Associate at BFA (Bankable Frontier Associates)

Job description

BFA Practice Area: Policy & Ecosystem Development

Expertise: Project and Program Management

Start Date: As soon as possible

Location: Boston, Nairobi, New York, or Washington, DC (must be eligible to work in Kenya or the United States without sponsorship)

About the Policy & Ecosystem Development practice: Policy & Ecosystem Development (PED) supports policymakers, regulators, and supervisors as they face an increasingly complex and data-rich market for financial services. We work with financial authorities to design, test, and implement sound policies that advance the provision of financial services to low-income, underserved, and unbanked customers. We assist our clients throughout the policy cycle – helping them in policy design and implementation, and conducting impact evaluations. To develop smarter, proportional, risk-based regulation, we work with our clients to develop technology-enabled solutions for the collection, analysis, and usage of data by financial authorities. We also work with clients in the private sector to assess regulatory environments for their business and to improve compliance and risk management. Our aim is to foster innovation and create competitive markets while ensuring that consumers are treated fairly. Our portfolio includes clients like CGAP, Facebook, FSD Africa, GSMA, MasterCard Foundation, Omidyar Network, The Better Than Cash Alliance, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the United States Agency for International Development, as well as developing country financial authorities.

Job description: We are looking for an Associate with strong project and program management skills to support our current and future projects with financial authorities, financial service providers, and other financial inclusion stakeholders. While we do not expect you to be an expert in policy or regulatory issues related to financial inclusion (such as mobile money, branchless banking, etc.), we want you to be able to quickly understand these concepts so that you can work effectively with the PED practice, other BFA practices, and our partners and clients.

As an Associate, your primary role will be to:

• Manage individual projects on a day-to-day basis, including assigning tasks, tracking budgets, preparing contracts and other documents, and providing status reports to colleagues and clients.
• Facilitate knowledge management across projects and between the PED team and other BFA practice areas (Inclusive Fintech, Consumer Insights, Business Insights, and Finance for Life).
• Support the PED Director and other PED team members with overall program management, such as arranging meetings, compiling notes, and keeping track of staff utilization and project profitability.
• Additional tasks will depend upon project requirements determined by our client-driven work. The job will require travel and working with stakeholders around the world. We’d like a colleague who: (i) Believes in the importance of financial inclusion and the value of nuanced and efficient regulation to shape markets and protect consumers; (ii) Is eager to learn from and collaborate with colleagues; (iii) Is proactive and comfortable speaking up; (iv) Delivers on time and is detail-oriented; and (v) Is both humble and curious about the impact that we can have.

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation;
• A chance to work on actual challenges in developing countries and have a real impact on improving the quality of services available to low-income households;
• Exposure to leading thinkers, researchers, and solution creators in the financial and tech space; and
• Significant professional growth potential.
• Desired skills and experience: The ideal candidate for the position should have the following qualifications, skills, and experience:
• Passion for the work we are doing at BFA on developing inclusive and resilient financial sectors;
• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in public policy, international affairs, international business, or another relevant field (or equivalent professional experience);
• Experience in project management and program management;
• Ability to work in an unstructured environment and balance competing priorities;
• Excellent written and oral communications skills;
• English language proficiency (the company is global, and English is the standard language); and
• Willingness to travel up to 33% on average.

Any of the following will be considered a plus:

• Understanding of FinTech and the technologies used by financial service providers;
• Exposure to the financial/tech/telco industries in Africa or other emerging markets;
• Experience in management consulting (or similar) related to the policy-making process or organizational change generally;
• Experience with monitoring and evaluation and/or cost-effectiveness studies;
• Professional familiarity with different cultures and languages;
• Experience developing qualitative research tools like questionnaires and focus group guides; and
• Proficiency in other languages.