputs and outcome of the Project. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

Specific dutiesd and responsibility of this position include, but not imited to, the following:

Capacity building of financial sector stakeholders

  • Prepare inventory of all financial institutaions (FIs) present in the area including conmmercial banks, development banks and microfinance institutions; screen them based on available secondary information, rank/grade them and indentify prospective institutions for partnership; 
  • Call for expression of interest for FIs which are providing credits to the targeted project beneficiaries and/or to the cooperatives; identify FIs willing to participate in the risk-sharing facility  implemented by the Project
  • Carry out due diligent exercise of the responding FIs, to determine the effectiveness of lernding to rural  non-bank financial institutions and/or direct lending to target population and also to assess their financial perfiormance, governance, products and services as well as the their procedures; 
  • Invite technical and financial proposals from the prospective FIs, eveluate them and finally select the partner financial institutions;
  • Design capacity development/training modules covering various aspects such as i) risk assessment on small and micro-enterprises financing and co-operative finacing, ii) portfolio monitoring of small and micro-enterprenuers and co-operative, iii) porformance indicators for both porfolios, and iv) reporting system.  
  • Carry out periodic performance survey of the project-supported rural non-bank financial institutions and assess their performance;

Promoting Financial Instruments

  • Together with the Rural Finance Specialist, identify the critical constraints faced  by the project beneficiaries in accessing financial services offered by non-banking and banking financial institutions; analyze whether the products designed are sufficient, if not, design new products and services;
  • Develop guidelines for implementation of project’s financial instruments such as performance-based matching grants, risk-sharing facility to both – the enterpreneurs and the lending institutions, and migrant’s departure loan buy-back scheme with savings;
  • Work closely with the financial institutions to develop innovative financial instruments specially to address the need of the beneficiaries;

Inceasing Outreach

  • Develop mechanism to support existing networks of agents from financial institutions to strengthen linkages between financial institutions and rural non-bank financial institutions and also to FIs to expand their outreach in rural areas to enable the project benficiaries to access adequate financial products and services through implementaion of branchless banking services;

Developing Conducing Envirnment (Post-MTR)

  • Work closely with Access Advisory, the Philippines-based NGO and implementing agency for a IFAD grant project under Financing Facility on Remittances, to get lessons learned on mobilization of remittances for the productive purposes;
  • Collaborate with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to see a possibility of establishment of a Fiancial Regulatory Commission (FRC) responsible for supervision of non-bank financioal sector;  
  • Pilot test the innovative products such as Equity Financinacing and Investnment Fund with support from Non_Resident Nepali Association; 

Others

  • Call Expression of Interest (EoI) from the FIs; carry out their due diligent exercise, select the FIs for partnership and provide capacity development support if so required;
  • Prepare ToR, select/contract the service providers (SPs) and supervise their work to ensure that the results are delivered of intended quality in a timely manner;
  • Work closely with Migration Specialist and Rural Finance Specialist to prepare annual work plan and budget for activities under Component 2;
  • Work closely with the PM&E Specialist and Data Management Officer in setting up asystem that reflects the project interventions and measures results and outcomes
  • Prepare periodic progress reports, as required, to contribute to the overall progress report of the Project on a timely manner; support the KM Specialist in producing relevant KM products relating to financial inclusion;  
  • Maintain a full list of all financial institutions (non-bank and bank) from within the project area;  update it regularly and obtain periodic progress reports from the partner institutions;
  • Train, guide and coach the Corridor level and ESC staff members on the importance and issues financial inclusion with their potential roles; help them in identifying the activities under Financial Inclusion;
  • Identify research requirement in the area of financial inclusion, if any, and propose technical studies/assistance to the PM as required; 
  • Any other tasks as assigned by the Project Manager

QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES:

  • Post Graduateor higher degree in Economics, Development Economics, Business Adminstration or other relevant  social sciences. 
  • Five years’ of professional experience in a rural development programs or in a formal financial institution with  a minimum of three years experience in access to finance related activities
  • Proven experiences of working on financial inclusions/rural finance issues 
  • A good understanding of migration and remittances issues in Nepal
  • Experience of working with development partners in the field of rural development/enterprise promotion
  • Proven track record of successful working with multi-stakeholders networks 
  • Ability to guide and develop capacities of team members, counterpart staff and other key stakeholders
  • Ability to handle pressure/stress and work within a  tight deadline,  
  • Willing to undertake field visits and provide on-the-spot guidance to field level staff
  • Full working knowledge of MS Office softwares 
  • Excellent communication skills - spoken and written both in Nepali and English

Desirable

  • Experiences in cooperative promotion and management
  • Understanding of the IFAD system and procedures

Salary and Benefits

  • The salary will be paid for only twelve (12) months and is negotiable within the range between NPR. 120,000 to NPR 145,000 as decided by the Project Manager. 
  • Tax on the salary will be applicable as per the prevailing GON rules and regulation. 
  • Travel and the Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be as per the prevailing GON rule as applied for the gazetted class II officer while traveling out of the work station for official purpose. 

Other Entitlements

  • Leave: The Specialist will be provided with 21 days of home leave and 6 days of casual leave annually, which will not be carried over to the next year. S/he will also be provided 12 days of sick leave per year, which if not consumed, will be carried over to the next year. The unspent sick leave will be compensated as per the existing salary scale at the time of termination of the contract or closing of the Project. In addition, s/he will also be provided with Mourning Leave – 15 days, Maternity Leave -2 months for women (15 days for men, for maternity care leave) and all public holidays.
  • Insurance: The Specialist has to insure his/her life including accidental insurance. The Project will reimburse 50 % of the monthly premium for the period working with the Project, not exceeding Rs. 300 per month, upon submission of copy of insurance policy and receipts.

Performance Assessment

The performance assessment of the Admin/Finance Officer will be based on the quality and timely completion of the tasks assigned and contributions to the Project outputs and outcomes. Details on the indicators for performance assessment will be negotiated and agreed upon on a later stage once s/he signs contract with the Project. The Project reserves the right to terminate the contract if the performance of the MS is assessed as unsatisfactory.

These Terms of Reference are subject to revision/update annually per requirement of the Project based on planning trajectory, modification in project design, or as recommended by Joint Reviews/Supervision Missions and lessons learned during the course of implementation.

Overview

Category Development and Project
Openings 1
Experience 5+ years
Education Post Graduate / Masters in related field.
Posted Date 20 Oct, 2016
Apply Before 30 Oct, 2016
City