Intervention Leader – Finance At DEEPEN

Job Profile

We are a £1.1 billion management, engineering and development consultancy with 15,000 staff and a global reach spanning six continents. Our network of 170 principal offices in 140 countries gives us local market insight backed by world class expertise to deliver excellence for every client.
DEEPEN is a five-year UK government-funded programme designed to improve the quality of education in private schools in Nigeria.
The programme will support low-cost schools in particular and is initially focused on the private school market in Lagos.


The Intervention Leader for Finance will design, manage and lead the programme’s interventions and activities to facilitate an increased use of and access to financial services and products to support improvements in Lagos’ private schools.
With guidance and assistance from the Team Leader, Portfolio Manager/Deputy Team Leader and Results and Learning (R&L) Leader, the Intervention Leader will also work to monitor and measure the impact of DEEPEN and to develop synergies across the programme to reduce the effect of wider market constraints.
Poor performance and overcrowding in Lagos’ public school system have fuelled a vibrant and growing market in private education.
Over 1 million children of primary and pre-primary age are now enrolled in 18,000 private schools with equal numbers of girls and boys.
However, only a quarter of such schools are formally approved and consequently the quality of education they offer remains unknown and open to doubt.
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Nigeria has initiated an innovative programme to use a market-development approach to improve learning outcomes in Lagos’ private schools.
Through a Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) methodology, the DEEPEN programme will work through tailored interventions to create an enabling environment and improve the conditions for all private schools, with a particular focus on those that cater for girls and low-income families.
Specifically, DEEPEN will aim to

Job Description

Accountabilities and Responsibilities The Intervention Leader for Finance will have primary responsibility for all programme activities and interventions (including monitoring and results measurement (MRM)) within the Finance work stream.
Working together with the Team Leader, the Portfolio Manager/Deputy Team Leader and other team members, s/he will: Intervention Design and Management
Design and manage the overall intervention strategy within the Finance work stream;
Develop and manage the budget for each intervention and activity, and the Finance work stream overall;
Develop an activity plan and results chain for each intervention and reviewing such documents on a periodic (at least quarterly) basis;
Provide a written progress report to the Portfolio Manager/Deputy Team Leader on a monthly basis and contribute to the quarterly programme reports to DFID;
Participate in monthly team meetings to report on progress within the Finance work stream; Monitoring, Results Measurement and Learning
Support the R&L Leader to develop an effective MRM system in respect of the Finance work stream;
Comply with the requirements of the MRM system as instructed by the R&L Leader in respect of the Finance work stream;
Provide the R&L team with regular data on work stream activities and progress as required;
Provide the Communications Officer with information on the Finance interventions and activities as required; New Interventions
Explore and initiate new interventions, activities and/or partnerships for the Finance work stream to achieve outputs, outcomes and impacts within the work stream and across the programme in accordance with the agreed logical framework;

Conduct analysis of the constraints on the private education system relating to the inadequate access to finance, identify areas for potential research and relay such recommendations to the R&L Leader and Research Officer;
Liaise and work with the other programme Intervention Leaders to discuss current activities (including challenges, failures

Candidate Specification

Competencies, Skills, Qualifications and Experience Required:
Significant professional experience working on finance and/or microfinance projects or programmes, ideally with experience in international and/or social development.

Education to first level degree or equivalent.
Effective people and team management skills.
Excellent organisational and communication skills.
Strong project management, financial and budgeting skills.
Fluent in English (spoken, reading and writing) with good writing skills.
Experience working in international and cross-cultural contexts.
Confidence/proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and email packages.
Attention to detail and accuracy. Desirable:
First degree and/or Masters in finance, economics, education and/or international development.

Experience working with mobile money schemes and/or conducting financial research.
Experience working in education, private education and/or low-cost private schools.
Experience working in multi-disciplinary teams in projects or programmes with components of social development and/or poverty reduction.
Experience working with donor agencies (specifically DFID).
Experience conducting training and facilitating workshops in a developing and cross-cultural context. 

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