Mobile Enabled Community Services - Asia Technical Analyst - Delhi

Job ID		dev-oth-524
Department		Development Fund
Location		Other
Description  From urban to rural areas, mobile networks have become the predominant infrastructure in emerging markets and 575M more people are now covered by mobile networks than have access to energy and water. The GSMA’s Mobile Enabled Community Services (MECS) explores how the mobile industry can support commercially viable energy and water services in underserved communities. Launched in January of 2013 the programme includes a challenge/seed fund arrangement, run on competitive terms, to support innovation in mobile technology for community services. The grants from the fund seek to address the following questions: What types of mobile technologies can support community services? For a solution to be adopted at scale what building blocks would be needed? What is the social and commercial impact of delivering community services to rural mobile subscribers? The lessons from these grants will be captured and shared with the wider industry via the production of publications and events. The primary role of the MECS Technical Analyst is that of market facilitator. The analyst is responsible for developing the pipeline of MECS opportunities in Asia and the role is split across several core activities: advisory services to the mobile industry, relationship building across the mobile, energy and water sectors, desk and field based research, on-going support to MECS grantees. The MECS Technical Analyst will be based in Delhi and spend a significant proportion of their time within the field (at least 30%). The time spent in the field is likely to be for periods of between 1-3 weeks. The MECS Analyst will be involved with the following: • Build relationships with MNOs and Tower Companies (both within Operations, as well as with appropriate C-level sponsors of MECS), keeping abreast of developments and identifying potential opportunities to support proposals for MECS Grants. • Conduct in-depth Feasibility Studies with MNOs to inform senior management of the business case and specific opportunities for deploying community services. • Build and maintain relationships with energy access, water and sanitation organisations and stay abreast of developments in these sectors. • Support Grant applications by MNOs, Tower Cos, ESCOs, Water Service Providers, Academics and NGOs. The Technical Analyst will be the point of reference for the applicant during the Grant writing and submission stages to assist with queries and provide guidance. • Provide on-going advisory support to the Grantee during the trial implementation. • Ensure that learnings and progress of trials are shared, initially with the MECS team and donors as they emerge and in line with Monitoring and Evaluation requirements, and then ultimately shared more broadly with the wider industry through MECS publications and MECS events, e.g. through writing blog posts for the MECS blog, presenting research / learnings from field engagements at MECS events (such as Working Groups) and writing case studies based on field experience • Assist in organizing and facilitating bi-annual Working Groups • Conduct desk based and field research involving significant time in rural villages (including overnight stays) • Contribute towards shaping the overall strategic direction / course correction of MECS, to ensure that MECS delivers value to the industry and achieves its goal of creating more scalable and sustainable business models for energy and water service provision.
Context  GSMA – Mobile for Development - GSMA Mobile for Development brings together our mobile operator members, the wider mobile industry and the development community to drive commercial mobile services for underserved people in emerging markets. We identify opportunities for social, economic and environmental impact and stimulate the development of scalable, life-enhancing mobile services. Mobile is the predominant infrastructure in emerging markets. We believe it is the transformative technology that enables us to put relevant, impactful services into the hands of underserved people. Since the creation of the GSMA Mobile for Development we have partnered with 35 mobile operators, rolling out 53 services, impacting tens of millions of people across 30 countries. http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/
Criteria  The role requires an individual who is a well organised team player, with a desire to play a role in supporting the development of energy and water access through our Programme. The right candidate will be able to draw on a solid foundation of technical and commercial expertise and industry knowledge, augmented by the ability to rapidly adapt to different cultures. Specifically: - Strong technical and commercial background, with experience working in the mobile telecoms industry and / or with expertise in renewable energy, and / or WATSAN - Project Management or Management Consulting experience is attractive - Experience of working in emerging markets and development experience is attractive - Able to quickly grasp new concepts and ideas (given the level of innovation in our sector and the wider industry) - Comfortable interacting and managing relationships with various internal and external stakeholders, including C-level executives - Strong analytical skills: Able to manipulate large quantities of data, and be able to present the results of analysis in a succinct manner to key stakeholders including senior management - Excellent communicator - able to express complex technical, commercial or regulatory issues in plain language, without losing the important points - A self-starter, highly motivated to develop the programme and drive it through to completion - Genuinely interested in both the commercial and social benefits that are presented by the programme - A team player, being able to effectively connect together a wide group of internal GSMA interests and resources, to support their work - Good writing skills, to write blog posts or contribute to MECS research papers - Willingness to travel on an international basis - Excellent cultural awareness and a desire to work with teams around the world - Additional Language skills are an advantage particularly Hindi, Bengali or Malay
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