Social Protection Consultants

1. POSITIONS VACANT: Social Protection Consultants (SPCs), International Development Agency (IDA), [Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh (1), Hyderabad, Telangana (1), and Bangalore, Karnataka (1)]

2. ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND:

Our client, a respected International Development Agency (IDA), is dedicated to promoting the rights of every child and ensuring equity for the most disadvantaged and excluded populations. Social protection programs, including social assistance and insurance mechanisms, are a key component of IDA's efforts to reduce poverty, vulnerability, and exclusion among children and other vulnerable groups.

3. PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT

IDA’s Hyderabad Field Office (HFO) is providing technical and operational support to the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in developing and operationalizing an integrated, harmonized social protection system, contributing to its two main goals: Increasing coverage of social protection programs in the states and increasing their efficiency in reducing poverty for children including children with disability.

The support provided comprises the building of a gender sensitive social protection system and analytical work to help the Governments define social protection policies, strategies, financing, and operations; cross-sectorial support including social protection prior actions for Climate Change and Poverty Reduction. The development of the building blocks for social protection, requires an increase in operational capacity at the decentralized level and enhanced coordination and collaboration along with the improved service delivery to meet the objectives of sustainable poverty reduction. The operational support being provided focusses on building the basic blocks for the social protection system in the states, including a targeting system, an integrated social registry, and a payment system.

4. SCOPE OF WORK:

IDA is engaging and deploying a Social Protection Consultant (SPC) in each of the three states, to support the respective state governments in improving social protection strategies and developing a comprehensive, integrated social protection system that includes a social registry for children. The three SPCs will work in close collaboration with government agencies, civil society partners, and IDA program teams across sectors such as education, health, child protection, and water and sanitation.

Reporting to the Social Policy Specialist, at IDA - HFO, for guidance and direction, the SPCs will be responsible for supporting the concerned state government in improving social protection strategies and developing a comprehensive, integrated social protection system. This will include maintenance of a social registry for realizing the rights of the children and close collaboration and advocacy with the respective state governments encompassing strategic planning and formulation of policy papers to the delivery of concrete and sustainable results. Their role will entail working in close association with government and civil society partners, as well as linkages and cross sectoral co-ordination with various government departments and IDA programme teams working on education, health, child protection, water and sanitation.

5. JOB DESCRIPTION/ RESPONSIBILITIES:

The SPCs will facilitate the establishment of an integrated social protection system capable of capturing real-time transactional data to enable responsive decision-making and improved program implementation. Their role also involves developing state-specific recommendations for improving social protection schemes.

Key Functions, Accountabilities and Related Duties/ Tasks:
(1) Support the state governments in creating an IT enabled social registry system that includes collecting timely information on drivers of change that contribute to reducing impacts such as stunting, anaemia, learning loss/ dropping out of school. The social registry developed will move beyond the entitlement management system as its core function, to the collection, analysis and correlation of the drivers of deprivation to corresponding services that exists through the public or government service delivery mechanism;

(2) Support the state governments in improving cross sectoral linkages with service delivery in the areas of improved realization and effectiveness of social protection strategies;

(3) Identify key challenges at the policy, program and administrative levels for cash transfer programs, developing evidence-based solutions to address key concerns (dependency, lack of fiscal space, exclusion) using a child lens;

(4) Explore the political economy of social contracts and financing of safety nets in general and cash transfers in particular in the states with specific schemes for children and adolescents;

(5) Initiate and conduct state level studies and projects involving the redesign of existing social protection schemes and the development of targeted cash transfers to responding children specially the disadvantaged groups;

(6) The SPCs will map and chart the necessary business processes in the service delivery and ensure that the social registry will relay dynamic, real-time, transactional data to relevant line departments and stakeholders within the state governments to enable faster and informed decision making at various levels;

(7) Make recommendations, advocate and support the state governments in undertaking a harmonized approach to cash transfers and adopting the development of an integrated social protection system for children;

(8) Undertake a study in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, as well as relevant districts in Karnataka and Telangana, to understand the vulnerabilities and deprivations caused by floods, cyclones, and other weather events. The study should make recommendations on adjusting relevant social protection measures to address the acute risks and vulnerabilities associated with the sudden onset of climatic shocks in each state;

(9) Collect, analyze and disseminate key lessons and best practices emerging from safety nets and cash transfer implementation in the states, including on targeting and beneficiaries’ registration, grievances and redress mechanisms, monitoring and evaluations and MIS;

(10) Establish effective partnerships with the state governments, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals;

(11) Closely work with the government, NGO and other stakeholders on social protection and labour issues.

6. QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES:

Qualification and Experience:

Advanced university degree (Masters) or PhD in Economics, Public Policy (Social Policy), International Development, or other relevant disciplines from a recognized international, or national university.

Experience:

(1) At least eight to 10 years of overall operational experience in the development field, preferably in the social sectors in India;

(2) Five years of experience in program design and implementation in social protection. Experience in Southern states is desirable;

(3) Credible body of work at the policy level with the state and or national governments in reformulating an existing government scheme, or creating a new policy in social protection covering child benefits, pensions, conditional cash transfers, insurance linked social welfare schemes, direct benefit transfers, etc.;
(4) Extensive knowledge of social safety net systems and their implementation in India;
(5) Experience of working on social safety nets and social protection in other countries will be an advantage;

(6) Prior experience of working with a UN entity shall be preferred.

Skills and Competencies:
(1) Sound understanding of the tools and techniques (including international models) for designing an integrated social protection system and social registry including financing models;

(2) Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain productive and professional relationships with senior government counterparts, donors, civil society and other stakeholders, to influence change in the decision-making process and formulation of policy;

(3) High capacity for organization and coordination, as well as the ability to work with a high degree of independence in a team environment;

(4) Familiarity with national and state schemes for children will be a strong advantage;

(5) Candidates should have excellent written and oral communication skills;

(6) Ability to work in a cross-cutting team and a wide variety of stakeholders within and outside the government is essential;

(7) Candidates must have excellent interpersonal, negotiation and presentation skills;

(8) Ability to research, collect and collate public expenditure data and present it in a coherent manner is essential;

(9) Excellent analytical and report writing skills are important;
(10) Data and information management with strong computer proficiency with regular MS Office is mandatory

7. LANGUAGE:

Professional proficiency in English is mandatory. Ability to speak and write Telugu is preferred for the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana roles and Kannada for the Karnataka role.

8. COMPENSATION OFFERED:

Remuneration payable to the selected candidates in the form of professional fees, shall be attractive and in alignment with market norms.

9. SUPERVISON:

The SPCs will report to the Social Policy Specialist, IDA -HFO, and coordinate closely with senior staff in the respective state government departments.
 

10. NUMBER of VACANCIES and LOCATION (s):

Three: Vijayawada-1, Hyderabad-1 and Bangalore-1.

10. OFFICIAL TRAVEL INVOLVED:

Travel to districts and relevant government offices within the respective states, as necessary.

11. MODALITY AND DURATION OF ENGAGEMENT:

The SPCs will be issued consultancy contract by a third-party service provider. They will not be staff members of IDA and will work closely with the respective state governments under the supervision of the IDA’s Social Policy Specialist at HFO. The overall duration of their contracts will be 12 months from the date of issuance.

13. REFERENCE: CPC-AP-KA-TS-IDA

14. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Team SAMS
Strategic Alliance Management Services P Ltd.
1/1B, Choudhary Hetram House, Bharat Nagar 
New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025
Phone Nos.: 011- 4081 9900; 4165 3612

15. APPLICATION PROCESS: 

Eligible candidates interested in the position are requested to submit their applications on or before April 10, 2025.