Financial Inclusion and Services Consultant

Mercy Corps

17d•Hybrid

About The Position

The purpose of this consultancy roster is to establish a pool of potential consultants who may be considered for future consultancy opportunities with Mercy Corps. Inclusion on the roster does not guarantee selection, engagement, or any contractual obligation. Mercy Corps seeks to establish a global roster of experienced Financial Inclusion (FI) consultants to provide targeted, high-quality technical support across a range of market systems and financial sector development programs. The consultant roster will be used by country teams, regional teams, and headquarters to address short-term technical gaps in financial inclusion programming. Assignments may range from remote diagnostic research, proposal development, and program design support to in-country deployment for financial sector assessments, technical assistance to partner financial institutions, and design of blended finance mechanisms. Consultants may also be engaged to provide technical troubleshooting and advisory support during program start-up, scale-up, or transition phases. This SoW outlines the scope, expectations, and typical deliverables for consultants engaged under this roster, organized by thematic area. Specific assignments will be governed by individual consultancy agreements or task orders aligned to this overarching SoW, with activities and deliverables tailored to the needs of the relevant program and context.

Requirements

Advanced degree or equivalent professional experience in finance, economics, international development, or a related field.
7–10+ years of experience in financial inclusion and financial sector development, including direct field-based program experience.
Familiarity with digital financial services and agent banking in low-income markets is a must.
Demonstrated experience conducting financial sector diagnostics, supply-and-demand assessments, and/or value chain finance analyses.
Experience designing or implementing financial products, blended finance mechanisms, or risk-sharing instruments for financial institutions serving MSEs and smallholder farmers.
Experience delivering technical assistance and training to formal financial institutions, including MFIs and commercial banks, and informal FSPs.
Strong proposal development skills, including technical writing for institutional donors such as FCDO, SIDA, SDC, and the EU.
Proven ability to translate technical analysis into practical, actionable recommendations for program teams and partners.
Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills.
Willingness and ability to travel and work in complex and dynamic operating environments.
Fluency in English required

Nice To Haves

Experience with Sharia-compliant financial products and services.
Experience with climate finance, green lending, or payments for ecosystem services.
Strong understanding of the capital stack and linkages with impact investment.
Experience working across multiple geographic regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
French, Arabic, Portuguese, and/or Spanish preferred.

Responsibilities

Strengthen the technical quality and contextual relevance of financial inclusion programming across Mercy Corps’ portfolio of market systems and financial sector development programs.
Provide hands-on technical leadership for financial sector diagnostics, product design, and technical assistance to partner financial institutions, including banks, MFIs, and non-bank financial service providers.
Support country and regional teams to design, launch, and adapt financial inclusion interventions that are evidence-based, commercially viable, and responsive to the needs of underserved populations, including women, youth, and conflict-affected communities.
Enhance institutional capacity to mobilize and implement funding for financial inclusion activities, including through proposal development and blended finance mechanism design.
Ensure financial inclusion programming reflects global best practice, relevant national regulatory frameworks, and donor requirements.
Lead or support financial sector diagnostic studies, including supply-side mapping of financial service providers (FSPs), products, distribution channels, and market segmentation.
Conduct demand-side assessments to analyze the financing needs, constraints, and behaviors of target populations, including MSEs, smallholder farmers, agribusinesses, and marginalized groups.
Map unmet financing needs by quantifying gaps between supply and demand, including the estimated size and characteristics of underserved markets.
Assess agricultural value chains or target sectors to identify key market actors, systemic constraints, and opportunities relevant to financial inclusion.
Evaluate the enabling environment, including national policies, regulations, and digital financial services frameworks that govern financial inclusion.
Analyze the financing sources, constraints, and capital needs of financial institutions to inform liquidity support or investment facilitation interventions.
Produce clear, evidence-based assessment reports and briefing notes suitable for program design and donor decision-making.
Support or lead the development of high-quality financial inclusion proposals and concept notes, often under tight deadlines.
Serve as Technical Lead for financial inclusion components within complex market systems or financial sector development proposals.
Support country teams in developing strategic access to finance roadmaps identifying viable intervention pathways, potential FSP partners, mechanisms, indicative targets, roles and responsibilities, and budget.
Recommend priority value chains or sectors based on scale-up potential, smallholder farmer opportunities, climate considerations, and the potential to attract investment.
Draft or review technical narratives, logframes, theories of change, and indicator frameworks for financial inclusion programming.
Ensure alignment with donor priorities (e.g. FCDO, SIDA, SDC, EU) and global best practice in financial inclusion and market systems development.
Design and deliver training to partner FSPs on topics such as financial analysis, risk management, product pricing, cash flow management, and inclusive lending. Particular emphasis will be placed on supporting the digitization of both operations and customer-facing products and services.
Support FIs to design and finalize new or improved financial products, including tailored loan products, savings instruments, and Sharia-compliant offerings, using a practical, applied learning approach.
Provide follow-up technical support to partner FIs to pilot and deploy new products, strengthen distribution channels, and refine marketing and outreach approaches.
Assist FIs to review and improve Business Development Services (BDS) materials, tailoring content to the specific needs of target sectors and the MSMEs within them.
Review existing blended finance mechanisms relevant to the target context — including risk-sharing facilities, loan guarantee funds, and concessional lending arrangements — and identify lessons learned and replication opportunities.
Facilitate stakeholder consultations to define requirements and design parameters for risk-sharing or guarantee mechanisms, including Sharia-compliant structures where required.
Design risk-sharing products or mechanisms that incentivize FI lending to target sectors, clearly defining governance, operating model, key stakeholder roles, and an implementation roadmap.
Evaluate potential blended finance sources — including impact funds, development finance institutions, donor capital, and diaspora investment — and develop strategies for engagement and capitalization.
Analyze the specific financial barriers, needs, and opportunities facing women, youth, IDPs, conflict-affected populations, and other marginalized groups within target markets.
Incorporate findings into product design, messaging, and delivery channel recommendations to ensure financial services are accessible and appropriate for excluded populations.
Advise on program design and partner selection to promote equitable access, including through women-led groups, informal savings associations, and digital channels.
Review and strengthen gender-responsive and socially inclusive monitoring frameworks to track financial inclusion outcomes for target groups.
Support or represent Mercy Corps in financial sector coordination mechanisms, technical working groups, and donor engagement forums at country or regional level, where requested.
Engage with local and international partners, FSPs, UN agencies, and donors to strengthen coordination and coherence of financial inclusion approaches.
Document key lessons learned, adaptations, and good practices from financial inclusion programming to contribute to organizational and sector-level learning.