Head of Innovation Challenge Fund and MEL

Report to: Chief Executive Officer
Location: Islamabad
Application deadline for the position is September 29, 2019

About Us:

Guided by Karandaaz vision, we believe that every Pakistani deserves to be Financially Included and Economically Empowered. Our Mission at Karandaaz is to Foster economic growth and create jobs through financial inclusion of unbanked individuals and unserved enterprises. Karandaaz Pakistan is a Non-profit organization, based out of Islamabad, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan under Section 42 of the Companies Act 2017. We are supported by Department for International Development (DFID) and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). Karandaaz is governed by an eminent board who set the strategy of the organization and steer it towards achievement of its objectives.

About the Role:

Karandaaz Pakistan (KRN) seeks to hire a Head of Innovation Challenge Fund (ICF) & Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL). The Head of ICF & MEL provides strategic leadership and oversees implementation of the Challenge Fund activities as well as the monitoring and evaluation activities at KRN. Challenge funds are designed to leverage the creative power and commercial instincts of private sector, development institutions and financial service providers to overcome development challenges.

Through its challenge fund, KRN provides competitively sourced grants to test solutions for overcoming market failures that would otherwise prevent a market player from making an initial investment, either from the cost of information discovery, costs of mitigating risks or simple lack of available funding. The ICF also manages a Women Entrepreneurship Challenge that seeks to select and support women-led businesses through business advisory and access to growth capital. The head of ICF will be responsible for designing and executing rounds of the Challenge fund based on themes as approved by the Karandaaz Board of Directors. The candidate’s responsibilities will range from technical design, financial management and administration to mentoring, provision of technical assistance, research and advocacy for challenge fund rounds

Under its MEL function, KRN aims to improve its effectiveness and efficiency through systematic and integrated results-oriented monitoring, evidence review, evaluation and learning. It informs key decision-makers in the organization so they can track performance, improve programme delivery and determine whether KRN’s programmes are aligned with its vision and mission.

Key Responsibilities:

The Head has the overall responsibility for providing strategic direction to ICF and managing all activities related to the Fund. This includes managing programme activities and related budgets, internal and external stakeholder engagement and overseeing the ICF and MEL team. Key activities include:

Innovation Challenge Fund:

  • Conduct research and analysis to develop background knowledge on key challenges to financial inclusion
  • Develop conceptual notes that describe identified challenges through desk research and stakeholder engagement w.r.t. thematic rounds as well as women entrepreneurship challenges (WEC).
  • Lead the activity of designing documentation for soliciting innovative solutions; the documentation includes but is not limited to funding process (eligibility and selection criteria, advisory committee constitution, application forms, guidance notes and systems for fund disbursement, governance, transparency and performance monitoring etc)
  • Contribute to the technical and financial design of the Challenge Fund and WEC.
  • Ensure that the Fund design attracts the target audience, in accordance with BOD guidelines
  • Manage the competitive process for the different rounds of the fund, including proposal screening and selection of grantees
  • Manage the grants/investment process including assessment and oversight, with a strong emphasis on due diligence, Value-for-Money and cost effectiveness
  • Work with the Communications team for promotion of the Challenge Fund among potential grant applicants through use of social and print media, events etc
  • Manage the process of screening and appraisal of applications for funding from a concept note stage, followed by, if successful, by a full proposal. The Head of ICF must ensure that appropriate due diligence is carried out on Grantees’/investees to assess whether their policies adhere to Karandaaz standards and are in line with Karandaaz objectives. Due diligence checks will include assessment of financial management and accounting practices and systems, environmental protection, etc.
  • Oversee and track progress of the grantees through regular reporting and on-site visits; provide troubleshooting support and guidance to grantees to ensure overall objectives and targets for the projects are met.
  • Review progress reports from grantees/investees.
  • Draft periodic reports on the challenge fund rounds for the project management as well as the donors;

Monitoring and Evaluation:

  • Lead the KRN M&E Team and guide them in performance monitoring for all KRN work streams, including but not limited to data quality assessments, baseline studies, impact assessments and third party data verification as per approved annual work plan.
  • Providing overall support, advice, and oversight on program-level monitoring and evaluation.
  • Review all Logframe data and reports for sponsors and stakeholders, including monthly progress reports, quarterly progress reports and annual report to ensure quality and accuracy of reporting.
  • Coordinate and manage annual reviews by sponsors

Candidate Eligibility:

  • At least a Master’s degree in a relevant discipline such as finance, economics;
  • At least Ten years’ experience in international development, Impact investing or Corporate finance, with experience in Grant management highly desirable
  • Experience in structuring programs to target the poor and vulnerable and/or women and youth preferred
  • Proven management capacity with a project track record in comparable development finance assignments
  • Strong quantitative analytical skills and experience in performing independent critical financial analyses of institutions
  • Familiarity with DFID Logframe and M&E frameworks; experience of leading or executing assessments and evaluations
  • Proven ability to work within a complex multi-dimensional organizational environment, strong interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity commensurate with the highly visible role of the head of ICF
  • Fluency in written and spoken English, including proven effective presentation and report writing skills.
  • Ability to interface with and manage stakeholders at senior level
  • Ability to work to multiple and tight deadlines with a commitment to quality, accuracy and attention to detail
  • Team player and self-starter, shows initiative; works independently; has innate curiosity; passion for research, analysis and delivering insights to the market

Culture and Values at Karandaaz

Karandaaz Culture is guided by our values of Innovation, Collaboration, Accountability, Respect and Equity (ICARE). These values shape our choices on what we do and how we do it, both with colleagues internally and partners externally. We also believe that we are all responsible for creating a great place to work and are constantly looking to hire individuals who bring the same level of passion and commitment to the purpose of the organization.

If you believe in Karandaaz vision and values and feel excited about the work we are offering, please send your resume with a cover letter for this position to careers@karandaaz.com.pk clearly mentioning the position title in the subject line. We will be accepting submissions till 29th September 2019. 

Interested candidates can also apply through this link: https://karandaaz.webhr.co/hr/careers/

Karandaaz is an equal opportunity employer. Women and people with disabilities and encouraged to apply.

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Non-profit company registered under Section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017