Consultant - Poverty & Social Protection

The Poverty and Social Protection team at Oxford Policy Management currently seeks a Consultant. The position will be located in Berlin.

We are an international development consultancy working to improve lives through sustainable policy change in low- and middle-income countries. Our vision is for fair public policy that benefits both people and the planet. 

Through our global network of offices, we work in partnership with national stakeholders and decision makers to research, design, implement and evaluate public policy. We draw on our local and international sector experts to provide the very best evidence-based support. We deliver projects with expert knowledge and experience and can be relied upon for excellence in all aspects of project delivery. We work collaboratively, with ambition, to help deliver high-impact public policy that will bring about lasting change. 

The Poverty and Social Protection team supports governments and development partners in low- and middle-income countries to develop nationally-owned, effective and inclusive social protection systems (see our flier). We specialise in combining thought-leadership with technical expertise and an understanding of context and the political economy of policy change.

We work globally, with team members based in Germany, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania and the UK, supported by a wide network of trusted associates. We also work closely with other Practices within OPM, including Climate, Sustainability and Resilience, Governance and Education.

Our projects span the entire policy cycle, from in-depth poverty and vulnerability analysis to strategy development, program design, and rigorous evaluation. Our thematic areas of focus include shock responsive social protection, inclusive social protection, social protection financing, digitisation and innovation, and climate and economic inclusion.  

Position Summary

The Consultant’s main role is to manage and provide technical leadership for our major GIZ-supported project, Global Alliances for Social Protection (GASP).  This will comprise approximately half of your time. Beyond this, you will have the opportunity to work across and lead a range of projects that are on-going within the team, including playing a technical role on call down commissions under GASP, and through bidding for new projects. 

We are looking for a colleague who has project management skills, an understanding of GIZ and their priorities, analytical rigour, and experience of working on social protection, including in developing country contexts.

You will be well organised, confident at multi-tasking and managing multiple relationships including with partners, governments and external contractors. Project management expertise is key, as well as experience with client management and engagement, particularly with GIZ. You will be passionate about social protection and poverty reduction and developing your profile as a thought-leader in the area. You will be able to provide technical policy advice, research and technical assistance inputs across projects. 

 

As a Consultant, Policy and Social Protection at OPM you will:

Project management  

• Respond to requests from GIZ (both central teams and country offices) to draft or refine terms of reference for call-down assignments, ensuring that they are coherent with clear deliverables.  
• Lead recruitment of external consultants in response to GIZ needs: utilise networks and online channels to support sourcing experts that meet call-down requirements, and widen and deepen these networks over time. 
• Work closely with the GASP project manager to ensure that compliance checks for the subcontracting of experts is conducted; they are contracted and on-boarded effectively; and they complete monthly timesheets as required by GIZ. 
• Work closely with the GASP project manager to manage invoicing (of consultants to OPM, and OPM to GIZ);  track spend against budget; and ensure efficient organization of project documentation (workplans, contracts, deliverables, budgets and spend) for internal (OPM) and external (GIZ) reporting.  
• Escalate issues requiring technical advice that need to be referred to technical experts within OPM  
• Work with the GASP team leader to quality assure deliverables under the project. 

Relationship management 

• Participate in GIZ client meetings to specify requirements, feedback and ensure alignment with project objectives. 
• Facilitate smooth communication between GIZ and the project team by assisting with meeting logistics, documentation and follow-ups. 
• Work alongside OPM’s Key Account Manager for GIZ/ BMZ to strengthen OPM’s corporate relationship with German donors.  
• Maintain relationships with partners and key external consultants under GASP. 

 Technical contribution 

• Undertake research, data collection, and basic data analysis as required by different projects, including but not limited to call downs under GASP. 
• Provide research and support in areas consistent with the practice’s service areas including social protection system strengthening, shock-responsive social protection, digital social protection and social protection monitoring, poverty and vulnerability analysis, and evaluation and learning.
• Prepare document summaries and annotated bibliographies. 

Business development 

• Support research and support for pre-positioning, including carrying out market research and facilitating fact finding missions.  
• Contribute to preparation of medium and large bids and under supervision, lead small bids and proposals to completion.   

Collaboration and teamwork 

• Work cohesively with other team members, ensuring timely and efficient completion of assigned tasks. 
• Share any relevant findings or insights with the broader OPM team, promoting knowledge exchange and collective growth. 

Continuous learning and development 

• Actively engage in personal and professional development opportunities provided by OPM. 
• Contribute to wider team learning through internal seminars and/or blogs etc. 
• Stay updated with the latest trends, research, and methodologies relevant to your role and OPM's focus areas.

Key qualifications/experience/skills/behaviours:

• Master's degree in a relevant field such as Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy, International Development, or a related discipline. 
• Solid grounding and recent track record of delivering high quality applied research, evaluation and technical assistance projects in low- and middle-income countries with a focus on poverty analysis or social protection. 
• Experience at technically managing complex projects with multiple workstreams. 
• Experience with BMZ, GIZ and/or KfW Development Bank, including prior understanding of GIZ priorities and work on poverty and social protection 
• Desire to grow professionally in line with the requirements of the role, including management of projects and development of new or further in-depth technical expertise. 
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and clients, both verbally and in writing. 
• Ability to cope with multitasking across several projects and PSP team outputs simultaneously, to agreed deadlines. 
• Team player but with the ability to use own guidance and initiative to prioritise work and handle different demands appropriately. 
• Ability to organise work methodically and prioritise appropriately. 
• Ability and willing to be flexible and take on new challenges. 
• Ability and willing to develop the role to help to improve systems and ways of working. 
• Bi- or multi-lingual ability - fluency in English and an understanding of German. Other languages are desirable e.g. French.  

Our offer:

• We enable colleagues’ capacity to grow professionally through enhanced learning resources, opportunities to work across functions, and space to engage with a range of internal and external events in the international development sector. 
• Our non-hierarchical culture values support, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and a rich diversity of perspectives.
• We provide an exceptionally generous annual leave entitlement and a hybrid working model to encourage and enable healthy work/life balance.
• Wellbeing resources including a global Employee Assistance Programme and access to the UnMind app.

We are strengthened by the diversity of colleagues across our global business and are committed to being an equal opportunities employer, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace for all. Our recruitment practices reflect our ambition to make the international development sector more inclusive and firm belief that our work delivers the best outcomes when we actively include a diversity of perspectives and experiences.

Application

If you share our vision for fair public policy that benefits both people and planet, we would love to hear from you.  We review and interview applicants on a rolling basis and encourage you to apply by way of CV via our careers site at the earliest. We may close this advertisement before the published closing date, should a suitable candidate be identified.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role and you must have a pre-existing right to work in Germany for your application to be considered

Oxford Policy Management is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of the business.? Should you require adjustments to make the application process more accessible please contact us via: recruitment@opml.co.uk