Job Title: Unclaimed Assets Study
Field Coordinator
Organisation: World Bank
Location: Nairobi
Closing Date: 25th
January 2014
Commitment Period: 6 months initially, extension likely and
contingent on project and performance
Contract Type: Consultant
1. Summary: The World Bank’s Gender Innovation Lab seeks a
Field Coordinator to work on the development of an impact evaluation with a
Kenyan financial institution on financial assets inheritance, and with other Kenya
partners on land inheritance.
The Field Coordinator will work with a team of researchers
at the World Bank in Washington
DC and the partnering
institutions on a variety of planning and project development tasks intended to
build a viable and mutually agreed upon intervention and implementation plan
for the study.
The FC will then carry out the plan in close partnership
with the financial institution.
2. Background: Often when Kenyans pass on, their loved ones
lose both a family member as well as assets built by that person over his or
her lifetime, leaving surviving spouses and children financially vulnerable.
The existing process to claim a deceased person’s financial
assets through the Kenyan court system is complex, costly, and slow.
It may be years before spouse or dependents to gain access
to lost accounts, and in some instances the cost of claiming the assets may
exceed the assets’ value.
And often, the surviving spouse/children don’t even know
that the asset exists, and thus never even attempt to claim it.
The Unclaimed Assets study partners with Kenyan private for
profit and nonprofit institutions to pilot strategies to
(a) Increase retention or successful claiming of assets by
intended beneficiaries following death of owner (and reduced risk that asset
will be lost when its owner dies);
(b) Reduce transaction costs associated with
transfer/claiming/inheritance of assets; and
(c) Increase sense of financial security, financial
security, and economic wellbeing of asset owner’s household, during and after
the life of the asset owner.
In particular, the study is looking at testing three
different methods, or interventions, towards promoting these objectives:
(1) Working with a financial institution to create a
functioning designated beneficiary system for financial accounts;
(2) Working with a financial institution to promote
specialized joint accounts, where the secondary owner only has rights to the
account upon the primary owner’s death; and
(3) Providing information and legal aid to widows regarding
law giving her right to stay in home & have it titled in her name.
3. Scope of work and tasks:
The first months of the Field Coordinator (FC) position will
involve planning and project development tasks, which will require the Field
Coordinator to draw on his or her creativity, initiative and problem-solving
skills constantly.
The Field Coordinator will have primary responsibility for
building strong relationships with potential partners and stakeholders,
designing viable and appropriate interventions with the study partner,
developing and launching an operations plan and providing day to day
supervision and management of the fieldwork.
Once the study design has been finalized, the FC will be
responsible for making sure that every part of the study is carried out
according to plan.
This means that the FC must be organized and stay on top of
various moving parts of the field study.
Since the FC will be the only member of the research team
who is based in the region where the study is taking place, he/she is expected
to provide frequent feedback and observations on progress and potential
challenges to the research team.
The FC’s scope of work and tasks will include:
Partnership development and management
Take initiative and care to build strong relationships with
study partners at both the management and implementation/ client-facing level.
Meet with representatives of the partnering institutions to
develop a viable and appropriate intervention through constant communication
with the research team.
Help to develop an operations strategy to implement the
intervention and enroll clients according to the mutually agreed upon
interventions.
Provide input on the partner’s marketing and messaging
strategy for the study interventions, and ensure that both the plan and
implementation are in accordance with the study design.
Provide daily coordination between the research team and the
Kenyan study partners and their staff, ensuring that preferences are
effectively communicated between parties, flagging emerging issues that may be
of potential concern to one or both parties, and in general ensuring that
effective and productive collaboration is maintained.
Sample recruitment and management
Ensure that enrollment targets are met. In collaboration
with the WB research team, help oversee the recruitment of existing and new
customers into the study sample and ensure that targets are met on time,
troubleshoot enrollment problems and ensure that all is done in accordance with
the study design.
Help ensure that the interventions are rolled out only to
the clients selected through the research team’s randomization.
Oversee the export of administrative data from the Kenyan
study partners’ computer system for use by the research team.
Communicate progress, milestones and potential problems with
the Kenyan study partners in a timely manner to maintain strong relationships
with both the implementing teams and management.
Oversee and monitor sample enrollment, including planning,
logistics, hiring, and training.
Conduct qualitative research to inform research design, when
necessary.
Run pilot survey exercises, provide feedback on field
operations and survey instruments, and make and monitor improvements.
Day-to-day monitoring and management
Checking in with partners to ensure study activities within
partner's responsibility area are being done and providing troubleshooting and
supporting assistance as needed.
Checking on status of up to 400,000 respondents in the study
sample across the country, even if this task simply involves data retrieval
from partners.
Ensuring all sample participants with dormant accounts
receive follow-up.
For ones who are not alive, ensure interventions reserved
for those post-death happen per the study plan.
Help to create follow-up survey instruments.
Ensure follow-up surveys are carried out per the plan with
selected study participants.
Report Writing and Analysis
Keep both the rest of the research team and Kenyan partner
institutions routinely updated on activities, concerns, and decisions that need
to be made (at least once per week).
Communicate regularly with WB human resources and finance
teams on matters including finance and logistics.
Write up reports on findings from qualitative
investigations.
Document activities, decisions and protocols in an organized
and timely manner.
Write reports with feedback and analysis of how the pilot
interventions seem to be working.
Write reports with feedback and analysis of how the survey
instruments seem to be working.
Assist in the analysis of the survey data, and the writing
of project reports and policy memos.
Resource and Task Management
Ensure activities are carried out on time, and on budget.
Keep detailed accounts of all project program activities, including monitoring
project expenses, and maintaining records of expenditures.
Provide day to day oversight of any additional local
research assistants.
4. Contract Type and Supervision
The initial contract period will be six months, to cover the
period pre- Concept Note approval.
However, we anticipate that upon Concept Note approval for
this study, we will be able to renew and/or extend the contract, and we prefer
a person who can stay on for the duration of the study, which is expected to be
approximately 3 years.
The consultant will report to ETC Tricia Gonwa on a daily
basis, and to TTL Eliana Carranza.
Requirements
The World Bank is seeking candidates who meet the following
requirements:
- Please
note that our preference is for the candidate to be Kenyan, or a resident
of Kenya.
- Masters
(or significant work experience) in statistics, economics, sociology,
anthropology, or related field.
- Demonstrated
ability to manage collaborations between multiple organizations.
- Strong
oral and written communications skills in English, including strong
ability to communicate effectively via phone and email with counterparts
who are located elsewhere.
- Strong
budgeting and financial management skills.
- Strong
oral proficiency in Kiswahili and/or additional languages used in Kenya
is preferred.
- At
least two years of project management experience. Extensive experience
supervising, designing and implementing data collection and/or field work
activities, and managing teams of field workers, is preferred.
- Ability
to work independently and as part of a team.
- Well
organized, detail-oriented, able to prioritize, and manage multiple tasks
simultaneously with minimal supervision.
- Advanced
user of Microsoft office suite (Excel, Word, Power Point), and the
Internet.
- Interest
in pursuing a career in research, non-profit management, public policy, or
financial services outreach is preferred.
- Professional
experience working in the banking or microfinance sector is preferred.
- Experience
in data management, econometrics, and programming in STATA or SPSS is
preferred.
How to Apply:
Please submit your complete CV and cover letter by email to
mhan1@worldbank.org AND courtneyhan@gmail.com using the subject line: WB UA
Field Coordinator Firstname Lastname.
All documents should be submitted as attachments, and the
file names should include the name of the applicant.
The documents may be submitted in Word document or PDF
format.
Applicants who are selected for an interview will be
contacted by email or phone.
Closing Date: January 25, 2014
