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Project Officer, Solutions for the Poorest

Program:                    Integrated Livelihoods Model (ILM)/Livelihood Pathways for the Poorest (LPP)
Position Location:      Gaya, Bihar
Start Date:                 September 1, 2011
 
Background:
Grameen Foundation India (GFI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Grameen Foundation USA and has been set up with the primary purpose of using microfinance and technology solutions to "enable the poor, especially the poorest, to create a world without poverty." GFI will provide several products and services in areas of technology, human resources management, social performance management and developing sustainable business models to social enterprises in India.
 
The Solutions for the Poorest (SfP) team, in collaboration with BASIX/The Livelihood School (TLS), is implementing an Action Research Project to test and demonstrate the possibility that a single institution can provide integrated financial and livelihood development services as a holistic approach to servicing the economic needs of the very poor, while also making sound business sense for the institution. This pilot will demonstrate that:
 
1)      Microfinance services can be effectively utilized even by very poor populations provided that they are bundled with additional services, such as livelihood development, to help them engage in more viable activities; and
2)      Providing these bundled services to a very poor customer segment, in addition to existing target customers, can be a viable business strategy for a microfinance institution.
 
The project is being implemented in Gaya, Bihar and is reaching 200 very poor households that were identified through a composite targeting tool designed to ensure inclusion of households currently excluded from other microfinance programs and government schemes. Another 50 households of similar demographics are being monitored as a control group for a comparative assessment of the impact of these services against various socioeconomic indicators.
 
Job Summary:
The Program Officer will report to the GFI CEO. The PO will be expected to work alongside the TLS Program Manager to assess the needs and challenges of the extreme poor in Belagunj block, Gaya district; design customized solutions in response to these needs, and support the management of a sequenced implementation of products, services, and activities to economically uplift 200 extremely poor households and link them to sustainable local markets. Given the innovative nature of the project, the PO will be responsible for detailed project and process level documentation and capture of learnings to facilitate the scaling up of the model within BASIX and replication of the model across other agencies.
 
Responsibilities:
 
Project Execution
·         Coordinate with Project Manager to establish partnerships and communication with government, private, and other non-profit agencies to leverage existing services and mitigate duplication of efforts; translate learnings into strategy to establish linkages between households and welfare schemes
·         Develop strong understanding of other ultra poor programs and methodologies in support of effective product design
o   Provide technical support, as needed, on field research and livelihood and financial product/ service design
·         Participate in project team field visits on an ongoing basis, as needed, to support other project duties (e.g., Livelihood Diaries, product design, documentation, etc.)
·         Oversee financial modeling of Integrated Livelihoods Model
o   Liaise between volunteer and BASIX finance teams to ensure required capture of pricing, costing, and revenue figures to make projections
o   Contribute to development of operational plan with field and product design teams and ensure sharing of information with financial model contributors across agencies
o   Communicate progress of financial modeling with GFI/SfP teams
·         Oversee Livelihood Diaries execution
o   Review Livelihood Diaries concept, methodology, and tools
o   Collect data to maintain Livelihood Diaries on an ongoing basis
o   Consolidate M&E data with additional primary data and develop Livelihood Diaries for 5-10 target households
·         Support Project Manager, as requested, in management and execution of M&E plan
o   Review M&E plan and data collection tools
o   Oversee rolling out of M&E plan and provide technical and logistical support to M&E consultant
 
Documentation
·         Oversee Documentation
o   Review distinction between process, learnings, and research documentation
o   Build upon existing tools to streamline process documentation
o   Consolidate existing documentation and create new documentation where necessary
·         Write success stories, blog posts, and newsletter stories; Provide writing support to project team when producing similar pieces, when appropriate
 
Communication
·         Serve as GFI/SfP’s on the ground point of contact
·         Serve as the primary point of contact in India with TLS and other BASIX companies as requested
·         Communicate progress, challenges, and potential solutions to GFI/SfP through weekly calls; coordinate with TLS Project Manager to communicate with the Central Research Team and Advisory Council and contribute to meeting agendas and content
 
Preferred Skills/Experience:
·         Bachelors degree in rural development, community development, economics, or other related social science; Masters degree preferred
·         At least 5-7 years of practical experience in the development sector, preferably in the microfinance and/or livelihoods space(s); previous ultra poor program experience preferred
·         Demonstrated previous experience designing or implementing either retail financial services or livelihood interventions
·         Ability to engage effectively and nurture trustful relationships with target households
·         Excellent written and verbal skills and able to write quality reports, manuals, guidelines, and case studies
·         Exceptional English comprehension and able to write clearly and professionally
·         Experience working in UP/Bihar
·         Excellent Hindi language skills – familiarity with dialects in Bihar a plus
·         Prior experience in journalism is a plus
·         Strong working knowledge of MS Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
·         Interested candidates are requested to submit their CV with cover letter and 1-2 writing samples, preferably of a completed literature review, assessment report, training guidelines, or other project documentation.
Please mention ‘PO, ILM’ in the subject line and submit all applications to Puja Makad at pmakad@grameenfoundation.in.       
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
 

 

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