Job Opportunity for Project Manager/Consultant – Action Research on BC Network Model at Grameen Foundation in Gurgaon

Position: Project Manager/Consultant – Action Research on BC Network

Location: Gurgaon/Remote with frequent travel to project sites

About GFI: Grameen Foundation India (GFI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Grameen Foundation USA works with the mission to enable the poor, especially the women to create a world without poverty and hunger. GFI’s program portfolio spans the sectors of financial inclusion and livelihoods and is particularly recognized for its work on deploying cutting edge digital platforms and solutions to solve the most pressing problems faced by the poor and vulnerable.

About the Opportunity: GFI is implementing a large scale Action Research Project to Strengthen the Business Correspondent Model (BC Model) in India. The BC Model has emerged as a key pillar to drive financial inclusion in India, particularly amongst women and low income populations in remote locations, with over 1 million BC agents spread across the length and breadth of the country. This project aims to address key challenges faced by the BC Agents and BC Networks, such as low productivity, profitability and customer stickiness by designing and implementing a number of action research pilot projects across the country with a vision that an effective BC Model will drive financial inclusion and financial well-being of low income populations in rural areas, particularly women.

Reporting and relationships: The position reports to the Project Director of Grameen Foundation India. The PM/consultant will directly supervise staff, local implementing partners and contractors related to the project.

Availability: The Project Manager/Consultant will be expected to work a typical work week of 40 hours, plus additional hours to get the job done. The position will be based at project sites in select towns in India. This position will need to be flexible to work in local conditions, and be available to work across different time zones. This position will require intensive travel to field locations and partner branches for project related work.travel (20%-30%) within India.

Job Summary: Project Manager/Consultant will use comprehensive experience, skills and knowledge in Business Correspondent model, banking and financial services and Digital Financial Services to direct all activities related to integration of digital financial services towards deepening financial inclusion. He/she will work directly with the Grameen Foundation’s global and country-level teams to uncover opportunities and innovative solutions and services in partnership with technology Service Providers (TSPs) and local implementation partners, develop project plans and execute projects. Prior experience in digital payment solutions, financial education, rural community engagement and training would be essential for the role.

Essential Job Functions:

Key Responsibilities

• Plans, develop, and maintain procedures, equipment, and policies that have an impact in all facets of research; lead program strategy, program management, technology approach, implementation methodology, quality control, and support for the program; perform complex experiments, data collection, and data analysis.
• Research, evaluate and implement new technologies, customer experience and engagement, business modelling, training and stakeholder management
• Manage project operations, work with individuals internal and external to project/program to exchange information, solve problems, resolve conflicts, develop workflow processes, allocate department resources across projects, and ensure efficient and effective implementations of initiatives
• Digital Financial Services expertiseUse Human Centered Design process to research client needs and context regarding adoption of Digital financial services, integrate those learnings in project plan and develop systems and processes to onboard low- income clients onto digital financial services platform
• Deep understanding of various channels of financial service providers to deliver Digital financial services – especially using the Business Correspondent and Agency channel and develop ideas on how to leverage those channels to deliver Digital financial services
• Apply the GF innovation process to the workstreams, including identifying key research questions deploying innovative research techniques, and leveraging resulting insights to drive digital finance adoption and usage.
• Contribute in other initiatives of the Innovations in Digital Finance vertical of GFI

Project Management

• Develop detailed project plans with associated milestones and work with internal and external personnel to ensure goals, timelines and quality parameters are achieved using Project Management tools
• Design pilot, scale-up and replication strategy
• Keep internal and external stakeholders informed on the progress of the projects
• Evaluate, hire and manage resources needed to support the project
• Create and manage budgets, and track progress against budgets

Partner Relationship Management

• Act as primary contact for the implementing partners
• Proactively recognize and address concerns/ issues and use set communication protocols and methods to maintain an open, transparent and trusting relationship
• Prepare reporting documentation and lead regular stakeholder discussions with the partners, including but not limited to Monthly Updates and Quarterly Reports. Ensure partners are involved throughout the process to create shared ownership of deliverables.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• Deep commitment to eradication of poverty and alignment with Grameen Foundation’s mission
• Outstanding project management skills with proven track record of achievement under a range of challenging situations and multi-stakeholder arrangements
• Experience of working on financial services for the poor, mobile and digital financial services.
• Ability to act as a representative of the project in public forums

Education and Experience

• At least 4-5 years of relevant professional experience
• Master’s degree, such as MBA or equivalent

Additional Comment: The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances. GFI offers a competitive compensation package.

How to apply: Interested candidates may apply by sending their updated resumes and letter of motivation to mghose@grameenfoundation.in mentioning “Project Manager/Consultant – BC” in the subject line and confirming the current and expected compensation and earliest joining date.

Grameen Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and encourages female candidates to apply.