Qualitative Research Expert (Consultancy)

Organization: Aflatoun International
Location: Remote
Job type: Consultancy
Remuneration: TBD (incl. VAT)
Deadline for applications : 25th October 2024

The Organization
Aflatoun International is a non-profit organization, which offers social, financial & entrepreneurship education to children and young people worldwide, empowering them to make a positive change for a more equitable world. Aflatoun creates high-quality curricula for different age groups, which are contextualized to local needs and circumstances, and are implemented by over 300 partner organizations in 101 countries. Aflatoun programmes inspire children to discover their talents and put them to use, to stand up for their rights and those of their communities through active learning and problem solving. They learn how to save, how to budget, and how to set up social and financial enterprises that benefit themselves, their families and their communities. Aflatoun has been recognized globally (Brookings, Harvard, HundrEd, Million Lives Club) for its high-impact, low-cost model, which has shown to be effective in changing behaviors of participants across the globe.
By using a social franchise model, Aflatoun transfers curricular content, monitoring and evaluation tools, and training capacity to partner organisations, helping them enhance their existing expertise and create an efficient learning ecosystem. Aflatoun’s programmes follow an active-learning, participant- centered methodology, which combines social and financial education (SFE) through engaging participants, educators, government institutions and civil society organisations.
Background
Aflatoun International has developed Financial Literacy Module (FLM) for parents aiming to improve parents’ and caregivers’ financial knowledge and financial health, enabling them to provide responsive and nurturing care for their children. In India, the programme reached more than 1,200 parents and caregivers in the city of Thane and Rajasthan state among others. Understanding the challenges that participating parents and caregivers face and whether and how the program helps them overcome their challenges will be an informative accumulation of beneficiaries’ experience through the programme.
Scope of work
We’re looking for two qualitative research consultants to develop the field work plan with an interview guide, conduct the interview at location, transcribe, analyse and deliver an article. Where possible, the consultant will combine storytelling with in-field observations, photography, or any other method to collect information to complement the narrative. The final outcome article should 1) detail the challenges that participants may face (especially financial) in the local and regional context, 2) detail how the program was implemented from the perspective of both the program implementers and the participants, and 3) describe
the relevance of the program content and its extent to which it addresses the participants’ challenges, in a human centered narrative format. The length of the article is about 3,000 words.
We are looking for two candidates to work on each of two locations:
1) Thane (interviews to take place in Hindi and Marathi)
2 Jodhpur (interviews to take place primarily in Hindi)

Deliverables

Deliverable #1: Develop the storytelling interview structure; based on discussions with program implementation team and Aflatoun’s M&E specialist (online), develop the field work plan with an interview guide: Due TBD based on the team discussions.

Deliverable #2: Identify the group/individual; together with Aflatoun and implementing NGOs, identify the group/individual: Due TBD based on the team discussions.

Deliverable #3: Coordinate the interview; coordinate own travel (transportation and accommodation if necessary) to conduct the storytelling activity upon approval from Aflatoun. Due: Before the storytelling activity
Deliverable #4: Fieldwork/interviews; conduct qualitative data collection with agreed approach (in-person interviews and observation). Due 11 November – 10 December 2024

Deliverable #5: Transcribe and analyze; transcribe and clean collected data and organize it in a shareable format. Analyze the data. Due TBD based on the team discussions.

Deliverable #6 Final article; draft final article based on the scope of work and share it with Aflatoun. Revise the article after the review where necessary. Due 23 December 2024

Total: 10 days

Payment schedule
The payment of 100% of the total contract will be made upon submission and approval of the final article attached with transcriptions (deliverable 6).

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Academic qualification in development studies, anthropology, social sciences or related field.
• Strong skills and experience in conducting qualitative research, focus group discussion, storytelling, and report writing.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Analytical, critical thinking and strong problem-solving skills.
• Fluent in written and spoken English and Hindi (for HIndi-speaking position) and English and Marathi (for Marathi-speaking position) (required).
• Ability to work effectively in a small team in an international environment.
• Computer skills, including sound knowledge of Windows and Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Graphic and/video editing is a plus.
• Familiarity with topics in financial education/financial literacy, and the local contexts is a plus.
• The consultant must be able to conduct fieldwork and in-person interviews in Jodhpur, Rajasthan or Thane, Maharashtra.

Hiring details
The position is for a Consultancy. We offer a dynamic and pleasant multicultural working environment.
Due to the nature of Aflatoun’s work with children around the world, specific attention is drawn towards Aflatoun’s Child Protection Policy and its Policy on the Protection of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). These two policies are required to be signed by consultants and forms part of the consultancy contract. The applicant commits to zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse. An additional written test may be required.
Screening for integrity is part of the recruitment process. Aflatoun considers it important to ensure the reliability, professionalism and the Integrity of its organization and its team. By applying for this position, the candidate accepts to be screened by Aflatoun which involves conducting a background check with 2 referees from the professional environment of the candidate, submitting a self-declaration of good conduct along with the CV and cover letter, and submitting a declaration of good conduct issued by the Judicial Documentation system in their home country in case they reach the final stage of the hiring process. The screening will cover up to 10 years. Only the data relevant for the screening of the position will be collected. In case the candidate is not selected for the position, the data will be destroyed 4 weeks after the closing of the position.
For technical positions, an additional written test may be required.